Ousmane Sembene - Emiati / Xala / Ceddo - Criterion Collection Blu-Ray

After paving the way for African filmmakers to tell their own stories on the silver screen, Senegalese author Ousmane Semb&took his project—to unleash the potential of film as a means of social change—in an increasingly urgent and provocative direction. His three feature films from this decade—the radical call to resistance Emita&ium;, the wickedly subversive satire Xala, and the controversial historical epic Ceddo—confirmed his position as a fearless truth-teller for whom the camera was the ultimate weapon in the fight against oppression in all its forms.

Emitaï (1971)

With revolutionary fervor, Ousmane Sembène a period during World War II when French colonial forces in Senegal recruited young men from the Diola people and attempted to seize rice stocks for soldiers in Europe. While the tribe's patriarchal leaders pray and make sacrifices to their gods, the women of the community refuse to give up their harvests, arousing the wrath of the French army. With a deep understanding of the oppressive forces that have shaped Senegal's history, Emitiah explores the pressures that colonialism places on cultural traditions and, in the process, discovers a people's hidden reserves of rebellion and dignity.

Xala (1975)

Xala, a film adaptation of Ousmane Sembène's 1973 novel, is a poignant and biting satire on political corruption under an incompetent patriarchy. On his wedding night to his third bride, government official El Hadji (Thierno Leye) becomes impotent and begins to suspect that one of his other wives has put a curse on him. After seeking a cure from a local marabout, El Hadji must realize that he may deserve the curse for his part in the embezzlement of public funds and for helping to keep Senegal under French control. Sembène skillfully combines elements of African folklore and popular cinema, pointing to the hubris, righteousness, and opportunism of male authority figures.p>

In pre-colonial Senegal, members of the Ceddo (or "outsiders") kidnap Princess Dior Yacine (Tabata Ndiaye) after her father, the king, has sworn allegiance to a rising Islamic faction that plans to convert the entire clan to their faith. Attempts to rescue her fail, causing further division and ultimately war between the animist Ceddo and the fundamentalist Muslims, with Christian missionaries and slave traders from Europe also playing a role in the conflict. Ceddo, which was banned in Senegal when it was released, is an ambitious, multi-layered epic that explores the combustible tensions between ancient traditions, religious colonization, political expediency, and individual freedom.

THREE-DISC SPECIAL EDITION WITH THE FOLLOWING FEATURES

New digital 4K restorations of all three films, with uncompressed mono audio tracks

New conversation between Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival, and author Amy Sall

The Making of "Ceddo," a 1981 documentary by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra New English translations of subtitles PLUS: An essay by film scholar Yasmina Price

New cover by Ify Chiejina