The first film in what was to be Mambéty’s planned trilogy Tales of Little People, Le Franc is a richly textured and vibrantly musical fable of life in Senegal. When a penniless, Chaplinesque musician wins the lottery, he begins a difficult journey across Dakar. Beautifully photographed in color, in a style that recalls the experimental 1920’s Soviet cinema and shifts fluidly from the real to the surreal to the near-documentary, Mambéty’s cautionary tale is a sweet satire on Senegal’s social and economic contradictions. Featuring an infectious soundtrack of French, English, and Arabic music.

Tragically, Mambéty died in Paris during postproduction on this masterpiece, the second film in his planned trilogy. Shot on the streets of Dakar, Mambéty’s titular heroine is street-kid Sili, a physically deformed, hugely self-empowered newspaper seller, determined to make a better life for herself and her grandmother, a street singer. Undeterred by her metal crutches and the abuse of other paperboys, Sili perseveres with a mixture of charm, intelligence, and integrity. In this "hymn to the courage of street children," the humanity presented is so piercingly, immediately moving it becomes holy and surreal.