Mandabi is a 1968 film directed by Ousmane Sembène

Ousmane Sembène

Ousmane Sembène , often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer...

. The film is based on Sembène's novel The Money-Order. It the director's first film in his native Wolof language

Wolof language

Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...

.

Plot

An unemployed African man, Ibrahima, lives with his two wives and kids. A nephew of his sends him a money order from France worth 25,000 Francs which he has saved from working as a street sweeper. He is to keep some of the money for himself, save a portion for his nephew, and give a portion to his sister. However, Ibrahima faces numerous difficulties with the Senegalese bureaucracy in trying to cash the money order. The film explores themes of neocolonialism, religion, corruption, and relationships in Senegalese society.