- Toronto Film Festival 2004: Generally ignored in most of the world, African cinema is the focus of Toronto’s Planet Africa sidebar. Titles include Ousmane Sembene’s Moolaadé and Black Girl; Darrell Roodt’s AIDS drama Yesterday; and Tom Hooper’s South African-set political drama Red Dust.
Toronto Film Festival 2004 places rare focus on African cinema; screenings include Ousmane Sembene’s Moolaadé and Black Girl
Usually ignored in most of the world, African cinema is the focus of no less than two 2004 Toronto Film Festival sidebars: “Planet Africa,” comprising five features and eight shorts, and “South Africa: Ten Years Later” (i.e., since the end of apartheid), which will also be screening five features.
One notable entry is veteran Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene’s most recent film, Moolaadé, a multi-country (Senegal, France, Burkina Faso, etc.) production about a Burkina Faso village woman fighting to save local girls from the horror of genital mutilation (a.k.a. “female circumcision”). The title refers to the magical “spell” the villager uses to protect the girls.
Initially known for his literary output, Sembene became a world-renowned director following the release of his landmark 1966 drama Black Girl / La Noire de …, acknowledged as the first feature by a sub-Saharan African filmmaker to be screened internationally. Black Girl is another Toronto 2004 presentation.
The story of a Senegalese woman hired as a maid in France, Black Girl is described as a parable about colonialism and independence. In the cast: Mbissine Thérèse Diop as the indomitable title character, and Anne-Marie Jelinek and Robert Fontaine as her less-than-empathetic bosses.
An aside: The original French-language title sounds like a pun on Max Ophüls’ 1953 classic The Earrings of Madame de… / Madame de…, starring Danielle Darrieux as the surnameless “Madame.”
South African cinema sidebar to screen first commercial Zulu-language feature
Featuring lots of international (mostly British and American) talent in key roles both in front and behind the camera, Toronto’s “South Africa: Ten Years Later” sidebar consists of the following: The political drama Red Dust, the AIDS drama Yesterday, the relationship comedy-drama Cape of Good Hope, the apartheid-themed drama Forgiveness, and the real-life-based drama Drum.
Directed by British filmmaker Tom Hooper, Red Dust stars Oscar-winning U.S. actress Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, 1999) as a New York-born, South African-raised attorney representing a local politician and apartheid era torture victim (British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Darrell Roodt’s Yesterday revolves around the title character (Leleti Khumalo), who comes down with AIDS after having contracted HIV from her husband (Kenneth Khambula). Yesterday is reportedly the first commercial feature shot in the Zulu language.
U.S. filmmaker Mark Bamford’s debut feature Cape of Good Hope chronicles the relationship issues of several Cape Town denizens, including the owner (Debbie Brown) of a dog rescue center, her secretary (Quanita Adams), and the Congolese refugee (Eriq Ebouaney) whose job is to clean cages.
In Ian Gabriel’s Forgiveness, an ex-cop (The Mummy actor Arnold Vosloo) must come to terms with his blood-soaked past. Cape of Good Hope’s Quanita Adams has a supporting role.
Swazi filmmaker Zola Maseko’s Drum is based on the life of investigative journalist Henry Nxumalo (played by U.S. actor Taye Diggs). Also in the cast: U.S. actor Gabriel Mann and British actor Jason Flemyng.
Update: Coincidentally, Terry George’s Rwanda-set political drama Hotel Rwanda – an Anglo-Italian-South African co-production not included in the “Planet Africa” sidebar – was the 2004 Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award winner.
“Toronto Film Festival 2004: African Cinema Spotlight” notes
Toronto Film Festival website.
Mbissine Thérèse Diop Black Girl image: New Yorker Video.
“Toronto Film Festival 2004: African Cinema Spotlight” last modified in March 2026.