Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

This sometimes harrowing, often delightful drama stands with his (Sembène) most compassionate, colorful, and artfully filmed works.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

The result: This great work of art has the potential to change the world.

The New York Times by Dana Stevens

To skip Moolaade would be to miss an opportunity to experience the embracing, affirming, world-changing potential of humanist cinema at its finest.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

A beautiful picture with a great heart, a classic-to-be with a common touch.

Washington Post by Desson Thomson

Moolaade, in short, is a movie to rock the soul.

Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is a masterwork by Ousmane Sembene, the 81-year-old father of African cinema and one of Senegal's greatest novelists.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

This was for me the best film at Cannes 2004, a story vibrating with urgency and life. It makes a powerful statement and at the same time contains humor, charm and astonishing visual beauty.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

It's worth stressing how deeply pleasurable Moolaad is to watch.

Dallas Observer by Melissa Levine

It's not easy to pull off a good morality tale. That's why Moolaad, the new film from 81-year-old Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembene, feels like such an exceptional success. Its moral center is painfully clear, but so is its humanity.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker

As empowering and triumphant a film as you'll see this or any year.

Village Voice by J. Hoberman

This has to be the most richly entertaining movie anyone has ever made on the subject of female genital mutilation.

Variety by Scott Foundas

This richly textured parable feels every inch the work of a master.

The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann

Sembène's love of his people and his commitment to the richness that underlies the poverty of their condition have always made his films gems of truth, as they do once again here.

New York Daily News by Jami Bernard

It's a deceptively simple tale that tackles, serenely and with surprising humor, issues of gender, power, custom and change.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Fatoumata Coulibaly's peformance is striking. She plays her character with a mixture of determination and compassion.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

As drama the film mostly serves to illustrate the two sides of this crucial social debate in Africa.

Film Threat by Phil Hall

Achieves the impossible in taking a genuine socio-political tragedy and turning it into an anvil drama which will fray the patience of the most sympathetic audiences.