Contras' City

In his first short film, Mambéty sensitively, imaginatively and puckishly captures the series of contrasts that dominate the streets of Dakar, and that would define the tumultuous social and ideological climate that would explode in Senegal in 1968. Faced with the affluent French influence that continued to dominate the cultural presence of a nation that recently became independent, it was inevitable that the diversity of identities present in the city would open fissures in the remains of colonialism. Architecture, sound and languages meet in continuous collision, and the off-screen dialogue that drives this docudrama satirizes the astonished and condescending French vision of the Senegalese landscape. The old order would not last much longer without being badly shaken, and Mambéty humorously takes the pulse of this impending movement. (Mar del Plata International Film Festival)