The author of two documentary and nine fiction films made over a period of twenty-five years, Ousmane Sembene is presently one of Africa's leading writers as well as the continent's best-known film director. His seminal films, by their very nature, content, and style, have left an indelible mark on the history of African filmmaking. Before launching his career as a writer and filmmaker, Sembene had worked as a mason, carpenter, mechanic, dock worker, union organizer, and had also served as a sharpshooter in the French colonial army during the Second World War.