Ceddo

The godfather of Senegalese cinema, Ousmane Sembène, explores the effects of colonialism on his country in this sui generis blend of ritual, folklore, and fantasy. Set across multiple indeterminate time periods, it traces the conflict that emerges as the Ceddo—the common people—struggle to preserve their way of life against the invading influences of Christianity and Islam, even after the conversion of their own king. Like many of the director’s films, Ceddo was banned in its own country. The public reason was based on a linguistic disagreement between Sembène and then president Léopold Sédar Senghor over the title: by insisting Ceddo retain double consonants, Sembène refused to follow the newly mandated Wolof standard of spelling. Fittingly, the film stands as a powerful ode to resistance and to the richness of traditional Senegalese culture.