Emblematic Elusions: Eros in African Cinema Edition I

Emblematic Elusions: Eros in African Cinema portrays how African filmmakers redefine the Black form in the visual field from the wounded signifier to an embodied vessel for liberation. Using an erotic lens, each editionpresents a film essay analyzing a significant Black African film.

Edition I lays the foundation with Black African Cinemas first feature, La Noire de/Black Girl (Ousmane Sembne, 1966). It highlights the complex and quite erotic postcolonial relationship between Africa and Europe. The chapbook begins by offering the history of early African filmmakings emergence in the wake of political liberation movements. Senegalese auteur Sembne conveys his anti-imperialist stance through embodiment with
the protagonist Diouana and her disillusionment for a better life in France. Scenes of subtle eroticism, including African cinema's first kiss scene, underscore the ongoing tensions and the search for self-actualization in a postcolonial context. Edition I surveys Sembnes critique of the exoticization and objectification of the Black form; while delving into the deeply philosophical relation between eros and death.