Le Mandat

One day, the postman brings to Ibrahima Dieng a letter from his nephew, a street sweeper in Paris, with a money order for twenty-five thousand CFA francs. In the neighbourhood known for its solidarity, the news spreads very quickly, and Ibrahima, generous, helps his family and neighbours with promises. But when he wants to collect the money at the post office, they ask him for his identity card, which he doesn’t have. And that’s the start of a Kafkaesque epic through the twists and turns of a venal and absurd administration…

Le Mandat is Ousmane Sembène’s first feature film in colour, a biting social fresco whose denunciation of bureaucratic gridlock will resonate around the world. A self-taught Senegalese, Ousmane Sembène, after several stays in France as a laborer, became a writer and filmmaker. His direction is informed by the Nouvelle Vague, Soviet cinema and above all neo-realism.

Camp de Thiaroye (BM16), La Noire de… (BM16), Moolaadé (BM16), Emitaï (Dieu du Tonnerre) (BM03)

Tamasa Distribution / France / Laurence Berbon / laurence@tamasadistribution.com