Air Afrique Ciné Club: Mandabi + Africa on Seine
Thu 16 JanJoin us for an evening where cinema, print, and history converge, celebrating African cinema with Air Afrique Ciné Club and the latest issue of Air Afrique magazine.
Air Afrique Ciné-Club and Ciné Lumière are happy to present the screenings of two seminal films: Mandabi (Ousmane Sembène, 1968) and Africa on Seine (Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and Mamadou Sarr, 1955). These works trace journeys across physical and cultural borders, weaving narratives of Afro-diasporic mobility, migration, and connection.
The evening also marks the upcoming release of Air Afrique magazine’s second issue, themed around migration. Copies of the inaugural issue will be available for purchase at the event, offering attendees a chance to engage with the magazine’s editorial vision and learn more on Air Afrique.
About the films
Mandabi
Senegal | 1968 | dir. Ousmane Sembene, with Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N’Diaye, Isseu Niang | in Wolof with English Subtitles | 91 mins
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival 1968 and considered the first feature-length film in an African language, Mandabi is regarded as one of Sembène’s most significant works.
Ibrahima Dieng (Makhourédia Guèye) is a lazy, pompous man with two hard-working and obedient wives Mety and Aram (Ynousse N’Diaye and Isseu Niang) and little money. But Dieng suddenly receives a money order from his nephew, a street cleaner in France, for 20,000 francs. He immediately realises, however, that he cannot cash it because he does not have identity documents, and a bureaucratic nightmare begins. Shot with stark simplicity, this beautifully restored print renders the vivid colours and the 1960s architecture of Dakar utterly tangible.
Africa on Seine (Afrique-sur-Seine)
Senegal | 1955 | dir. Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and Mamadou Sarr Senegal, with Paul Soumanou Vieyra, Marpessa Dawn, Phillips Mory | in French with English subtitles | 21 mins
Is Africa in Africa, on the banks of the Seine or in the Latin Quarter? Bittersweet questions from a generation of artists and students in search of their civilization, their culture, their future. This film, the first attempt by African filmmakers, was produced under the patronage of the Ethnographic Film Committee of the Musée de l’Homme.
About Air Afrique
Named after the iconic Pan-African airline established by 11 African nations in 1961 and that ceased to exist in 2021, Air Afrique has been reimagined as a multidisciplinary platform connecting art, culture, and Pan-African dialogue. This reinvention includes the magazine, the Air Afrique Ciné-Club, exhibitions that merge contemporary art with archival materials, and collaborations with fashion and design.
