Ceddo
Directed by Ousmane Sembene
Written by Ousmane Sembene
1977/Senegal
IMDb page
First viewing, YouTube
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
All religion seems to need to prove that it’s the only truth. And that’s where it turns demonic. Because that’s when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. — John Shelby Spong
Good insight into one African’s take on the slave trade and conversion to Islam. Unfortunately it moves very slowly and still I could not keep the characters straight.
The setting is in West Africa. The year is not given. One might think the story occurred in the 17th or 18th Century. The score feels very 1977.
“Ceddo” means outsiders. I don’t know which of the competing groups is referred to. Anyway, as the story start an imam and a large group of Muslims visit a tribal village. The people practice their native religion. Lines of heredity run from Uncle to nephew. The imam has his sites set on usurping the king and forcing the inhabitants to convert. The imam’s first movie is to have the King’s daughter Princess Dior Yacine kidnapped. He then slays the King and all of his potential heirs.
The imam basically gives the inhabitants two choices. They can convert to Islam and accept him as their leader or they will be sold to the slave traders (as represented by a trader and a priest sitting on the sidelines). The village will put up resistance.
I watched this on YouTube in a version that had English subtitles superimposed on the French subtitles so that neither could be read easily. I couldn’t catch the plot and the film lost me part way in. I imagine if I knew more about African history, I would have enjoyed the film more. It must have been very personal to the director as one of the Muslim converts receives the name “Ousmane” at the naming ceremony. The film was banned for many years in Senegal for portraying Islam in a negative light. I wouldn’t call this a must-see.
