Emitaï

Why should Africans die for European conflicts?
Colonialism has always known how to borrow other people’s lives.

Why should Africans die for European conflicts?
Colonialism has always known how to borrow other people’s lives.

When others refuse to comply, the response is destruction — enslavement or death. An astonishing display of so-called “white” logic.

When others refuse to comply, the response is destruction — enslavement or death. An astonishing display of so-called “white” logic.

In this film Ousmane Sembène shows a much needed African perspective on World War II. For people in a Diola village, this is a war that is of no interest to them. It is the war of their oppressor, it is a white man's war. Yet they are forced to give up their sons and their sacred rice to support a war effort that will change absolutely nothing for them. While the French were slowly losing grip on their motherland, they tightened their grip on the colonies.

In this film Ousmane Sembène shows a much needed African perspective on World War II. For people in a Diola village, this is a war that is of no interest to them. It is the war of their oppressor, it is a white man's war. Yet they are forced to give up their sons and their sacred rice to support a war effort that will change absolutely nothing for them. While the French were slowly losing grip on their motherland, they tightened their grip on the colonies.

i hate colonialism so fucking much man

i hate colonialism so fucking much man

Where were the gods when the whites razed our village? When the whites took our sons for their war?

A necessary counterweight to colonialist narratives but never so consumed by its agenda that it lacks focus on the people living under French occupation. Like a lot of world cinema, there's an element of research needed to understand some of the political intricacies but I found myself thinking a lot about The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ironically enough, a similar story of men in wartime unable to sense the shifting tides of history until it's too late. Here, the men in the village pray and consult the gods who seemingly are unwilling to help them as the Vichy French army demands their men to be soldiers and their rice for food. The women unite against these soldiers and withhold their crop while the men seem ineffectual in comparison. Sembene has a keen eye for the Senegalese landscape and for the customs of these villagers though I do feel a bit of strain in its runtime at a certain point. Still, Emitai is well worth the watch and I'm eager to explore more of his work.

Where were the gods when the whites razed our village? When the whites took our sons for their war?

A necessary counterweight to colonialist narratives but never so consumed by its agenda that it lacks focus on the people living under French occupation. Like a lot of world cinema, there's an element of research needed to understand some of the political intricacies but I found myself thinking a lot about The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ironically enough, a similar story of men in wartime unable to sense the shifting tides of history until it's too late. Here, the men in the village pray and consult the gods who seemingly are unwilling to help them as the Vichy French army demands their men to be soldiers and their rice for food. The women unite against these soldiers and withhold their crop while the men seem ineffectual in comparison. Sembene has a keen eye for the Senegalese landscape and for the customs of these villagers though I do feel a bit of strain in its runtime at a certain point. Still, Emitai is well worth the watch and I'm eager to explore more of his work.