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Mandabi 

Ousmane Sembène  •   Senegal • ​  1968
92 mins  •  HD •  PG adult themes
In Wolof and French with English subtitles


A Senegalese man's life is turned upside down when he receives an impossible-to-cash money order from his nephew in France. Special Jury Prize, Venice. 

“A feast for the eyes and ears” – New York Times
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCREENPLAY: Ousmane Sembène
PRODUCTION CO: Filmi Domireve

PHOTOGRAPHY: Paul Soulignac
EDITORS: Gilou Kikoïne, Max Saldinger
WITH:  Makhouredia Gueye (Ibrahim Dieng), Ynousse N'Diaye (Méty the First Wife), Isseu Niang (Aram the Second Wife), Mustapha Ture (M'barka the Shopkeeper), Farba Sarr (Mbaye Sarr the Business Agent), Serigne N'Diayes (Imam), Thérèse Bas (Dieng's Sister), Mouss Diouf (Abdu the Nephew), Christoph Colomb (Water Peddler)

FESTIVALS: Venice

REVIEWS

“In Mandabi, from 1968, the Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène ranged widely through private and public settings in the capital city of Dakar to satirize corruption born of misrule.

The film is centered on the sixtysomething Ibrahima, the long-unemployed husband of two wives and the father of seven children, who receives a money order from a nephew in Paris. He’s supposed to cash it for the young man’s mother but, lacking the necessary documents, must endure a bureaucratic odyssey of bribery and favoritism to fulfill his duty.

Meanwhile, Ibrahima and his wives, who can barely feed their family, rely on the money order to get credit from local merchants as neighbors besiege them for loans and alms, and shady businessmen vie for the deed to their home. Unredressed inequality is reflected in cultural conflict between the Francophone élite, in Euro-style suits, and the Wolof-speaking masses.

Sembène looks ruefully yet tenderly at the ruses and wiles of the poor, whose desperate struggles – with the authorities and with one another – distract them from political revolt.”

— Richard Brody, New Yorker


“My relationship with African cinema began with Mandabi.” – Martin Scorsese


FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Wellington     
Monday, 27 March, 6.15pm

Tauranga  

Tuesday, 04 April, 6.00pm

Bigger Picture Ōamaru     

Thursday, 27 April, 7.00pm

Dunedin     
Wednesday, 03 May, 7.30pm

​
Canterbury
Monday, 22 May, 7.00pm

​Hamilton     

Monday, 26 June, 6.30pm

Auckland     
Monday, 03 July, 6:15pm

Nelson     
Tuesday, 11 July, 6.00pm

​Palmerston North     
Wednesday, 26 July, 6.00pm

Queenstown     
Tuesday, 22 August, 8.15pm

Whanganui     
Monday, 11 September, 7.00pm


AFRICAN CINEMA >>

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African Cinema is presented in
​co-operation with the Institut Français and the Embassy of France

Film Societies of Aotearoa New Zealand

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New Zealand Federation of Film Societies  |  PO Box 9544, Te Aro, Wellington, NZ  
Phone: +64 4 385 0162  |  Fax: +64 4 801 7304  |  Email: 
michael@nziff.co.nz
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • SOCIETIES
    • AUCKLAND
    • HAMILTON
    • TAURANGA
    • NEW PLYMOUTH
    • WHANGANUI
    • PALMERSTON NORTH
    • CARTERTON
    • WELLINGTON
    • NELSON
    • CANTERBURY
    • TIMARU
    • OAMARU
    • QUEENSTOWN
    • DUNEDIN
    • WESTPORT
  • 2023 SEASON
    • JAPANESE CLASSICS
    • AUSTRALIAN CINEMA
    • NEW YORK ON SCREEN
    • WORLD & DOCUMENTARY
    • CULT & CLASSICS
    • NZ FILM
    • FRENCH CINEMA
    • AFRICAN CINEMA
    • GERMAN CINEMA