Guelwaar

When Pierre Henri Thioune a.k.a. Guelwaar, a Christian and political activist, dies under suspicious circumstances, his body disappears from the morgue. His elder son, Barthelemy, who has returned from France for the funeral, enlists police officer Gora to find his father’s body. It turns out that it has been mistaken for the corpse of a prominent Muslimand immediately buried in a neighboring village. Guelwaar’s relatives and friends go there to claim the body. The family of the other deceased refuses to allow the body to be exhumed. While negotiations between the two religious communities are held, we learn more about the controversial life of Guelwaar. Finally Gora convinces the Imam to give the body back. On their way home, the friends and relatives of Guelwaar don’t miss the opportunity to turn one of his fiery speeches against foreign aid into action.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Script: Ousmane Sembene
Cinematography: Dominique Gentil
Editing: Marie-Aimee Debril
Sound: Ndiouga Mactar Ba
Music: Baaba Maal
Actors: Omar Seck (Gora), Thierno Ndiaye (Pierre Henri Thioune - Guelwaar), Mame Ndoumbe Diop (Nogoy Marie Thioune, his wife), Ndiawar Diop (Barthelemy, his elder son), Moustapha Diop (his second son), Marie
Production: Les Films Domirev
Producers: Ousmane Sembene, Jacques Perrin
Co-production: Galatee Films, FR3 Films Production & Channel 4 (UK) & WDR (Germany)
Art Direction: Francois Laurent Sylva, Moustapha Ndiaye
Costumes: Oumou Sy
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Senegal-France
Production Year: 1992
Duration: 115
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