A new film by Senegalese director Ababacar Samb Makharam (whose first film, Kodou, was released in 1972), Jom was featured in the 1982 Cannes Festival Critics' Week as well as the Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series. Jom (the word means the origins of virtues, courage and respect) "updates the concerns of Black African cinema politically.... (It) begins in 1978, when a strike occurs in a factory. The strikers are supported by Khali, a troubadour, who tells them tales of griot, of the African past, in flashbacks to the turn of the century, on the fight against colonialism. As the strikers organise a march Khali addresses them, 'I say that riches as much as poverty can bring about jom, and it does not belong to any one person.' Political struggle and faith in jom and griot are mixed, says Samb, revising the comments he made at the time of Kodou: here he affirms a right to strike through the analogy of legitimate struggle against repressive colonial regimes. This appears almost as an eternal statement, even a principle, in relation to the history of Senegalese cinema since its origin around 1968. "Jom has its fine moments, particularly the languid Victorian ladies--all of them black--with parasols, strolling past horse carriages, perhaps with an intended sense of immobility about them. There is an effectual use of pastel colours throughout. "Jom should be shown widely...." --Lyle Pearson, International Film Guide

(Note: Edith Martin's Mahatma Gandhi: Twentieth Century Prophet substituted for Jom)