Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007) was a Senegalese writer and film director, a pioneering and fundamental figure in African cinema. He began his career as a novelist after working as a dockworker in Marseille, an experience that inspired his first book, *Le Docker Noir* (1956). His most celebrated novel, *Les Bouts de bois de Dieu* (1960), narrates the great railway strike of 1947-48. Believing that cinema could reach a wider audience, he turned to filmmaking. His first feature film, *La Noire de...* (1966), a powerful critique of neocolonialism, is considered the first film made by a director from sub-Saharan Africa and won the Jean Vigo Prize. His subsequent works, such as the political satire *Xala* (1975) and his final masterpiece *Moolaadé* (2004), which denounces female genital mutilation, earned him wide international recognition, including the Un Certain Regard prize at the Cannes Film Festival for the latter, consolidating his legacy as one of the continent's most critical and influential voices.