Guelwaar

Infobox Film
name = Guelwaar


caption =
director = Ousmane Sembene
producer = Ousmane Sembene
Jacques Perrin
writer = Ousmane Sembene
starring = Abou Camara
Marie Augustine Diatta
Mame Ndoumbé Diop
Moustapha Diop
music = Baaba Mall
cinematography = Dominique Gentil
editing = Marie-Aimée Debril
distributor = New Yorker Films (US)
released = 1992
runtime = 115 mins.
country = flag|Senegal
FRA
GER
language = French
Wolof
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 132938
imdb_id = 0104373

"Guelwaar" is a political satire by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene. The film expresses Sembene's thoughts on cultural genocide, AIDS, and corruption.

Plot

The story centers around the funeral services of the outspoken Pierre Henri Thioune or Guelwaar (meaning Noble One) as his friends and family call him. Guelwaar was a prominent Catholic who believed that most of his country's problems stemmed not from racism or colonialism, but from the losing of self-respect by accepting food and supplies donated from richer countries. Guelwaar maintained that these hand-outs have enslaved his people by causing corruption amongst those who exploit the international good-will for their own gain. The international aid destroyed Senegal's economy. Corrupt officials promote continued tension between Muslims and Catholics to keep the people fighting. Guelwaar's inflammatory opinions may well have caused his mysterious death. Afterward many important people come to visit the deceased's surviving family which is comprised of Nogoy Marie, his wife, Sophie, his daughter who sells her body in Dakar, and Barthelemy, his eldest son who loves the French and lives in Paris. His second son, Aloys is crippled and lives with his mother. All gather to mourn Guelwaar's death. The trouble begins when his corpse suddenly disappears from the town funeral home. Barthalemy calls the police and Officer Gora, a Muslim is sent to investigate. Gora is no fan of Guelwaar and his suspicious activities, but he always respected him. He despises Barthelemy because he has abandoned his culture in favor of French to the point that he refuses to speak anything but French. Tensions in town mount as rumors fly about the reason for the corpse's disappearance. But then Gora discovers that Guelwaar's body was accidentally buried in a Muslim cemetery and had nothing to do with ideological differences. Still, this is not the end, for now the Catholics want his body back for a proper burial while the Muslims refuse to defile their sacred burial ground by digging up the corpse.

External links

*imdb title|id=0104373