I, a Negro

Name: I, a Negro
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1959-03-12
Duration: 70 min
Rating: 3.5
Cast: Amadou Demba, Seydou Guede, Gambi, Alassane Maiga, Karidyo Faoudou

Rating

3.5 (1)

Release Date

3/12/1959

Runtime

70 mins

Genres

Documentary

Overview

Winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc in 1958, "Moi, un noir" marked Jean Rouch's break with traditional ethnography, and his embrace of the collaborative and improvisatory strategies he called "shared ethnography" and "ethnofiction". The film depicts an ordinary week in the lives of men and women from Niger who have migrated to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire for work.

Status

Released

Original Language

French

Budget

Revenue

Homepage

How It Feels

Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.

A groundbreaking documentary that dissolves the boundary between observation and performance, following migrant workers as they navigate daily life while occasionally slipping into fantasy and imagined futures. The result feels less like a study *of* people and more like an invitation *into* their consciousness.

Mood

WistfulContemplativeIntimate

Themes

MigrationIdentityMemorySurvivalColonialism

Tone

Earnest

Pacing

Meditative

Look

Documentary-likeHandheld

Structure

Ensemble

Oumarou Ganda

Edward G. Robinson

Petit Touré

Eddie Constantine

Alassane Maiga

Tarzan

Amadou Demba

Elite

Gambi

Dorothy Lamour

Seydou Guede

Le facteur

Karidyo Faoudou

Petit Jules

Edmond Bernus

L'italien

Reviews

nicolascagegoons

Aug 27, 2026

it both portrays the emotions of these people and also their hunger for seeking a better life. im sure if you read many reviews of this film you'll be seeing the fact that this directed by a white man multiple times but also the fact that its suprisingly not THAT exploitative of the lives of the people.
there is an argument to be made that a lot of films, intended or not, are exploitative but im not gonna dabble in there for this this film because personally i still found myself liking the semi fictional story but all to real community enjoyeable to watch as their spirit remains on screen for all 70 min.