Djibril Diop Mambéty

Touki bouki

Touki bouki

With a stunning mix of the surreal and the naturalistic, Djibril Diop Mambéty paints a fractured portrait of the disenchantment of postindependence Senegal in the early 1970s. In this picaresque fantasy-drama, the disaffected young lovers Anta and Mory, fed up with Dakar, long to escape to the glamour and comforts they imagine France has to offer, but their plan is confounded by obstacles both practical and mystical. Alternately manic and meditative, Touki bouki has an avant-garde sensibility characterized by vivid imagery, bleak humor, unconventional editing, and jagged soundscapes, and it demonstrates Mambéty’s commitment to telling African stories in new ways.


Touki bouki was restored in 2008 by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the family of director Djibril Diop Mambéty. Restoration funded by Armani, Cartier, Qatar Airways, and Qatar Museum Authority.

Film Info

  • Senegal
  • 1973
  • 89 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.37:1
  • Wolof
  • Spine #685

Special Features

  • 2K digital transfer, restored by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the family of director Djibril Diop Mambéty, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Introduction from 2013 by The Film Foundation’s founder and chair, Martin Scorsese
  • Interview from 2013 with filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako
  • Interview program from 2012 featuring musician Wasis Diop and filmmaker Mati Diop, Mambéty’s brother and niece, respectively
  • Contras’ City, a 1968 short film by Mambéty, in a new 4K restoration by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the Cineteca di Bologna
  • PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Ashley Clark

    New cover by Slang Inc

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 1

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 1

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Box Set

9 Discs

$99.96

Special Features

  • 2K digital transfer, restored by the Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the family of director Djibril Diop Mambéty, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Introduction from 2013 by The Film Foundation’s founder and chair, Martin Scorsese
  • Interview from 2013 with filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako
  • Interview program from 2012 featuring musician Wasis Diop and filmmaker Mati Diop, Mambéty’s brother and niece, respectively
  • Contras’ City, a 1968 short film by Mambéty, in a new 4K restoration by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the Cineteca di Bologna
  • PLUS: An essay by film programmer and critic Ashley Clark

    New cover by Slang Inc
Touki bouki
Cast
Magaye Niang
Mory
Mareme Niang
Anta
Aminata Fall
Aunt Oumy
Ousseynou Diop
Charlie
Credits
Director
Djibril Diop Mambéty
Producer
Djibril Diop Mambéty
Written by
Djibril Diop Mambéty
Director of photography
Georges Bracher
Editor
Siro Asteni
Costume and set design
Aziz Diop Mambéty
Assistant directors
Lamine Ba Carlos
Ousmane Sow
Assistant producer
Medoune Faye
Assistant editor
Emma Mennenti
Set photographer
Aziz Diop Mambéty
Singers
Josephine Baker
Mado Robin
Aminata Fall

Current

Touki bouki: Word, Sound, and Power
Touki bouki: Word, Sound, and Power

One of the most striking debuts in film history, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s unconventional picaresque forged new aesthetic paths for African cinema with its dreamlike narrative, discontinuous editing, and jagged soundscapes.

By Ashley Clark

Touki bouki: Mambéty and Modernity
Touki bouki: Mambéty and Modernity

Djibril Diop Mambety’s Senegalese masterwork is remarkable for both its technical audacity and its postcolonialist expressionism.

By Richard Porton

World Cinema Project: Recalled to Life
World Cinema Project: Recalled to Life

The critic and WCP executive director offers a personal take on art cinema and a primer on the project’s scope and mission.

By Kent Jones

The Ross Brothers’ Top 10
The Ross Brothers’ Top 10

The filmmaking duo behind Bloody Nose Empty Pockets share with us the movies they turn to time and again for inspiration.

Sofia Bohdanowicz and Deragh Campbell’s Top 10
Sofia Bohdanowicz and Deragh Campbell’s Top 10

The directors of MS Slavic 7 pick a selection of favorite films that highlight what they find mysterious and exciting about the cinematic art form.

“You Don’t Have a Home Until You Leave”: Mati Diop’s Short Films
“You Don’t Have a Home Until You Leave”: Mati Diop’s Short Films

Before breaking through with her debut feature, Atlantics, the French-Senegalese filmmaker honed her moody, sensual style in a string of short films that bring together postcolonial and supernatural themes.

By Michael Sicinski

Landmark Senegalese Cinema in Baltimore

Repertory Picks

Landmark Senegalese Cinema in Baltimore
This Sunday afternoon, and again on Tuesday evening, Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty’s one-of-a-kind first feature, 1973’s Touki bouki, will screen at Baltimore’s long-shuttered Parkway Theatre, newly reopening for year-round program…