Ousmane Sembène’s Dark Comedy ‘Mandabi’ 4K Restoration Trailer

“When you owe, you have to pay.” Janus Films has revealed a stunning 4K restoration trailer for the classic Senegalese film Mandabi, also known as The Money Order. This originally premiered in 1968 in France, then played at the New York Film Festival in 1969. It was the second feature film made by award-winning Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, who passed away in 2007. It has been fully restored and will be getting a “virtual” re-release this month. The film is about a money order from a relative in Paris that throws the life of a Senegalese family man out of order. He deals with corruption, greed, problematic family members, the locals and the changing from his traditional way of living to a more modern one. Described as “a darkly humorous satire of Kafkaesque bureaucracy and corruption.” Starring Makhouredia Gueye as Ibrahima Dieng. This looks better than ever. And as always, now it’s the best time to catch up with this one.

Here’s the new 4K restoration trailer (+ poster) for Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi, direct from Vimeo:

Full description from Janus: “This second feature by Ousmane Sembène was the first movie ever made in the Wolof language-a major step toward the realization of the trailblazing Senegalese filmmaker’s dream of creating a cinema by, about, and for Africans. After jobless Ibrahima Dieng receives a money order for 25,000 francs from a nephew who works in Paris, news of his windfall quickly spreads among his neighbors, who flock to him for loans even as he finds his attempts to cash the order stymied in a maze of bureaucracy, and new troubles rain down on his head. One of Sembène’s most coruscatingly funny and indignant films, Mandabi- an adaptation of a novella by the director himself- is a bitterly ironic depiction of a society scarred by colonialism and plagued by corruption, greed, and poverty.” Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi, also known as The Money Order, originally premiered in 1968 in France, played at the 1969 New York Film Festival, then opened in US theaters in early 1970. Janus Films will re-release Sembène’s Mandabi restored in 4K in “virtual cinemas” starting on January 15th, 2021 this winter. For info on how to watch, visit their website.