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KEMTIYU

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Credits

Name: KEMTIYU

Country: Senegal

Year of publication: 2016

Format: Blu-Ray

Color: color and b/w

Language : OF m. engl. UT

Duration: 94 Minuten

Direction: Mbaye, Ousmane William

Screenplay: Mbaye, Ousmane William

Editing: Attali, Laurence

Sound: Rene, Myriam; Tsigali, Michel

Abstract

“The Universal Man”, “The Giant of Knowledge”, “The Last Pharaoh” – these were the headlines on 7 February 1986, the day on which Cheikh Anta Diop died. Diop was one of West Africa’s most important intellectuals, and the university in the Senegalese capital Dakar was named after him. Thirty years later, KEMTIYU paints a portrait of the “trail-blazing scholar”, who provided evidence of the advanced civilisation in Ancient Egypt having been founded by Black Africans, and who was thus venerated by some (in Africa), decried by others (in Europe), and unknown to most. This film hopes to change that and tells the story of a man who spent his entire life fighting the racial prejudices of European scholars and politicians, crusading for greater recognition of African history and culture, and fighting for his continent’s dignity.

The film won the Best Documentary award at this year’s FESPACO in Ouagadougou. FilmInitiativ’s screening of the film carries on the work of the “Fake Democracy” DialogFORUM at the africologneFESTIVAL in June 2017, which – with references to Cheikh Anta Diop – explored African identity and self-assertion.