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Moi, un Noir (1959)
Moi, un Noir (1959) poster

Moi, un Noir (1959)

Moi, un noir

Documentary • 1h 10m

Director: Jean Rouch

Cast: Oumarou Ganda, Petit Touré, Alassane Maiga, Amadou Demba, Gambi, Seydou Guede, Karidyo Faoudou, Edmond Bernus

Best video & English-friendly release

HD Streaming

Updated 1 month ago


About the film

Winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc in 1958, "Moi, un noir" marked Jean Rouch's break with traditional ethnography, and his embrace of the collaborative and improvisatory strategies he called "shared ethnography" and "ethnofiction". The film depicts an ordinary week in the lives of men and women from Niger who have migrated to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire for work.

TSPDT
2025: #977
2024: #959
2023: #954
2022: #954
Alternative Titles
I, a Negro

More from Jean Rouch

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Directors: Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 2k transfer

More from Amazon

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TV series

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray announced

Best Video & Audio:

Japan Pony Canyon Blu-ray

Director: Robert Flaherty

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Amazon HD Streaming

Director: Shinji Aoyama

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Video Notes:

The master on Streaming is sourced from a new restoration with much better detail and no blown whites than AU Imprint Blu-ray, but unfortunately cropped in and not in proper sepia tones. Caps

Director: Frank Borzage

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Amazon US HD Streaming

Video Notes:

Amazon US HD Streaming is from the 2018 UCLA restoration. Olive Films Blu-ray is from an older scan and quite rough. caps

Best Audio:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Olive Films Blu-ray is again rough, with distortion, crackle and other issues, but sounds much more natural. With some EQ the restored track can be significantly improved

Director: David Butler

Video format: Only Unofficial Sources

Best Video:

The DVD isn't an official one, and according to a user review on Amazon:

This DVD comes from Archive.org, where the movie can be viewed for free. The original source, comes from the Fox Movie Channel

Director: Mariano Llinás

Best English-Friendly:

Germany Absolut Medien OOP Blu-ray

Best Video:
Video Notes:

Alternatively, HD Streaming on Apple TV or Amazon from Grasshopper

Director: Barry Mahon

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

SD: OOP Something Weird DVD

HD: Amazon Prime Streaming (with RiffTrax commentary)

Best Audio:

OOP Something Weird DVD

Director: Mark Sandrich

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Amazon HD Streaming

Video Notes:

IVC Japan Blu-ray is clearly from a higher generation film element and looks terrible. Comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/XUTwiv7B

Director: Harold Ramis

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original theatrical release featured the song "I'm So Excited", which was later replaced with "Little Boy Sweet". The former is included on 1983 VHS/LaserDisc releases, and was at one point available on Amazon and Vudu Streaming streams.

Director: Kiyotaka Oshiyama

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2026 Japan Avex Blu-ray

Video Notes:

The 4K Blu-ray is an upscale with strong sharpening. Caps

Best Audio:

2026 Japan Avex 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Includes original 5.1 and an Atmos remix. The HD disc only includes 5.1.

More Documentary on Blu-ray

Director: János Zsombolyai

4K · Disappointing
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Sony Music 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

AI upscale but color and HDR grading is improved as it's way more subdued see caps

Director: Vivian Kubrick

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono: 1999 WB DVD
5.1: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Werner Herzog

Best Video & English-Friendly:

2015 UK Lionsgate Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Directors: Frank Capra & Anatole Litvak

Best Video & English-Friendly:

US Periscope Blu-ray OOP

Director: Steve James

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray and UK Dogwoof Blu-ray probably similar

Director: Leos Carax

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Hal Ashby

4K · Solid
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.

Audio Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.

Director: Preston Sturges

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray extras

Video Notes:

While it's included on both Criterion The Palm Beach Story extras and Arrow's Sullivan's Travels' extras, Criterion uses a different source and is vastly superior, see caps

Director: Mitra Farahani

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

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· last reviewed 1 month ago

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