Black Girl (1966) - Expat Cinema Rotterdam

Through the story of Diouana, a young Senegalese woman who enters the service of a French couple, Sembène crafts a precise and devastating portrait of exploitation disguised as benevolence. His restrained visual style and elliptical narrative transform everyday gestures into acts of indictment, revealing how identity can be erased within the most domestic of spaces.

Sixty years later, the film’s moral force remains as urgent as ever. Sembène demonstrates how colonial power structures do not simply disappear with independence, but continue to shape language, labor, ownership, and the intimate dynamics of everyday life. In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Black Girl returns to cinemas in a new 4K restoration.