Ousmane Sembene

I am really unable to talk about my life - I don't know my life. I've travelled a lot and this is…

— Ousmane Sembene

“Ever since they left Thies, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another…

— Ousmane Sembène

The only way for us to come out of poverty is to work hard. Poverty means begging throughout the world.

— Ousmane Sembene

“Real misfortune is not just a matter of being hungry and thirsty; it is a matter of knowing that there are people…

— Ousmane Sembène

I think cinema is needed throughout Africa, because we are lagging behind in the knowledge of our own history. I think we…

— Ousmane Sembene

It isn't those who are taken by force, put in chains, and sold as slaves who are the real slaves; it is…

— Ousmane Sembene

Actually, even our virility depends on the gaze and the control of women. Without women, we cannot do anything. I think it's…

— Ousmane Sembene

The development of Africa will not happen without the effective participation of women. Our forefathers' image of women must be buried once…

— Ousmane Sembene

However long it stays in the river the tree-trunk will never turn into a crocodile.

— Ousmane Sembene

Nobody can deny that we have a lot of wars going on; brothers killing brothers; we have a lot of diseases and…

— Ousmane Sembene

“A cool breeze laden with iodine blew in from the sea.”

— Ousmane Sembène

In our society, talking about sex is still a taboo, and of course many village chiefs don't want to hear about that…

— Ousmane Sembene

“At the moment the eyes of the body closed, the eyes of the mind were opened.”

— Ousmane Sembène

I think what we need is goodwill because now our struggle is harder because it is an economic struggle. And now Europe…

— Ousmane Sembene