NJANGAAN

Credits

Name: NJANGAAN

Country: Senegal

Year of publication: 1975

Format: DCP

Format Canvas:

Color: color

Language : OmeU

Duration: 87 Minuten

Series: 23. Afrika Film Festival Köln

Direction: Traoré, Mahama Johnson

Abstract

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.