Letter from my Village (1976)

Film details

Featuring

Safi Faye Assane Faye Maguette Gueye
Director

Safi Faye
Country

Senegal
Year

1976
Genre

Drama-documentary
Type

Film
Category

Non Fiction

Alternative titles

Kaddu Beykat Original
Peasant Letter Alternative
News from the Village Alternative
Lettre paysanne Alternative

Synopsis

Docu-drama made in the form of a letter narrated by the filmmaker, it is set in her native village of Fadial in Senegal. Local Serer farmers play themselves. Focussing on the daily life of the inhabitants, the film depicts their customs and traditions as well as the economic problems caused by the reliance on an outdated, colonial system of ground nut monoculture. Ngor, a young man is unable to pay the bride price necessary for him to marry Coumba so he leaves to seek work in the city. Exploited and disillusioned, he returns to marry Coumba and advises the farmers to stop cutting down trees and to diversify their crops by growing millet and rice.

Cast & Credits

Cast
- - narrator
    
    Safi Faye
  - Ngor
    
    Assane Faye
  - Coumba
    
    Maguette Gueye
Credits
- Direction:
  - Director
    
    Safi Faye
  Production:
  - Production Company
    
    Safi Faye Productions
  - Producer
    
    Safi Faye
  Writing:
  - Script
    
    Safi Faye
  Photography:
  - Director of Photography
    
    Patrick Fabry
  Editing:
  - Editor
    
    Andrée Davanture
  - Assistant Editor
    
    Rougerie, M.C.
  - Assistant Editor
    
    D. Saint-Cyr
  Sound:
  - Sound Recording
    
    Doudou Charles Diouf
  - Sound Recording
    
    Mayer Bracher
  - Sound Re-recording
    
    Robert Hamard
  Subtitles:
  - Subtitles
    
    N.M. Kabir