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Touki Bouki

Retrospective 2023
© www.trigon-film.org
Nice, the Riviera, Corsica. Not tourist destinations, but slang for sections of the Dakar slums. They are home to the student Anta, daughter of a market woman. Her boyfriend, Mory, owns a motorcycle that sports a set of cow-horns. They dream of moving to Paris, that “corner of paradise” lauded in song by Josephine Baker. To pay for their passage, they commit two (failed) robberies, and eventually steal money, fancy clothing, and a vintage American car from a nouveau riche nabob. But once aboard the ship, an announcement sends Mory back to land … The film is a masterpiece of post-colonial cinematic modernism, influenced by the French and Brazilian New Waves. At its core are young people caught between tradition and the modern-day; herds of oxen and religious rituals stand in contrast to the slaughterhouse and big-city traffic jams. The film uses that culture clash to caricature a mindset still dependent on the former colonial powers, and to counter it with its own storytelling aesthetic. Director D.D. Mambéty said about Touki Bouki that they were making fun of themselves, of the Africans who are so addicted to Europe that they feel like strangers in their own country.
by Djibril Diop Mambéty
with Magaye Niang, Mareme Niang, Christophe Colomb, Moustapha Toure, Aminata Fall, Ousseynou Diop, Al Demba, Dieynaba Dieng, Assane Faye Senegal 1973 Wolof, French, Arabic 90’ Colour DCP: trigon-film, Ennetbaden, Switzerland

For the 2023 Retrospective, internationally renowned directors, actors, and screenwriters were asked to select their personal coming-of-age favourites.
Abderrahmane Sissako on his selection

With

  • Magaye Niang
  • Mareme Niang
  • Christophe Colomb
  • Moustapha Toure
  • Aminata Fall
  • Ousseynou Diop
  • Al Demba
  • Dieynaba Dieng
  • Assane Faye

Crew

Director Djibril Diop Mambéty
Screenplay Djibril Diop Mambéty
Cinematography Pap Samba Sow
Editing Siro Asteni, Emma Mennenti
Music Joséphine Baker, Mado Robin, Aminata Fall
Sound El Hadj M’bow
Art Director Aziz Diop Mambéty
Costumes Aziz Diop Mambéty
Producer Djibril Diop Mambéty

Produced by

Cinegrit Studio Kankourama

Additional information

DCP: trigon-film, Ennetbaden, Switzerland