Mandabi (1968) Blu-ray

Available for the first time in the UK - A stunning new 4k restoration of trailblazing director, Ousmane Sembène’s 1968 ground-breaking film Mandabi, the first ever feature length film in the African language of Wolof. Never released in the UK, Mandabi denounces an administrative system inherited from the colonial era and the rife corruption taking place for officials own personal gain.

Ibrahima Dieng receives a letter containing a money order for twenty-five thousand CFA francs from his nephew, a street sweeper in Paris. But the news spreads fast in his neighbourhood ... women, his neighbours and family see in this promise of money their escape. Ibrahima must then face a nightmarish foray into the corrupt and absurd world of Senegalese bureaucracy, which eventually leaves him even more miserable than he was before.

Extras

Shooting Mandabi - Silent Footage from British Pathé

Audio Commentary with Sembène! (2015) Filmmakers Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman

Interview with Alain Sembène

A Senegalese Story - Mandabi and the Birth of West African Cinema (Professor David Murphy)

A Date With Dakar - Looking Back at a Sembène Classic  (Film Curator Keith Shiri)

Conversation in Dakar with Author Boubacar Boris Diop and Sociologist Marie-Angélique Savané

Theatrical trailer

20-page booklet with brand-new essay from celebrated Sembène writer David Murphy