Xala
Ousmane Sembène
Senegalese, 1923–2007
1975
A still from Ousmane Sembène’s 1975 film Xala, in which the director uses sharp satire and allegory to expose the political and moral impotence of Senegal’s postcolonial elite.
The image arrests you with its uneasy intimacy—an older, formally dressed man wearing glasses clings to a younger woman on a crowded dance floor, his searching eyes meeting the camera and turning a festive moment into a charged, uncomfortable tableau.
Xala is a landmark of African cinema that helped define a decolonizing, politically engaged filmmaking practice by using comedy and critique to challenge newly powerful elites and inspire generations of filmmakers across Africa.
Classification
Department
Accession
9668
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Art Terms
Exhibitions
