You are here:

Mossane

Name: Mossane
Director: Safi Faye
Released: 1996
Duration: 105 min

Representation Score

4.9/10

Fair

1996

Director

Safi Faye

Runtime

105 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Mossane is a significant work of cinematic deconstruction that rejects Western narrative dominance. It succeeds by reconstructing the cinematic space to prioritize an African perspective rather than merely including diverse characters. The film provides a sophisticated exploration of women's ability to drive the story within a post-colonial framework. By centering the protagonist's psychological struggle against communal expectations, it offers a nuanced critique of traditional gender roles. While the film excels in racial and cultural authenticity, it lacks representation for LGBTQ+ identities and disability. However, its commitment to an indigenous worldview makes it a vital piece of non-Western centric storytelling.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Mossane have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses on traditional marriage and courtship within a rural Senegalese village. There is no depiction of LGBTQ+ identities or non-binary gender expressions.

How does Mossane portray gender?

Good

The narrative centers the internal lived experience of a female protagonist. It explores the psychological tension between communal matrimonial expectations and her individual role in driving the story.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Mossane?

Excellent

The film features an entirely Black cast and prioritizes an indigenous Senegalese worldview. It avoids an outsider perspective to present African social structures as the primary reality.

How does Mossane represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The story explores the tension between local traditions and the influences of the diaspora. It prioritizes communal ethics over Western individualistic or capitalist paradigms.

Does Mossane include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no prominent depictions of visible or invisible disabilities that drive the narrative.

Present on Screen

Authentic, non-Western centric storytelling with an entirely Black cast.
Sophisticated exploration of women's ability to drive the story and psychological tension.
Effective deconstruction of the colonialist gaze through an indigenous worldview.

Limited or Absent

Lack of representation for LGBTQ+ identities or non-assuming gender matches what was assigned at birth gender expressions.
No visible or invisible disability representation within the narrative.

Official Synopsis

A beautiful 14-year-old girl has just reached marriageable age in a village in Senegal. She has many suitors; however, she is in love a poor student who has returned to the village while the university is on strike. At birth, she had been promised in marriage to Diogoye, who went away to work in France. Diogoye, who supplied her parents with many things over the years, has now sent a dowry, and asked that she be married to him in the village in his absence; she would then be sent to France.

How are these scores produced? →