Xala: dir Ousmane Sembène (1975)

This Senegalese satirical comedy, written and directed by Ousmane Sembène as an adaptation of his own novel, finds a corrupt government official cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage. He comes to realise it’s connecting with his embezzling, and it can be cured only by having the lowly of society spit on him … Adeptly combining elements of African folklore and popular cinema, Sembène has produced a hilarious, caustic satire of political corruption under an inept patriarchy.

Screens as part of a monthly film programme in Efie’s Rekord Gallery tracing the intertwined histories of African and Arab Liberation Cinema: “through a carefully curated selection of films, the series interrogates how revolutionary aesthetics, political struggle, and the diasporic imagination have shaped, and continue to shape, the language of cinema across continents”. It’s organised with Bootleg Griot, an independent public library project currently ensconced in the Rekord Gallery that is aimed at improving access to literature and print media – especially from writers and collectives of African descent.