Camp Thiaroye

November 1944. A force of tirailleurs from all over French West Africa, who has fought in North Africa and Europe, is transferred to Camp Thiaroye. Waiting for repatriation, the soldiers live almost like prisoners of war. The living quarters are cramped and the food inedible, which causes the first conflict with the French officers. Later a mutiny breaks out when the bankrupt authorities refuse to pay the men at the full normal rate. The General in charge who visits the camp is taken hostage. The General ultimately capitulates and is cheered by the men. Yet at 3:00 a.m. on December 1, motorized artillery surrounds the camp and opens fire on the unsuspecting soldiers. By dawn the massacre is over and the dead are being buried.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Script: Ousmane Sembene,with the collaboration of Thierno Faty Sow
Cinematography: Ismail Lakhdar Hamina
Editing: Kahena Attia-Riveil
Sound: Rachid Bouafia
Music: Ismaila Lo
Actors: Sijiri Bakaba, Ibrahima Sane (Sergeant Major Diatta), Mohamed Dansogho Camara, Ismaila Cisse, Ababacar Sy Cisse, Moussa Cissoko, Eloi Koly, Ismaila Lo (the soldier with the harmonica), Jean Daniel Sim
Production: Societe Nationale de Production Cinematographique (SNPC)
Producers: Moustafa Ben Jemia, Ouzid Dahmane, Mamadou Mbengue
Co-production: SATPEC & ENAPROC & Les Films Domirev, Films Kajoor
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Senegal-Tunisia-Algeria
Production Year: 1988
Duration: 147
Contact: La Mediatheque des Trois Mondes, FranceT. +33 1 4234 9900F. +33 1 4234 9901cine3mondes@wanadoo.fr

Ousmane Sembene

He was born in 1923 and died in 2007. He is a Senegalese writer, chronicler and film director, best-known for his historical- political works with strong social comment. In the 1960s he developed an interest in the cinema and went to the Gorki Institute in Moscow to study film production. His Black Girl was the first film ever produced by an African filmmaker and won the Jean Vigo Award at the Cannes IFF 1966. He often turned his short stories and novels into films. During his career as a director, he received several international awards and his films were immensely popular in Africa.

Filmography

1963 Borom Sarret/The Cart Driver (short)
1963 L’Empire Songhai/The Songhai Empire (short doc.)
1964 Niaye (short)
1966 La Noire de.../Black Girl
1968 Mandabi/The Money Order
1969 (Traumatisme de la femme face a la) polygamie/
Women and the Trauma of Polygamy (doc.)
1969 Probleme de l’emploi a.k.a. Les Derives du chomage/
Unemployment Problems (doc)
1970 Tauw (short)
1971 Emitai/God of Thunder
1972 Jeux Olympiques de Munich/The Munich Olympic Games (doc.)
1974 Xala/The Curse
1976 Ceddo
1988 Camp de Thiaroye/Camp Thiaroye
1992 Guelwaar
1999 L’heroisme au quotidian/Daily Heroism (short)
2000 Faat Kine
2004 Moolaade