Films restored by the Film Foundation will eventually be redistributed in theaters, on DVD, Blu-Ray or VOD.
At the center of "Black Girl" is Senegalese maid Diouana’s plight in Southern France, as it unfolds almost like a documentary, capturing the everyday mundanities of her monotonous life, and the resulting mental anguish she suffers, leading to the film’s tragic conclusion.
Underneath the deceptively simple story of a Senegalese maid (played by the lovely Mbissine Thérèse Diop), and her relationship with the white French couple she works for, reveals a film rich with symbolism and complexities that are essentially reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism – a recurrent theme you’ll find in much of Sembène’s work, as well as commentary on the untapped strength and abilities of African women.
A restored print of the film is more than welcomed, and I’m sure it’ll continue to travel.
Other film masters of yesteryear whose restored works will be feted in the festival’s Revivals section this year include Akira Kurosawa, Brian De Palma, Hou Hsiao-hsien, King Hu, Manoel de Oliveira, and more.
Visit http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/ for more.
Watch a trailer of the "un-restored" "Black Girl" below:
