With the support of Institut français NL and van the IFcinéma programme from Institut Français.
Ibrahima Dieng, an unemployed man from Senegal, suddenly seems to have a stroke of luck when he receives a money order for 25,000 French francs from his nephew Abdu, who lives in Paris. The news of his sudden wealth quickly spreads among his neighbors. The money becomes the catalyst for total chaos, and his naivety causes everyone around him to take advantage of him. However, cashing the money order proves to be a real challenge due to a maze of bureaucracy, turning the piece of paper into a source of humiliation and decay.
Mandabi, the second film by pioneering director Ousmane Sembène, is based on his own novella. The film, primarily spoken in the Wolof language, marks a historic moment as the first commercially produced film in an African language. This work brought him closer to his dream of developing a cinema made by, about, and for the people of his home continent. The film offers a bitterly ironic portrayal of a society bearing the scars of colonialism and struggling with corruption, greed, and poverty.
Mandabi is one of the SUMMER SPECIALS at De Uitkijk, showing in June, July, and August of 2024.