"Sembene!" is a feature documentary on continental Africa’s most celebrated filmmaker, the late Ousmane Sembene, from co-directors Samba Gadjigo (author of Sembene’s official biography, "Ousmane Sembene: The Making of a Militant Artist") and Jason Silverman.
A 2015 Sundance, Cannes 2015, London Sydney film festival selection (and others), the film was picked up for US distribution by Kino Lorber earlier this year, with a fall theatrical release set, in conjunction with key national festival engagements. Digital and home media releases are scheduled for 2016.
Here’s how the filmmakers summarize the film: "SEMBENE! tells the unbelievable true story of the self-taught novelist and filmmaker who fought, against enormous odds, a 50-year battle to give Africans the power to tell their own stories. SEMBENE! is told through the never-before-seen archival footage and verite footage of the man who knew him best, colleague and biographer Samba Gadjigo. A true-life epic, SEMBENE! follows an ordinary man who transforms himself from a manual laborer into a fearless and often polarizing spokesman for the marginalized, becoming a hero to millions."
Kino has set Starts a Friday, November 6, 2015 theatrical premiere for the film, at Lincoln Plaza Cinema in NYC. And ahead of that debut, an official release trailer is out and is embedded below:
