Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Now available on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection: criterion.com/films/33846-west-indies-the-fugitive-slaves-of-liberty
Mauritanian French firebrand Med Hondo puts colonialism itself on trial in WEST INDIES: THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF LIBERTY (1979), a one-of-a-kind musical spectacular of unprecedented scale and ambition that proved a watershed event in African cinema. Aboard an enormous mock slave ship, Hondo stages a series of imaginative reenactments and intricately choreographed musical numbers that trace the devastating effects of French imperialism across centuries of enslavement and injustice. Beyond mere extravaganza, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty is a stirring call to Pan-African independence and a dazzling yet critical reconception of an entire people’s history of oppression and rebellion.
Discover more about the great Mauritanian French filmmaker Med Hondo on the Criterion Channel, where two more of his wholly singular, fiercely experimental works–the explosive SOLEIL Ô (1970) and the epic SARRAOUNIA (1986)–are playing alongside WEST INDIES: THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF LIBERTY: criterionchannel.com/directed-by-med-hondo
Now available on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection: criterion.com/films/33846-west-indies-the-fugitive-slaves-of-liberty
Mauritanian French firebrand Med Hondo puts colonialism itself on trial in WEST INDIES: THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF LIBERTY (1979), a one-of-a-kind musical spectacular of unprecedented scale and ambition that proved a watershed event in African cinema. Aboard an enormous mock slave ship, Hondo stages a series of imaginative reenactments and intricately choreographed musical numbers that trace the devastating effects of French imperialism across centuries of enslavement and injustice. Beyond mere extravaganza, West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty is a stirring call to Pan-African independence and a dazzling yet critical reconception of an entire people’s history of oppression and rebellion.
Discover more about the great Mauritanian French filmmaker Med Hondo on the Criterion Channel, where two more of his wholly singular, fiercely experimental works–the explosive SOLEIL Ô (1970) and the epic SARRAOUNIA (1986)–are playing alongside WEST INDIES: THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF LIBERTY: criterionchannel.com/directed-by-med-hondo
