African Film Archive

Touki Bouki

1973 — Djibril Diop Mambety — Senegal

feature · drama, fantasy · manifesto

Mambety's feature debut, its Wolof title translating as the journey of the hyena, follows two young lovers riding a motorcycle mounted with a zebu skull across Dakar as they scheme to reach Paris, mixing surreal imagery with a portrait of post-independence disillusionment.

Fun fact: Mambety made the film four years after his first short, Contras' City, and it is now held in the Criterion Collection as a touchstone of African New Wave cinema.

Notes: Runtime 91 minutes; influenced by the French New Wave per BFI and Criterion.

Verification: verified · Sources: [1] [2] [3]

Poster source: Criterion Collection