Part of The Master, The Rebel, and the Artist: The Films of Ousmane Sembène, Djibril Diop Mambéty, and Moussa Sene Absa
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 4:00 p.m.

Introduced by John Akomfrah

Dir. Djibril Diop Mambéty. 1970, 56 mins.

Digital projection. With Laminé Ba. Mambéty’s first fiction film takes the viewer on a wild chase through Dakar’s streets. Badou Boy, who usually spends his time loitering on city buses, is forced to outrun an overweight policeman. Mambéty uses a blend of Chaplinesque physical comedy, psychedelia, mocking sociopolitical commentary, and extraordinary nonsynchronized sound. Like all of Mambéty’s films, Badou Boy upends the common perception of African cinema as predominantly realist and didactic.

Preceded by:
Contras City
Dir. Djibril Diop Mambéty. 1969. 22 mins. Digital projection. Mambéty’s first film is a deeply ironic and biting commentary on the divided city that was Dakar in 1969: on the one hand, colonial, affluent and pompous, on the other, indigenous and poor but genuine.

Free with Museum admission.

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