Paulin Vieyra's Afrique sur Seine (1955)
Black Ethno-Fiction and French New Wave Prototype
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Abstract
This article attempts to write pioneering filmmaker Paulin Vieyra and his little-studied first film, Afrique sur Seine (1955), back into the history of French, African, and late colonial/early post-colonial cinema by exploring two interwoven threads. First, a close analysis of the film's technical and aesthetic affinities with the nascent French New Wave, particularly the work of ethnographer Jean Rouch; second, a contextualized reading of the film's anti-colonialist discourse and commentary on the status of Blacks in French society at the end of the colonial period, paying special attention to Vieyra's career arc, his political sensibilities, and the circumstances surrounding the film's production, extended disappearance from view, and reemergence.
Contributor Notes
Brett Bowles is Associate Professor of French and Media Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of Marcel Pagnol (Manchester University Press, 2012), as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters on social and political filmmaking in France between the 1930s and the present.