Ousmane Sembene is assuredly one of the most prominent figures in African film and literature. One of Sembène's goals had always been to touch the widest possible audience and at age 40 he decided to become a film maker producing his first film, a short called ‘Borom Sarret’ (1963). During the following year (1964), he made another short film entitled ‘Niaye’. In 1966 he produced his first feature film ‘Black Girl’, the first feature film ever released by a sub-Saharan African director. This French-language film won the Prix Jean Vigo, bringing international attention to both African films generally and Sembène specifically.

Sembène followed this success with the 1968 release of ‘Mandabi’ – the language used in this film was Wolof, the indigenous language of Senegal.  Later Wolof-language films included Sembene’s film classic ‘Xala’ (1975, based on his own novel of the same name), ‘Ceddo’ (1977), ‘Camp de Thiaroye’ (1987), and ‘Guelwaar’ (1992). In 1971, Sembène also released the award winning film ‘Emitai’ – this time using the Diola language. His final film ‘Moolaadé’ (2004) won awards at the Cannes Film Festival and the FESPACO Film Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.