Slideshow
CEDDO
NEW 4K RESTORATION!
Senegal, 1977
Directed by Ousmane Sembène
Starring Tabata Ndiaye, Moustapha Yade, Alioune Fall, Matoura Dia
Screenplay by Ousmane Sembène
In French and Wolof with English subtitles
Approx. 120 min. DCP
In a 19th-century village, a princess is kidnapped, and a Muslim imam struggles against a Catholic priest for religious and political control, while the ceddo ("ched-doe"), or common people, try to hold on to their traditional ways. Banned in Senegal — ostensibly over the "European" spelling of the title, but more likely for its criticism of Islam, the country's dominant religion — Sembène's historical epic condenses two centuries of African history into a thriller of oppression and intolerance.
Reviews
"Achieves an operatic orchestration of raw forces similar to Eisenstein's ALEXANDER NEVSKY or Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI."
– The Village Voice