Djibril Diop Mambety & the Legacy of the Evasive Second Feature

Written by SnacksTheSpectator

2/4/23

Dakar, Senegal is home to a well-renowned film history. A number of prolific directors emerged from the city such as Ousmane Sembene and Safi Faye, but one director’s films, more specifically his debut film, relishes as a fixture in popular culture fifty years after its release. Touki Bouki (1973) directed by Djibril Diop Mambety was rereleased by the World Cinema Project in 2007, which gave the film tremendous exposure. This mission was created by Martin Scorsese to preserve films around the world. In 2018, *Beyonce and Jay-Z copied the iconic image of Mory and Anta on their motorbike for the On the Run II tour. With this newfound success in the 2000s, one can’t help but speculate: why did it take so long for Mambety’s sophomore film to come out? Was it hard for his team to secure a formidable budget? Was he dealing with severe personal anxieties as an artist? I aim to find these answers as this director’s film career serves as a trailblazer in more ways than one. A legacy of black filmmakers across the world encountered similar tribulations: creating a masterpiece of a debut film then chasing the evasive second feature.

Throughout Mambety’s career, he released seven films. Two feature films: Touki Bouki (1973) and Hyenas (1992), and four short films: Contras City (1968), Badou Boy (1970), Le Franc (1994), and La Petite Vendeuse De Soleil (2000). Clearly, it was a difficult task for Mambety to make films whether there was a financial issue in lack of fundraising or it is possible that he simply did not want to make a lot of films. No matter the case, fans always struggle to understand why their favorite artists will not drop more art. For example, in the world of music, fans of Frank Ocean, Rihanna, Sza, Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo fiend for new creations no matter the quality. We handed these creators our unwavering loyalty, all we asked for was new content in return but for whatever reason they slowed down or stopped making art at the rate they once did.

Anyone who has worked on a film set or tried to make a film of their own knows that cinema is an expensive medium. Workers on a film set know this because they have to feed themselves and their families. No matter the equipment, every professional deserves fair pay and, similar to football or soccer, there are a lot of players on the team which makes for a large budget. African cinema was born in the 1960’s and the directors sought fundraising in African countries as well as European countries. 

Mambety’s first film ever released was Contras City, the only production company listed is Kankourama. His second film released was Badou Boy, in which production companies listed are Maag Daan and Studio Kankourama. Next up, the proverbial debut feature film: Touki Bouki, which companies listed are Cinegrit and Studio Kankourama. Based on the common denominator in all of these films: Studio Kankourama, we can assume this company was Mambety’s production company or a close collaborator. His next feature would come nearly twenty years later: Hyenas, which companies listed are Maag Daan, Thelma Film AG, and ADR, Film Company Amsterdam, George Reinhart productions, and plenty more companies, majority of which are European. Given the massive gap in between his two films, and after such an explosive debut, it is a mystery why a promising director would have to wait so long then eventually when he gets another chance, it is with an adapted script of a swiss play, with an overhaul of swedish production companies financing the film? In other words, why did Mambety have to include these eurocentric aspects in the packaging of his second film? As stated earlier, film is an expensive medium and far too many times in the past original African storytelling was dismissed as not having international appeal therefore it was not considered a sound investment. This ignorance posed an obstacle for a number of black filmmakers. 

Specifically in America, this legacy had a tendency to reappear as black filmmakers struggled to find financiers for their next endeavor. A few examples include Julie Dash, Charles Burnett, Haile Gerima, Matty Rich, Leslie Harris, Theodore Witcher, and many more. We know these artists went to great lengths to write a feature script, make it practically on their own dime and their art even garnered tons of acclaim. But for whatever reason, the powers that be prevented or neglected cinema created by black artists. Cinema is the only art form that combines all of the mediums of art and is also one of the most accessible visual art forms as a consumer. The representation that cinema provides for a community is colossal, as a child is able to visualise on the big screen an ambitious protagonist that looks similar to themself or their elders. Since this impact is so influential, it appears simple why the gatekeepers would ignore these talented black filmmakers: to affect representation as well as the variety of economic benefits that come with a successful movie. As we move into the streaming age, the current black filmmakers stand on the shoulders of the past artists that did not have the same resources. Mambety’s most immediate impact is felt in this generation as his niece, Mati Diop, continues to make dazzling films with scorching social commentary.

A great number of artists stand in the way of their full potential. Art is a one person sport except it calls on the creator to pull on emotional muscles instead of physical in most cases. An artist can go at any rate they please because they have full autonomy, it starts and ends with their ideas. This freedom can also turn out to become a sort of prison because it starts and ends with the artist: their drive, determination, emotional and physical health. Mambety’s perspective on art might reveal reasons for his spotty career, “Photography is a death, a frozen moment.”, he stated in an interview with Simon Njami in 1991, “When you take a picture you can never retake it, because time has gone by. When you know a gesture lasts for generations... and a photo yellows... Film is a little cowardly as well, because what I said for photography holds true for film too”. The director expressed this view the year before his second feature film would drop nearly twenty years after his debut. Perhaps Mambety’s ideas about photography and film were inspired by an artist's natural self-deprecatory view of their old work. Having to watch his debut film for a couple of decades, knowing he could have done a better job on the next film must have made him feel some type of way. In the same interview, Mambety stated, “Everything led me toward cinema, but my personal style got in the way of becoming a professional filmmaker. If I didn't make one film right after the other it's because I really didn't want to. Nor was it the industry which prevented me from making more. I almost started feeling guilty one day, I told myself I should have made more films…That's why I went into film, not to tell stories... I was distracted for a while by social as well as personal considerations. And when you see how films are distributed in Africa you wonder if filmmaking is really the best way to reach people.” So there we have it. I got the answer to my question. I’ll take his word for it, he didn’t make one film after another because he really didn’t want to. As a fan it is a hard reality to accept but before we do, let’s dig a bit more. 

The answer to our question was revealed in Njami’s interview, but there is one last piece of the story that deserves investigation. In the last sentence of the previous quote, Mambety stated, “And when you see how films are distributed in Africa you wonder if filmmaking is really the best way to reach people.”. Quickly, let’s try to uncover how films were distributed in Africa during this time. “Most notable Senegalese films of the sixties were made possible by French production money, the government formed the Société National de Cinéma, an adjunct of the Ministry of Culture, in 1973, to nurture local production and subsidize Senegalese filmmakers. But even this organization was marred by the fact that, although it funneled money to homegrown directors, it failed to provide financial support for a local film infrastructure, meaning that the industry was still dependent on France for purchasing film stock and renting equipment, as well as for film processing and editing facilities. Many of these facilities eventually closed—including the one that housed the materials needed for the restoration of this print of Touki bouki—and an important cinematic legacy became endangered.”, Richard Porton stated in an article in 2013. The Senegalese government formed an organization to grow their cinema culture in the same year Mambety made his first feature film, then it collapsed as stated in the quote. 

Fast forward to the time of the interview, Mambety’s second feature film is close to its release date and two years prior, the esteemed director put his celebrity aside and followed rookie director Idrissa Ouédraogo around filming the film set of Yaaba (1989). It’s possible that watching this young filmmaker as well as his peers like Ousmane Sembene, who consistently made films every few years, inspired Mambety to get back into the game. Sembene had this to say about one of his most celebrated films: Le Mandat (1969), “this money which enabled me to find a French producer and make my film, or refuse the money and not make the film. It is very clear, very simple, just as two and two make four. If an African country had proposed a budget, I would have accepted it joyfully.” he stated about working with a French financier. Perhaps this was the element Mambety was referring to about the production and distribution of African films: having to make these afrocentric films with European money. 

That wasn’t Mambety’s specific problem though, he specifically says “how films are distributed in Africa”. “When it came out in 1973, Touki Bouki was panned by the Senegalese public and press. Yet 45 years on, it deserves to be regarded as one of Africa’s finest films”, Djia Mambu articulated in 2018. Why didn’t the people of Senegal like the film? Artists are often lightyears ahead of their time since they create a story out of thin air. Most ideas explored in art tend to reappear throughout time as artists study the human condition which can be cyclical. The Senegalese government was strict on cinema as they banned Camp de Thiaroye (1988) directed by Ousmane Sembene when it came out, which leads us to believe the authorities might have had an aversion to revolutionary concepts. The true test of a work of art is how it stands the test of time and we surely appreciate Mambety’s creations fifty years later. Whether it was external or internal conditions that got in the way of more feature films, the art that Djibril Diop Mambety contributed to our world society has left an indelible imprint on cinema forever. 

Whether movie theater fanatics like it or not, streaming is an emerging industry. Speaking of, Touki Bouki is available on HBO max, Hyenas is available for rental on Amazon prime, we need Mambety’s short films on streaming services. Corporations are throwing funds at creatives to get parts of the film industry. Content is craved, therefore black filmmakers are afforded more opportunities than ever before. Mambety and a number of black filmmaking pioneers made a way for the present. They strived past their strife of not having sufficient funds, jumped into a mountain of debt for their art and because of these efforts, and now, finally black cinema across the world has garnered respect. It is imperative our generation continues to pass the torch and carry on their legacy until black cinema is as big as Hip Hop.