Djibril Diop Mambéty

Djibril Diop Mambéty / Touki Bouki

Djibril Diop Mambéty. A Senegalese director and actor he was born in 1945. Although he only made a few films (two feature films, three medium-length films and two shorts) he made a substantial contribution to the evolution of African cinema, becoming the most representative and original filmmaker in the whole of the history of the cinema of sub-Saharan cinema. From a Muslim family, he studied theatre in the Senegalese capital and acted in the Troupe Nationale Daniel Sorano. He made his directing debut in 1968 with the short film Contras city. Touki Bouki (1973), his first feature film and masterpiece, in which the aesthetic research touches the most experimental and innovative levels, was edited in Rome, where the director was arrested for having taken part in an anti-racist demonstration and was released thanks to the intervention of friends and colleagues such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Sophia Loren. After this dramatic experience, sixteen years were to pass before his return to the cinema with Parlons grand-mère (1989), a short shot on the set of Yaaba (1989) by Idrissa Ouédraogo, an exemplary reconfirmation of his talent. Hyènes (1992), his second feature film, based on the play Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956) by F. Dürrenmatt was presented in competition in Cannes.