Week 7: Soleil O (DCP)

Dir. Med Hondo(1970); French-Mauritanian, 98m

Starring: Robert Liensol, Théo Légitimus, Ambrose M’Bia

Programmed by: Owen Peterson

Friday, November 12th at 7:00PM & 9:30PM
Saturday, November 13th at 7:00PM & 9:30PM
Sunday, November 14th at 3:00PM

A powerful upheaval against colonialism, racism, and anti-immigration approached with relentless ferocity and wit, Med Hondo’s stunning debut film, Soleil O, is as pensive as it is cynically humorous. Detailing the story of immigrants’ experience after departing West Africa for France, the unnamed main character’s (Robert Liensol) enthusiasm for new beginning is quickly stifled as he is confronted by the crude, discriminatory ways of white employers, landlords, and members of the general population. It is Hondo’s masterful writing and direction in Soleil O that perfectly deconstructs the frameworks of its oppressors through many styles and avenues, demanding a reimagining of the world’s social and economic power systems.