Djibril Diop Mambéty, a towering figure in world cinema, is best known for his two features, Touki Bouki (1973) and Hyenas (1992, re-released in a new restoration by Metrograph Pictures in 2019). Yet these two extraordinary films tell only part of the story of the director’s enormous accomplishments in his too-brief life. The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (1999) and Le Franc (1994) are masterpieces of the medium-length form, completed by Mambéty in his final years. They provide us a fuller picture of the elements that define his small, but perfect, filmography—a rich social vision, sly humor, and formal ingenuity. Mambéty initially meant for these films to lead off a trilogy to be titled “Tales of Ordinary People,” but sadly lived only to complete Le Franc and The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun.

Both films were restored in 2K by Waka Films in 2019 with the support of the Institut français – Cinémathèque Afrique and the CNC at Éclair Laboratories from the original negative.

For thoughts on The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun and Le Franc, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/TWWb5imBhfk?si=R8tN9nd_BwNiUuPF&t=2995]

Video Quality

The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun and Le Franc arrive on Blu-Ray with a robust new digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in their OAR derived from a 2K restoration of the Original Camera Negative. This new restoration captures the original textured look of the film with a refined grain structure that resolves favorably without getting clumpy or noisy. This transfer unveils subtle details within this landscape that are as essential to the narratives as the individuals. Every facet of the production design, clothing, and other background elements are displayed with prominence. Print damage and other flaws have been nearly eliminated, and overall clarity and detail are of the highest quality. Black levels are strong with great detail in shadows and next to nothing in the way of crush. Metrograph Pictures and Kino Lorber have knocked it out of the park.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a pretty decent DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track in the original languages for each film with optional English subtitles. The films conjure up an active soundscape of city sounds that allow the world to feel properly bustling, and these environmental sounds are rendered admirably alongside everything else. Dialogue stays anchored in the center channel of the mix without being drowned out by competing sounds. The score that comes through does not show any signs of fragility. The track does not experience any serious instances of age-related wear and tear. This audio presentation brings these stories to life admirably.

Special Features

Audio Commentaries: Film scholar Boukary Sawadogo, Ph.D. provides a great commentary track for each film in which he discusses the career of Djibril Diop Mambéty, how this fits into Senegalese cinema, analysis of the visual composition, the themes on display, the visual motifs, the unfinished trilogy these were created for, and more that aids in your appreciation of the film.

Cinema Is Magic: A 28-minute documentary from Silvia Voser in 2022 is provided here which explores the life and work of Djibril Diop Mambéty.

Re-Release Trailer: This disc provides the minute-long Re-Release trailer.

Final Thoughts

The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun and Le Franc are a pair of short films that show that Djibril Diop Mambéty was still razor-sharp in his filmmaking to the very end. While we wish we could have seen the final piece of this trilogy, what we are left with is very moving and involving on its own. The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun is the slightly stronger of the two, but both are well worth your time. If you are looking for more to watch from this corner of the world, you will not be disappointed. Metrograph Pictures and Kino Classics have delivered a Blu-Ray with a strong A/V presentation and a few interesting supplements. Recommended

The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun and Le Franc is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Metrograph Pictures and Kino Lorber have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.