The Curse

El Hadji Abdoukader Beye, a successful middle-aged businessman and member of the chamber of commerce in the new “socialist” government, is celebrating his third marriage. On the first night with his new wife he discovers that he is sexually impotent. Convinced that his affliction was caused by an unidentified person’s curse – the xala – Beye abandons everything, desperately searching for the cure. When he does find it, he fails to pay the witch doctor and the curse returns combined with total bankruptcy. In the end, Beye’s only hope to regain his manhood is to undergo a humiliating ritual held by a group of undesirables...
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Script: Ousmane Sembene, based on the novel by Ousmane Sembene
Cinematography: Georges Caristan
Editing: Florence Eymon
Sound: El Hadji M’Bow
Music: Samba Diabara Samb
Actors: Thierno Leye (El Hadji Abdoukader Beye), Seun Samb (Awa, the first wife), Younousse Seye ( Oumi, the second wife), Dieynaba Dieng (Ngone, the third wife), Miriam Niang (Rama), Douta Seck (Gorgul, the
Production: Societe Nationale de Cinematographie
Producers: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra
Co-production: Les Films Domirev (Senegal) & Ministere Cooperation (France)
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Senegal
Production Year: 1974
Duration: 128
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