Sembène Ousmane was a writer and film director born in 1923 in the Ziguinchor region of French West Africa (now Senegal). Self-educated, he worked as a fisherman until he was drafted into the French army during World War Two. After the war, he returned to Senegal and participated in the 1947 railroad strike, on which he later based his novel God's Bits of Wood (1960).Ousmane was later invited to study at the Moscow Film School where he adapted his novels into film. He won numerous awards at Cannes Film Festival, Venice film festival, and the 7th Moscow International Film Festival, cementing his reputation as a director and leading figure in African cinema.Ousmane died in 2007.Translated from the French by Francis Price.
