NJANGAAN
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Mame, six years old, is entrusted by his father to a marabout to receive a religious education. But this training is not what was expected. In NJANGAAN, a term for children attending the “dara,” a traditional Qur’anic school, director Mahama Johnson Traoré denounces certain religious practices that reduce children to a condition of servitude and exploit families in the name of religion. The talibé children are turned into begging students with no real education and are used as free labor for the marabout. Made in 1975, the film delivers a critique that unfortunately remains relevant in contemporary Senegalese society.
NJANGAAN Direction: Mahama Johnson Traoré, DCP, OmeU, 87 min
Guest
Junior Johnson Traoré is the son of pioneering Senegalese filmmaker Mahama Johnson Traoré and the representative of Sunu Film Production, the company preserving and promoting his father’s cinematic legacy. He has been actively involved in the restoration and international circulation of Mahama Johnson Traoré’s films, including the 4K restorations of NJANGAAN (1975), REOU TAKH (1972), and LAAMBAYE (1972). Through Sunu Film Production’s social media platforms, in collaboration with Léa Baron, Junior Traoré works to introduce a new generation of audiences to the history of Senegalese and African cinema while continuing the cultural mission initiated by his father.