| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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even though they were all in favor of assimilation and progress as theorized by the colonial discourse of the time, in reality they had very little contact with Europe. In contrast, the second phase, remembrance, was a nostalgic one animated by expatriate black students in Europe. It resulted from an upsurge of consciousness that started taking form in the student journal Légitime Défense (1932) and culminated in negritude animated by Césaire, Senghor, Damas, and others. Although this phase is not chronologically definite, its proponents, according to Fanon, were more nostalgic of their past, and as a result, they strove to revive it using Western aesthetics. Supposedly, this phase of pre-combat ended with the rise of nationalisms and the subsequent struggles for independence.
As for the combative phase, it echoes revolutionary ideologies against colonialism and imperialism; it supports independence movements and the struggles for national liberation from internal as well as external forces of oppression. Strongly fueled by nationalist ideologies and cultures, this phase started before independence and still continues today because the struggle against imperialism and for national liberation, national culture, and development is current in most former colonies. As a result, Sembène, who came into filmmaking to educate his people and thus contribute to the struggle for national liberation from the relics of colonialism and the burdensome practices of traditional Africa, fits unquestionably into this phase.
Sembène strongly believed that African films should be geared primarily toward educating the masses, as well as making the philosophical quandaries and political issues contested by elites accessible to the poor and those with little to no formal education. In Sembène’s view, African films should tell stories, and African filmmakers are storytellers. In this light, he referred to himself as a modern-day griot, one who is responsible for reconstructing and learning from the past in order to make sense of the present and prepare for the future. He expected African films, akin to morality tales, to spur critical thinking among viewers.