Director

Med Hondo

Cast list

Robert Liensol as Visitor

Yane Barry as White Girl

Bernard Fresson as Friend

Théo Légitimus as Afro Girl

Armand Meffre

Greg Germain

Gabriel Glissant

Mabousso Lo

Gilles Ségal

Alfred Anou

Les Black Echos

Ambroise M’Bia

Akonio Dolo

Credits

Written by: Med Hondo

Music by: George Anderson

Cinematography by: François Catonné and Jean-Claude Rahaga

Edited by: Michèle Masnier and Clément Menuet

Production Design by: Med Hondo

Sound: Yves Allard, Alain Contreau, and Jean-Paul Loublier

Camera Operator: Denis Bertrand

Camera Assistant: François Pailleux

Animation: Jean-François Laguionie

Synopsis

An eager Mauritanian man (Robert Liensol) is selected for work in Paris. Expecting a better life and new experience, he prepares for his departure from home. Despite being well educated, the man has trouble finding work or housing and faces blatant racism and terrible living conditions. African workers organize a union, hoping to find support from African bureaucrats in Paris, but soon finds them all to be corrupt and unwilling to help. The man befriends some White Parisians but finds that they have a continued condescending attitude of colonization towards third-world countries as well. With his identity crisis coming to a head, the man runs into the woods after the sound of drums calling him home.

Reviews

Pfaff, Françoise. "The Films of Med Hondo: An African Filmmaker in Paris." Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media. 2006. Accessed March 18, 2018. https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC31folder/HondoFilms.html.

 

Simonpillai, Radheyan. "Soleil O shines spotlight on Med Hondo." NOW Magazine. August 03, 2016. Accessed March 18, 2018. https://nowtoronto.com/movies/reviews/soleil-o-shines-spotlight-on-med-hondo/.

 

Elmi, Rooney. "Med Hondo is the African Auteur You Need to See." TIFF. August 01, 2016. Accessed March 18, 2018. https://www.tiff.net/the-review/med-hondo-is-the-african-auteur-you-need-to-see/.

Academic Articles:

Petty, Sheila. “The Archeology of Origin: Transnational Visions of Africa in a Borderless Cinema.” African Studies Review 42, no. 2 (1999): 73-86. doi:10.2307/525365.

Lizelle Bisschoff, David Murphy. “Africa’s Lost Classics: Introduction.” Screen 48, no. 4, 1 (2007), 493–499, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjm050.

Ukadike, N. Frank. “African Films: A Retrospective and A Vision for the Future.” Critical Arts7, no. 1-2 (1993): 43-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560049385310041.

Teshome H Gabriel. “Teaching Third World Cinema.” Screen 24, no. 2, 1, (1983), 60–65, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/24.2.60.

Pfaff, Françoise. “Five West African Filmmakers on Their Films.” Issue: A Journal of Opinion 20, no. 2 (1992): 31–37. doi:10.1017/S1548450500004303.