''Mandabi'' (French: ''Le Mandat'', "The Money Order") is a 1968 film written and directed by Senegalese filmmaker

Ousmane Sembène Ousmane Sembène (; 1 January 1923 or 8 January 1923 – 9 June 2007), often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The ''Los Angeles Times'' consider ...

. The film is based on Sembène's novel '' The Money-Order'' and is the director's first film in his native

Wolof language Wolof (; Wolofal: ) is a language of Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer language, Serer and Fula language, Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian languages, Senegam ...

. Since most of the Senegalese population do not understand French, Sembène wanted to create cinema for Wolof speakers. This is believed to be the first full-length African language film from West Africa.

Plot

An unemployed Senegalese Muslim, Ibrahima Dieng, lives with his two wives and seven children in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

. His nephew, Abdou, sends him a money order from Paris worth 25,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

, which he has saved from working as a street sweeper. Ibrahima is to keep some of the money for himself, save a portion for his nephew, and give a portion to his sister. However, Ibrahima faces numerous difficulties trying to obtain the money order. Not having an ID, Ibrahima must go through several levels of Senegalese bureaucracy to try to get one, only to fail after spending money he does not have. Meanwhile, neighbors come over asking for money and Ibrahima is further indebted. In the end, he is swindled by Mbaye, his unscrupulous nephew, who promised to cash the money order for him. Mbaye sells Ibrahima's house to a French man and steals the money order, saying that he was pickpocketed. The film leaves Ibrahima in debt and without a home. The film explores themes of

neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, ...

, religion, corruption, and relationships in Senegalese society.

Remastered print

After the film had not been accessible to cinema audiences for years, it was remastered in 4K resolution and presented at the 2019 Lumière Festival in Lyon, France. In June 2021, this remastered version was shown in cinemas in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Accolades

29th Venice International Film Festival The 29th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 25 August to 7 September 1968. The May 1968 events in France had serious repercussions on this festival. Five days before the festival was to be held, directors of the Italian filmm ...

1968: Special Jury Prize *Soviet Directors Prize from the 1968 Tashkent Film Festival of African and Asian Cinema

References

External links

*
''Mandabi: Paper Trail''
an essay by Tiana Reid at the Criterion Collection {{Ousmane Sembène 1968 films 1968 drama films Films directed by Ousmane Sembène Films set in Senegal 1960s French-language films Senegalese drama films Wolof-language films French multilingual films 1960s multilingual films

Plot

Remastered print

Accolades

See also

References

External links