Film Screening
Le Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (1999)
and Le Franc (1994)

Introduced by Hédi Jaouad, Foreign Language and Literatures, with student-led discussion following.

Le Franc (1995) and La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (1999) are the first two in Mambéty's uncompleted trilogy of shorter films called Tales of Ordinary People. Set against the backdrop of the French government's devaluation of the West African CFA (pronounced "Sifa") in the mid-1990s, Le Franc is a commentary on the resulting economic hardships and the schemes people create to get by. La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun) depicts a young beggar girl on crutches who enters the world of newspaper vendors dominated by young males and becomes the first girl to sell a daily newspaper in order to make money for herself and her blind grandmother.

The films will be followed by a student panel discussion with Amari Boyd, Matthew Choi and Gaêlle Mourre.

This event is presented in conjunction with the Tang exhibition, Environment and Object: Recent African Art.