Med Hondo’s explosive debut feature is a bitterly funny commentary on the treatment of immigrants and France’s dire colonialist legacy. Based on Hondo’s own migrant experience, Soleil Ô follows an African man (a composite Pan-African character played by Robert Liensol) in France who quickly becomes disillusioned by the racism and employment discrimination that keep him from opportunities in a new land. With stylistic influence from the contemporary New Wave movement, this imaginative, criminally underseen work showcases Hondo’s formal cinematic talent, unprecedented vision, and dedication to global movements of emancipation. Soleil Ô was selected at Cannes Critics’ Week and won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1970. In French with English subtitles. (102 mins., DCP)