Black Girl

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Black Girl

1966

1h 0m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

A young Senegalese woman becomes a maid for a French couple but is constantly mistreated and made aware of her race.

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Allison N. Conner

Bitch Media

Fifty-one years after its initial release, this seminal film remains hauntingly relevant.

Mar 2, 2021

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Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

A remarkable personal-is-political drama, set in barely postcolonial Senegal and France.

Rated: 4/4

Jul 28, 2016

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Jordan Hoffman

Guardian

Black Girl radiates with an expressive tone, despite some script compression and the typical production obstacles of a mid-60s independent film.

May 18, 2016

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Sembène demonstrates his aesthetic prowess to interrogate the oppression and social condition of the Senegalese immigrant in the postcolonial period, but its simplistic narration often remains on an overly contrived surface. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Sep 26, 2023

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Pay attention to the mask.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 11, 2023

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

A powerful indictment of a post-colonial attitude which still lingers to this very day.

Jun 22, 2022

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Audience Member

The greatest 1 hour ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

Watched this along with a short by the same director about a horse&cart taxi man trying to make a living in Dakar. This was a very sad film - I was surprised at the emotional impact it had on me by the end, as we kind of knew the story going into it. Simply told, sad, oppressive story and mood.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/19/20

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Audience Member

Very thought provoking film with a very deep and intriguing plot. The plot very much echos the viewpoint of colonialism at the time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

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Audience Member

7.3/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2AA

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

A must-see for anyone seriously interested in film and film making.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

I am not exactly sure what would considered to be "feature length," but this film is a good example of a shorter film - close to 60 minutes. The key to this gem is the idea of tension between social classes/ethnicities when the titular "black girl" doesn't believe such a tension would be created. The protagonist is picked up from Dakar, and she expects to be working as a maid when her client is looking for workers. She tells the audience her internal thoughts with voice over and we know her expectations are to not be treated like a slave. This is a tragic story with a never-ending loop, where the girl refuses to work until she can eat or be paid while her employer refuses to feed her until she works. We feel for Diouana because she is told to do work that is not even part of her duties such as watching the children; she believes that responsibility should be the mother's, and she is right. What is upsetting is that she slashes her own throat so that she will not live without her dignity. This movie was so short there isn't much to say; it is a good tragedy but one I would only like to see once.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Ousmane Sembene

Director

Mbissine Thérèse Diop

Diouana

Anne-Marie Jelinck

Madame

Robert Fontaine

Monsieur

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Synopsis

A young Senegalese woman becomes a maid for a French couple but is constantly mistreated and made aware of her race.

Director: Ousmane Sembene
Production Co: Filmi Domirev, Les Actualités Françaises
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 24, 2017
Runtime: 1h 0m

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