Ousmane Sembène

Novelist

(1923 – 2007) · West Africa

Senegalese filmmaker and novelist often called the father of African cinema. He began as a novelist — his 1960 novel God's Bits of Wood is a classic of African literature — and moved to film to reach audiences who could not read. His films, including Moolaadé and Xala, tackled colonial legacy, corruption, and women's rights.