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 JAMS 2 (1) pp. 107–119 Intellect Limited 2010
 Journal of African Media StudiesVolume 2 Number 1
© 2010 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jams.2.1.107/1
107
KEYWORDS
 African filmSenegalese cinemafilm distributionfilm exhibitioncelluloid gapOusmane Sembène
BARRIE MCCLUNE
California Newsreel
In search of Sembène
 ABSTRACT
This visual essay begins at the National Homage to Ousmane Sembène in Dakar,Senegal in July 2008 and follows my search to find out whether Sembène’s work isaccessible to the Dakar public. From conference rooms, to museums, to market stallsand living rooms, I explore what has happened to Sembène’s work in the city hemade his home, and thereby raise questions about the future of African film-makersand African audiences.
INTRODUCTION
On 8 July 2008, hundreds of people assembled in Dakar, Senegal to pay homage to the ‘Father of African Cinema’, Ousmane Sembène (Figure 1),one year after his death. Among the high-profile attendees were Danny Glover, Richard Bohringer and the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade. After hours of heartfelt speeches and slow red carpet processions, the Placede La Souvenir emptied and the fanfare was over. At this point a muchsmaller group of about sixty participants gathered for an academic confer-ence on the legacy of the legendary film-maker and writer. Following a whirlwind of twelve papers, the conference floor was opened for questions. A certain M. Fall stood up and said, ‘[Sembène’s] films [are not seen] […]outside of classes. Exhibitions and research [conferences] are the only places we can see them’. He continued, ‘I bet, if you pick 20 people at randomleaving this conference, the majority will not have seen [Sembène’s] films!’
 
Barrie McClune
108
I decided to take this comment as a starting point for an exploration of theplace of Sembène’s films in Dakar.
THE FORMAL FILM SECTOR
 Weeks of searching the city of Dakar for any copies of films made by theSenegalese ‘Father of African Cinema’ proved a frustrating task. The museumexhibition that accompanied the ‘Homage National’ displayed, in a glasscase, a newly released DVD collection of Sembène’s oeuvre. Paradoxically,the museum did not sell copies of the films and the guardian could not say  where one could purchase them. So I went to the Centre Culturelle Française, which offers an annual membership for 12,000 CFA (£14.45). Most Africanfilms produced after the year 2000 and with a European distributor are avail-able for rental through its library. However, very few Senegalese film-makersare represented in the collection, and Sembène’s films
 Faat Kiné 
(2000) and
 Moolaadé 
(2004) are glaring omissions. The Centre Culturelle Française alsocontains an outside projection area where they put on film series presenting local work, including Senegalese classics (Figure 2). The centre screens thesefilms for free to the public. The Centre Culturelle’s location in the mostly com-mercial downtown means expensive taxi rides for the audience. In addition,
 Figure 1: Painting of Ousmane Sembène, erected at the Place de la Souvenir special exhibition on OusmaneSembène in Dakar, Senegal.
 
In search of Sembène
109
the consciously academic framing betrayed the fact that this was not youraverage audience: most likely academics and cinephiles, and a notably highattendance of white Europeans.Besides the Centre Culturelle Française, there are only two function-ing cinemas in Dakar, the Cinéma La Liberté and the Cinéma El Hadj,and even these are under threat of closure. The Cinéma La Liberté hasbeen subjected to many different state exhibition policies since its founda-tion in 1963. In 1974, when the Société d’Importation et de DistributionCinématographe was founded, the state bought all the cinemas in anattempt to indigenize the exhibition industry. However, in 1991, Structural Adjustment Programmes, designed by the International Monetary Fundand the World Bank, forced the industry to privatize (Sène 19 June 2008interview). Despite new owners being contractually required to keep thesites going as cultural institutions, the buildings have been sold to commer-cial developers one by one (Sy 17 June 2008 interview). There have beenmore than twenty cinema closures in the last 10 years in Dakar alone. TheCinéma La Plage has been converted into a shopping centre (Figure 3). TheCinéma Le Paris is to become a hotel (Figure 4). Others have been trans-formed into churches or mosques.Mamadou Sy, the programmer for the Cinéma La Liberté, argues thatSenegalese films have no audience and that many of his colleagues who
 Figure 2: Audience members at the Centre Culturelle Française in Dakar, Senegal watching 
Barcelone ou LaMort/Barcelona
 
or Death
for the July 2008 film series.
of 00

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