Le Franc, The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun

press release: New Restorations

Senegal | 1994 | DCP | 44 min. | Wolof with English subtitles

Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Cast: Dieye Ma, Aminata Fall, Demba Bâ

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO SOLD THE SUN (LA PETITE VENDEUSE DE SOLEIL)

Senegal | 1999 | DCP | 45 min. | Wolof with English subtitles

Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Cast: Moussa Baldé, Lissa Balera, Aminata Fall

As the auteur behind Touki-Bouki and Hyenas, Djibril Diop Mambéty is a giant of Senegalese and African cinema. In the mid-1990s, Mambéty embarked on a planned trilogy entitled “Tales by Ordinary People,” though he only finished two before his premature death in 1998. This screening pairs these mid-length featurettes, both marked by a rich sense of humor, gorgeous street music, and an affectionate yet acute eye toward the poor and how they navigate cutthroat economies. In Le Franc, a penniless musician glues a lottery ticket to his door, hiding this splurge from his landlady—but when the ticket actually wins, he must rip the door off its hinges and trek into town. The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun’s title is itself a sly pun, for it follows a disabled street girl who sells newspapers (“Buy the Sun!”) on Dakar turf ruled by troublemaking boys. Each film’s plot possesses a parable-like simplicity, yet Mambéty conjures a sense of bustling, bounteous life, barely contained by the frame.

Screenings mostly take place at 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue. Once-a-month Sunday afternoon screenings take place at the Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Avenue. In accord with current UW Madison policies, masks are required for entry to our venues. All Cinematheque screenings are free and open to the public. Please visit our website for a complete listing of programs and descriptions from September 3 through December 18.

In addition to new copies of several restored movies showcased in our other series, Fall Cinematheque calendar is robust with one-off screenings of new digital preservations of several exciting titles from throughout international cinema history, including Luis Buñuel’s pitch-black satire The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz; Melvin Van Peebles’ produced-in-France debut feature The Story of a Three Day Pass; Jean-Louis Roy’s Swiss Cold War oddity, The Unknown Man of Shandigor; and two featurettes by one of Senegal’s leading cinematic voices, Djibril Diop Mambety.