Xala(1975)
dir. Ousmane Sembène
Impotent in more ways than one.
Where to watch: Streaming on Criterion ChannelLetterboxd ↗
Newly installed in Senegal's post-independence business elite, El Hadji is struck impotent on the night of his third wedding — a curse he comes to suspect is punishment for the corruption and embezzlement that built his fortune. Adapted from Sembène's own novel.
Why it’s here
Punk in turning literal impotence into political indictment — the new Senegalese elite performing revolution while quietly keeping their old French patrons' interests intact. Pedagogical in showing how independence can be captured by the same corruption wearing new clothes.
Where This Film Lives
- Setting
- Senegal
Read Alongside
Books that share a topic, theme, or setting with this film.
Xala
Ousmane Sembène
Cursed on his wedding night. The cure is everything.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid
The tourist brochure, answered.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Ambiguous Adventure
Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Sent to learn the enemy's weapons. He loses himself.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
Dead Souls
Nikolai Gogol
The scam runs on dead serfs.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Brief History of Seven Killings
Marlon James
The night someone tried to kill Bob Marley.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Man of the People
Chinua Achebe
Nigerian farce. Written the year before the coup.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift
Eat the babies. Swift's ten-page masterclass in satire.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST
A Year of Biblical Womanhood
Rachel Held Evans
She followed the rules. The rules lost.
✦ READ – REFLECT → RESIST