Cinema of Senegal
Mambéty's earliest film, a short entitled Contras City (1968), contrasted cosmopolitanism in Dakar's baroque architecture against the poverty-stricken areas.In 1970 Mambéty released his next short, Badou Boy, another cynical look at Senegal's capital which depicts a non-conformist individual against a heavily caricatured policeman who pursues him through comedically improbable scenarios.Mambéty's feature-length debut, Touki Bouki (The Hyena's Journey) in 1973, which commentators consider his most dynamic representation of hybridity and social isolation and juxtaposition in Senegal, was made with a budget of $30,000, ironically partly funded by the Senegalese government.The film features lovers, Mory and Anta, who symbolically fantasize about fleeing Dakar for a romanticized France, representing the changing situation in Senegalese society and the transition to a new era.The film heavily satirizes corruption in African politics since independence with El Hadji's impotence symbolizing the failure of many of the governments to overcome greed.She obtained financial backing for Kaddu Beykat from the French Ministry of Cooperation and it became the first feature film made by a Sub-Saharan African woman commercially distributed and receiving international recognition.Directors such as Sembene were wealthy enough to continue making films, following on with Camp de Thiaroye (1987), and Guelwaar (1992) but the country lacked the domestic resources and finance needed to develop the industry and fulfill its potential.In 2000 he directed Faat Kiné which provided an important critical insight into modern, post-colonial Senegal and the role of women in that society.The film addresses themes of pregnancy out of wedlock and adultery and also examines the contrasts between the middle and lower classes and poverty with the uneven distribution of wealth and modernity, and struggles in values between past and present in Senegal.
Frenchfilm industrySenegalAfrican cinemaFrancePaulin VieyraAfrique-sur-SeineOusmane SembèneBarom SarretBlack AfricanLa Noire de...Prix Jean VigoWolof languageEmitaïDjibril Diop Mambétysocial realisthybridityTouki Boukiblack comedyKaddu BeykatSafi FayeNew Yorker FilmsimpotentJean RouchÉcole pratique des hautes étudessound effectsUniversity of ParisSub-SaharanFIPRESCIBen Diogaye BèyeGenevapolygamyLocarno Film FestivalPan-African Film FestivalsCamp de ThiaroyeGuelwaarMoolaadéFemale circumcisionFaat KinéCannes Film FestivalFESPACOOuagadougouBurkina Fasofemale genital mutilationBéninMadagascarBen Diogaye BeyeAlassane DiagoAbabacar Samb MakharamKhady SyllaMahama Johnson TraoréPaulin Soumanou VieyraMansour Sora WadeMoussa Sene AbsaAlain GomisList of Senegalese filmsBorom SarretMandabiBadou BoyJom or the History of a peopleLa PirogueFélicitéMedia of SenegalCinema of the worldCinema of AfricaLos Angeles TimesThe GuardianBBC World ServiceBritish Broadcasting CorporationAfrica World PressUkadike, Nwachukwu FrankUniversity of Minnesota PressWayback MachineFilms by yeararticlesHistoryRegional historyMali EmpireTrans-Saharan slave tradeFrench conquestFrench West AfricaAfrican slave tradeBritish invasionMali FederationSenegambiaSenegambia ConfederationBorder WarBissau-Guinean Civil War involvementGeographyCasamanceClimate changeEnvironmental issuesCitiesIslandsNational parksRiversWildlifeWorld Heritage SitesPoliticsAdministrative divisionsCasamance conflictConstitutionCourt of Cassation (judiciary)ElectionsForeign relationsHuman rightsLaw enforcementMilitaryChief of the General StaffParliamentPolitical partiesPresidentPrime MinisterEconomyAgricultureEnergyFranc (currency)HousingTelecommunicationsTourismTransportUnionsAbortionDemographicsEducationEthnic groups