Safi Faye (1943-2023) was a Senegalese film director. She was the first Sub-Saharan African woman to direct a commercially distributed feature film, Kaddu Beykat, which was released in 1976. She directed several documentary and fiction films focusing on rural life in Senegal.
Safi Faye
Dakar, Senegal
Films
Mossane
Not currently available to stream
(1996)
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 with a poor student who has returned to the village while the university is on strike.
Selbe: One Among Many
Not currently available to stream
(1983)
This revealing documentary offers a rare view of daily life in West Africa. Shot in Senegal, Selbe focuses on the social role and economic responsibility of women in African society.
Fad'Jal
Not currently available to stream
(1979)
In Fad'jal, Safi Faye tells the story of a Serer village in the groundnut basin of Senegal. Using the words of their ancestors passed on by oral folklore, the villagers trace the history of their village and their difficulties in working their land and living off their produce.
Kaddu Beykat
Watch TrailerNot currently available to stream
(1976)
Ngor is a young man living in a Senegalese village who wishes to marry Columba. Ongoing drought in the village has affected its crop of groundnuts and as a result, Ngor cannot afford the bride price for Columba.
Kaddu Beykat is the first commercially distributed feature film directed by a woman from sub-Saharan Africa.
