Kathy Geritz, film curator at Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, discusses the films of Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety with host Richard Wolinsky. A series of films by and about the director run from Friday, January 21st through Sunday February 6th.
Djibril Diop Mambety (1945-1998) directed two features, Touki Bouki and Hyenas, and a handful of short subjects, but despite his limited output, his singular style and bold looks at Senegalese life and the divisions between wealthy and poor, and the legacy of colonialism make him a major figure in world cinema and, of course, African cinema.
These films, plus documentaries about the life and work of Mambety, are being shown on different nights at BAM/PFA.
Touki Bouki and his first short, Contras City, can be found on the Criterion app. Hyenas, two of his shorts, Le Franc and The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun, along with a documentary, A Thousand Suns, are on the free Kanopy app from local libraries. A look at the making of Touki Bouki, The Prince of Colobane, is available on YouTube.
Cover photo from Touki Bouki.