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Guelwaar

Directed by Ousmane Sembene Senegal; 1993; 115 min;French and Wolof with English subtitles

November 05, 2009 - Forestry Building, g002 AT 6.00PM

Themes: Ethnic and religious conflict; problems with post-colonial aid

This film centers around the life and death of (fictional) Senegalese dissident Pierre Henri Thioune, known as “Guelwaar” (gel’ a wa), which means “The Noble One.” The film takes place in contemporary, post-colonial Senegal, a country still suffering from problems associated with French colonial rule, which lasted from the mid 1600s until Senegal’s independence in 1960. Senegal’s population is approximately 94% Muslim and 5% Christian. Guelwaar and his wife, Nogoy Marie, are Catholic. They have had seven children, four of whom have died. The remaining three are Bartéléy, who has moved to and become a citizen of France; Sophie, who supports the family by working as a prostitute in Dakar, Senegal’s capital city; and Aloys, who is lame after having fallen from a tree as a child. The film begins with Aloys returning home to announce that his father has died. We later discover that he died from internal injuries received when he was brutally beaten after speaking at a political rally. As the film progresses, we learn more about Guelwaar’s life, beliefs, and activities through a series of flashbacks.