Body of Work: Sarah Maldoror

Thursday, March 23rd and Friday, March 24th @ 7:00 PM

Respectfully regarded as the matriarch of African cinema, Scribe Video Center is pleased to present three films by Sarah Maldoror(1929-2020). A filmmaker of Guadeloupean and French descent, Maldoror is considered to be the first woman of color to make a feature film in Africa and is a crucial figure within world and revolutionary cinema. Her prolific body of work spans decades, and includes more than two dozen films. The films in this two-night series showcase Maldoror’s dedication to the camera as a tool for radical, feminist liberation. 

“I play a cultural role as filmmaker. What interests me is to research films about African history, because our history has been written by others, not by us.”

Friday, March 24 7:00 PM

Monangambéee (1968, Algiers, 16 min) After visiting her husband in prison, a woman entrusts him with a promise. However, a guard misinterprets the situation, and the couple is subjected to torture and interrogation.

Dessert for Constance (1981, France, 63 min)

This film showcases Sarah Maldoror’s comedic side, set in the 1970s, a Dessert for Constance follows émigré street cleaners Bokolo and Mamadou who, after stumbling upon a 19th-century cookbook, decide to enter a cooking competition.