A Senegalese woman is eager to find a better life abroad. She takes a job as a governess for a French family, but finds her duties reduced to those of a maid after the family moves to the south of France. In her new country, she is constantly made aware of her race and mistreated by her employers.

Heralded as the first feature from a West African director, Ousmane Sembène’s award-winning, radical, and haunting debut feature powerfully critiques the colonialist mindset and Europe’s fetishization of Africa. Although nodding to the Nouvelle Vague, Black Girl marches to the beat of its own drum.