Hyenas - English subtitled
A timeless parable by Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty (Touki Bouki) about human greed and corruption. An African modern classic, based on a play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
Djibril Diop Mambéty (1945-1998), who passed away at a young age, made only two feature films, but both are considered African classics. In the vicious satire Hyenas, Mambéty takes us to the poor village of Colobane. Rumour has it that Linguère Ramatou, who left the village years ago and is now ‘richer than the World Bank,’ will visit Colobane. The villagers call a meeting to discuss how they can persuade Linguère to share some of her wealth with them. Upon arrival, Linguère appears willing to donate a large sum of money to the village, but her offer has sinister strings attached.
In Hyenas, Mambéty criticizes the influence of foreign money on Africa, the continent that has so often fallen victim to foreign creditors. ‘My task was to identify the enemy of humanity,’ said the director: ‘Money, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.’