''Emitaï'' (, name of a Diola deity) is a 1971 Senegalese
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Ousmane Sembène
Ousmane Sembène (; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The ''Los Angeles Times'' consider ...
.
It was entered into the
7th Moscow International Film Festival
The 7th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 20 July to 3 August 1971. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian film ''Confessions of a Police Captain'' directed by Damiano Damiani, the Japanese film ''Live Today, Die Tomorrow!'' ...
where it won a Silver Prize.
The film is set in late
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, with the
Vichy government conscripting men from France's colonies. A revolt breaks out in a
Diola village where the women hide the rice crop harvest instead of submitting to the French tax. The resistance unfolds in the village simultaneous to the resistance fighting in metropolitan France. When the metropole is liberated, the Diola village sees portraits of
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
replacing posters of Vichy's
Marshal Pétain
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
, but circumstances of the village remain unchanged.
''Emitai'' was censored for five years in French-speaking Africa.
Cast
* Robert Fontaine as Commandant
* Michel Remaudeau as Lieutenant
* Pierre Blanchard as Colonel
See also
*
Cinema of Senegal
The cinema of Senegal is a relatively small film industry which experienced its prime from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, but has since declined to less than five feature films produced in the last ten years.
Cinematic history
Early films ...
*
Senegalese Tirailleurs
References
External links
*
1971 films
1971 drama films
Senegalese drama films
French drama films
Wolof-language films
1970s French-language films
Films directed by Ousmane Sembène
Films set in 1943
Films set in 1944
Anti-war films about World War II
Works about colonialism
Films set on the French home front during World War II
1970s French films
{{Senegal-film-stub