A look at African Women in Cinema

Women in Senegal have emerged from a society of rigid religious, cultural, and social traditions. They are the pillars of the community, however they are not recognized as such in the post-colonial societies plagued by the reign of patriarchy. [In mainstream West African Cinema] “there are almost no positive heroines. Film-makers are quick to show us the examples that must not be followed, but rarely do they present women with their qualities as well as faults without judging them.” African feminist filmmaker Ousmane Sembene challenges the notions that the women of African Cinema are misrepresented by the male gaze of directors. He is a strong advocate for socialism, egalitarianism, Pan-Africanism, and the liberation of the psychologically enslaved Africans who cannot “see”, “hear”, nor “speak” for themselves. His films show the heroism of women once entrapped by patriarchy, family structure, religious hegemony, traditional customs, and male prejudice. The majority of Sembene’s films focus on courageous, resisting women who fight to survive at the face of patriarchal adversity or refuse to accept the traditions that oppress them.

The women of Sembene’s films are not victims of their reality, instead they take proactive roles in altering their destinies for emancipation even if the action proves tragic. The heroines in Sembene’s films evolve as he transforms and matures as a skilled director. From Diouana to Rama to Faat Kine, the women gain stronger voices and more control of their destinies in post-colonial Senegal as Sembene’s career ripens. How do the female characters in comparison to the greater society and their male counterparts articulate what he perceives about the emancipation of a post-colonial Senegal at large? As Sembene constructs new representations of women he also provides uncompromising critiques of patriarchal male characters, who do not alter their chauvinistic and sexist prerogatives. His works appear to prioritize the female point of view thus, taking a feminist or “womanist” stance on what it means for Africa to be a liberated nation. Sembene’s works reflect his observations that “Africa can’t develop without the participation of her womenâÂ?¦we are still searching for our destiny as Africans. Yet in the society we are going to build, women will play an important role.”