Despite having made only two features and a handful of shorts, Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty is an influential figure in African cinema, particularly thanks to the offbeat classic Touki Bouki. In the 1990s, Mambéty was working on “Tales of Ordinary People,” a trilogy of short films. Unfortunately, only the first two installments, Le Franc (1994) and The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (1999) were completed before his untimely death, with the latter being released posthumously. These two shorts recently received 2K restorations by Waka Films, with the support of the Institut Français — Cinémathèque Afrique and the CNC at Éclair Laboratories.
Now Metrograph is making these restorations available to stream. Alongside them will be another short, the documentary Ninki Nanka, the Prince of Colobane (1991), directed by Laurence Gavron. Gavron’s first film, it was intended as a making-of about Mambéty’s second feature, Hyenas (1991), but she instead made it into an intimate profile of the multi-talented writer, director, poet, actor, and producer.
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Le Franc and The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun will stream together, with Ninki Nanka separate. The films will be available on demand for Metrograph members.
When: February 19 – March 4
Where: Online
More info available via the Metrograph website.
Source: Hyperallergic.com