2 Photos
A scene from Djibril Diop Mambéty's 1994 film “Le Franc.”
A scene from Djibril Diop Mambéty's 1999 film “The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun.”
Sag Harbor Cinema is collaborating with the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center (BHCCRC) and the Black Film Festival to highlight the work of Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty, the son of a Muslim cleric and member of the Lebou tribe who made only two feature films — his 1973 debut, “Touki Bouki,” and “Hyenas” (1992) — before his untimely death at 53. His brief, but stunning, filmography also includes a handful of shorts.
The program chosen for this collaboration, “MAMBÉTY x 2,” begins Thursday, August 5, with a 7 p.m. screening that includes two medium-length films shot in the Djakarta suburb of Colobane, where he was born, during the final years of his life. “Le Franc” (1994) and “The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun” (1999) were initially meant to lead off a trilogy to be titled “Tales of Ordinary People,” about the everyday men and women who he called “the only truly consistent, unaffected people in the world, for whom every morning brings the same question: how to preserve what is essential in themselves.”
“Mambéty was known as The Poet of African Cinema. His lyrical style, his ear for satire, his passion for social engagement, and his love for the French Nouvelle Vague are ever so evident in these two late films,” said Sag Harbor Cinema’s artistic director, Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan. “I am very happy to have an opportunity to introduce to our audience the work of this master.”
“I am excited to begin our partnership with the Sag Harbor Cinema. Our Black Film Festival, which began last year, is a perfect extension of The Center’s ‘Thinking Forward Lecture Series’” added Bonnie Michelle Cannon, BHCCRC executive director. “The festival is an opportunity to shed light on different cultures and their life experiences. It allows us to continue The Center’s outreach to our community. The only way that we are going to come together is to learn more and to spend time with each other.”
Tickets for the double feature are available at sagharborcinema.org. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor.
Staff Writer on Aug 3, 2021