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cinéma FRANCOPHONE cinema: Soleil Ô (dir. Med Hondo, 1970)

December 3, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
$11 – $14
Poster for Eric Fillion's curated series of Francophone cinema at the Bookshelf, featuring black text and sponsor logos on a white/grey background. A screenshot from each of the four films is present at the left side of the image.

IICSI Director Dr. Eric Fillion is curating a special Francophone Cinema film series at The Bookshelf Cinema (41 Quebec Street, Guelph). These French-language films (with English subtitles) push the boundaries of cinematic convention to explore urgent, timely topics. Intended for Francophiles and cinephiles alike, the fall 2025 program brings together a brilliant constellation of politically minded artists that straddled the line between cinema and literature amid turbulent times (1940s—1960s), voicing their opposition to war, imperialism, and the spectre of fascism while also enacting and articulating their vision for a better, more just and equitable society. 

The fourth film in the series (and final film of the Fall 2025 program) will be Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô (1970). See the film synopsis and specifications below. We hope to see you there for the season finale of this exciting film series!

The poster for Soleil Ô. Black and white with a photocopied cutout of a man's head shouting and wearing a hat, layered over each other to form a crowd of identical shouting men stretching back to the blank white horizon. Black and white text contains film taglines, accolades, credits and title in sketchy, hand-written font.Soleil Ô
Director: Med Hondo
Year: 1970
Country: France, Mauritania
Running Time: 102 minutes

A furious cry of resistance against racist oppression and a revolutionary landmark of political cinema, this feature debut from Mauritanian director Med Hondo is a bitterly funny, dazzlingly experimental attack on capitalism and the legacy of colonialism. Soleil Ô follows a starry-eyed immigrant as he leaves West Africa and journeys to Paris in search of a job, a community, and intellectual engagement—but soon discovers a hostile society where his very presence engenders fear and resentment. With this freewheeling masterpiece, Hondo crafts a shattering vision of awakening Black consciousness.

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