Four: Cinema Wolof-II
May 12, 2008 - May 12, 2008
Cinema Wolof: The little girl who stole the sun, Mambety's last film from his unfinished trilogy, 'tales of the little people.'
If Sembene was considered the father of african cinema, then Mambety, would be the cult guru (some have even called him the 'Dionysius' of African Cinema.) Baba Diop, well-known African film critic and friend of Mambety's (currently working on his biography) introduced the screening of Le Petit Venduese du Soleil, a gem from Mambety's short film repertoire. This was Mambetys last film, (he died while editing it) and was part 2 of what was to be a trilogy called tales of the little people.
Usman, a vendor in the market with a powerful 'ghetto blaster' with a FM tuner and meat skewer antenna provided his bit of 'charge' by loaning it to us. Sound was distributed as always over 103.FM.
Baba Diop greeted the audience and said: Mambety believed that cinema was in everyone's eyes, all we had to do was close them, think, rub our eyes and then open them and they would be able to "see" cinema...The kids chanted after him... 'rub, rub, rub and open your eyes...'
After the film, Diop and Modibo D'iaware conversed with the children, some felt guilty at watching Sili being laughed at by the other boys for being crippled, others said that happens all the time and they admired her courage and heart.
As promised, we were to screen some Bollywood songs, as part introduction to where "we come from". Bambai nagariya, Khaike pan Benaras, and Main hoon Don had been shown prior to Mambetys 'soleil' with a promise of a hindi film, for the next soiree. Much of this (Bollywood from the 70s and 80s) is very familiar to the audience.
