Le Franc (1994)

Directed by

Djibril Diop Mambéty

Genre

comedy drama

Country

Senegal, France

Runtime

45 min

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 10 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A penniless musician named Marigo struggles to pay his tough landlady. He pins his hopes on a lottery ticket, which becomes a playful comment on money and survival in Senegal after a currency devaluation.

whimsicalupbeatplayfuleconomy-focusedhopefullightheartedearthybittersweet

What happens

Le Franc is a 1994 Senegalese comedy film, directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty. Le Franc is about Marigo, a penniless musician living in a shanty town, relentlessly harassed by his formidable landlady. This film uses the French government's 50% devaluation of the West African CFA franc in 1994, and the resulting hardships as the basis for a whimsical commentary on using the lottery for survival. Le Franc was originally intended as the first film of a trilogy under the title, Tales of Ordinary People. However, Mambety’s untimely death in 1998 prevented the completion of the third film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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