Rent Black Girl / Borom Sarret (1966)
3.8 of 5 from 84 ratings
1h 0min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene was the first Sub-Saharan African filmmaker to achieve international recognition, and is widely regarded as the father of African cinema. His first major work. 'Black Girl', is the uncompromising story of Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), a young Senegalese nanny whose hopes of an exciting life in France are dashed when her white employers expect her to work as their servant. Also included is Sembene's directorial debut, the short film 'Borom Sarret', the first ever indigenous Black African film. An allegorical tale exploring poverty and inequality, it charts a day in the life of a hard-up cart driver in Dakar, whose good deeds are rewarded with great injustice. - Actors:
- Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine, Momar Nar Sene, Ibrahima Boy, Bernard Delbard, Nicole Donati, Raymond Lemeri, Suzanne Lemeri, Philippe, Sophie, Damien, Ousmane Sembene, Ly Abdoulay, Albourah
- Directors:
- Ousmane Sembene
- Producers:
- André Zwoboda
- Voiced By:
- Toto Bissainthe, Robert Marcy, Sophie Leclerc
- Writers:
- Ousmane Sembene
- Aka:
- La noire de... / The Wagoner
- Studio:
- BFI Video
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 1, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films With Voiceover Narration, Top Films
- Countries:
- Senegal
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 19/10/2015
- Run Time:
- 60 minutes
- Languages:
- French LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- Colour and B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Theatrical and alternative colour-sequence versions of Black Girl
- Snatches of a Conversation with M'Bissine Therese Diop (2005,14 mins): interview with the star of Black Girl
- Sembene: The Making of African Cinema (Manthia Diawara, Ngigi wa Thiong'o, 1994, 60 mins): award-winning documentary about the pioneering filmmaker
- Sembene: A Portrait (D Sentilhes, B Josse, 2003, 12 mins): illustrated chronology of the director's life in film
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Reviews (1) of Black Girl / Borom Sarret
A Quiet Scream in Plain Sight - Black Girl / Borom Sarret review by griggs
Some films take in excess of three hours to make a point. This one does so in less than 60 minutes, with the calm certainty of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing. Every scene feels placed, not padded.
Black Girl isn’t “issue cinema” so much as a scalpel. Diouana is hired with smiles and promises, then quietly reduced to a maid in a nice flat — expected to serve, stay silent, and be grateful for the privilege. Mbissine Thérèse Diop Is astonishing, often framed alone in blank rooms so the emptiness starts to feel like a cafe. The voiceover doesn’t “explain” her; it loops, doubles back, and traps you in the same circling thoughts.
Flashbacks turn hope into horror, and the letter-from-home scene is devastating — arriving as a reminder of everything she’s lost. The ending lands as a final grab at agency, and the Senegal coda delivers the bleak punchline: this isn’t a one-off. It’s a pattern.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.