Considered the Father of African Cinema, the late Ousmane Sembene of Senegal is the subject of a series of screenings and discussions hosted by DePaul University’s Center for Black Diaspora.

All of the films are free and open to the public and will be shown at 3:30 p.m. in the Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., in the Rosati Room, 300.

A prolific writer and filmmaker, Sembene is considered to be one of the most successful African authors. His novels and films are centered on social change and address recurrent themes of colonialism, the failings of religion, the new African bourgeoisie and the strength of African women.

Feb. 6: “Mandabi” is the comedic story of a man who encounters the labyrinthine bureaucracy of a newly independent Senegal. Robert L. Adams Jr., an assistant professor of international studies, will lead the post-screening discussion of the film.

Feb. 13: “Black Girl” was inspired by a news story about a young Senegalese woman who is hired on the “maid market” in Dakar and taken to France, where she is invisible, isolated and alienated. Julie Moody-Freeman, an assistant professor of African & Black Diaspora Studies, will lead the discussion on the film.

Feb. 20: “Xala,” a comedy based on Sembene’s novel, follows the life of a political leader who is cursed with impotency on the day of his marriage. Fassil Demissie, a professor of public policy, will lead the discussion of the film.

For more information about DePaul’s Center for Black Diaspora, visit the center’s Web site at www.depaul.edu/~diaspora.