''Mandabi'' (French: ''Le Mandat'', "The Money Order") is a 1968 film written and directed by Senegalese filmmaker
Ousmane Sembène. The film is based on Sembène's novel ''
The Money-Order'' and is the director's first film in his native
Wolof language. 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
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, Ibrahima Dieng, lives with his two wives and seven children in
Dakar. His nephew, Abdou, sends him a
money order
A money order is a directive to pay a pre-specified amount of money from prepaid funds, making it a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.
History
The money order system was established by a private firm in Great Britain in 1792 and was ...
from Paris worth 25,000
francs, 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
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
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, religion, corruption, and relationships in Senegalese society.
Remastered print
After the film had not been accessible to cinema audiences for years, it was
remaster
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
ed in
4K resolution
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K Ultra-high-definitio ...
and presented at the 2019
Lumière Festival in Lyon, France. In June 2021, this remastered version was shown in cinemas in the
United Kingdom.
Accolades
*
29th Venice International Film Festival 1968: Special Jury Prize
*Soviet Directors Prize from the 1968
Tashkent Film Festival
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
of African and Asian Cinema
See also
*
Cinema of Senegal
References
External links
*
''Mandabi: Paper Trail''an essay by Tiana Reid at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
{{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