Mandabi PG

From the archive

This film was last shown on 17 June 2021

The first feature ever made in an African language, Mandabi fulfilled director Ousmane Sembène’s dream “to restore Africa’s stories to Africans.” This stunning new 4K restoration brings it to the rest of the world.

Set in Dakar, Mandabi tells the story of Ibrahim (Makhouredia Gueye) and the transformative effect that a 25,000 franc money order from his nephew in Paris has on his fortunes. Word quickly travels about his new found wealth, while a thousand bureaucratic obstacles stand in the path between him and his money. Mandabi is a sprightly but stiletto-sharp satire on post-independence African nations and the shadow cast by colonialism.

Winner of the Grand Jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, Sembène’s adaptation of his own novella set a new course for African cinema: radical, anti-colonial and proudly independent in its methods.

The 8.15pm showing on Thursday 17th June will include a special pre-recorded discussion with Liz Chege (Director of Africa in Motion), Dr. Aboubakar Sanogo (Associate Professor in Film Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa) and Ivan Mbowa (East Africa General Manager of Tala for East Africa). The session features enlightening conversations on Sembène’s radical anti-colonial filmmaking and why the story of a man caught in a bureaucratic web is still relevant to Africa today.