Histoires de petites gens

Geschichten von kleinen Leuten (Histoires de petites gens) lautet der Übertitel der unvollendet gebliebenen Trilogie des berühmten senegalesischen Regisseurs, Schauspielers, Schriftstellers und Komponisten Djibril Diop Mambéty. 1998 verstarb Mambéty, noch bevor er den ersten beiden Teilen – Hommagen an die Würde, Stärke und Anmut seiner Protagonist*innen – den abschließenden dritten Teil hinzufügen konnte.

Le franc

Stories of Ordinary People (Histoires de petites gens) is the title of the unfinished trilogy by the Senegalese director, actor, writer and composer Djibril Diop Mambéty. Mambéty died in 1998, before he could add the third concluding part to the first two - tributes to the dignity, strength and grace of his protagonists.

Mambéty's films are inextricably linked to Dakar. The musician Marigo (le franc = the frank one) also lives here, dreaming of his instrument, which his landlady has confiscated and will only give back when the rent is paid. When it turns out that Marigo has won the lottery, but the ticket is stuck on his front door, he carries it halfway across Dakar without further ado. Marigo's wanderings are embedded in a web of vignettes, scenes and sidelines that not only shape the rhythm of the film, but also open up the city.

La petite vendeuse de soleil

Sili Laam, slight and handicapped, doesn't let the paperboys who want to take her place as a newspaper vendor get her down. Unimpressed by obstacles, prejudices and the unwritten law that girls cannot sell newspapers, she fights for equality, respect and, last but not least, a better livelihood for herself and her grandmother. Mambéty described the film as a hymn to the courage and indomitable spirit of the street children of Dakar.