Three African shorts

Three short fictional films which provide an interesting overview of the thirty year history of film making in Black Africa. In “Denko” (1992) a mother will do anything to allow her blind son to lead a normal life. Guinean film-maker Mohamed Camara shot Denko in Burkina Faso and played the lead role himself. “Borom Sarret” (1963) is the first film made by a Black African. Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene takes a critical look at the social gulfs between poor and wealthy Senegalese. Shot in black and white, the film examines the day of a cart driver whose cart is confiscated when he ventures into the modern residential area of Dakar.”Certifcat D’Indigence” (1981) follows a similar theme. Senegalese director Moussa Bathily tells the heart rending story of a penniless woman trying to obtain medical care for her sick child. She travels across the city but is met with indiferrence and pedantic bureaucracy.