La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (or The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun) is a 1999 Senegalese drama film, directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty which premiered after his death in 1998.
La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil is a film exalting the lives and promise found among ordinary Senegalese. It depicts a young beggar girl, Sili, who is also a paraplegic, who on crutches, confidently makes her way through a city of obstacles, becoming the first girl to sell the "Le Soleil" national daily newspaper in the competitive world of young male newspaper vendors. Mambéty dedicated this last film to "the courage of street children". The scenes are expertly played by non-professional actors and with the participation of the street children.
The film is part of a series entitled "Tales of Ordinary People".
It was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival in 1999 and as part of the New York Film Festival in 2019.
La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil was originally intended as the second film of a trilogy under the title, Tales of Ordinary People. However, Mambety's untimely death in 1998 prevented the completion of the third film.
Synopsis In Dakar, selling newspapers on the street is an occupation always occupied by boys. But one morning, Sili, a young beggar, challenges that exclusive rule. Her age is uncertain, between 10 and 13, and she walks the streets with the help of her crutches. She begs for help in the same spot the boys sell their papers, but today they attack her and she falls, rolling over and over. That's it; she too will sell newspapers starting tomorrow.
Cast Lissa Balera as "Sili" Dieynaba Laam as "Grandmother" Tayerou M'Baye as "Babou Seck" Martin N'Gom as "Gang Leader" Oumou Samb as "Crazy Woman"
Release La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil debuted on 1 February 1999 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and opened in other film festivals on the dates given below.
Region Release date FestivalNetherlands1 February 1999International Film Festival RotterdamGermany20 February 1999Berlin International Film FestivalNew Zealand27 July 1999Wellington Film FestivalCanada12 September 1999Toronto International Film FestivalU.S.A October 1999Chicago International Film FestivalHong Kong 21 April 2000Hong Kong International Film FestivalNorway 1 May 2002Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival
Home Release La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (The Little Girl who Sold the Sun) was released on DVD coupled with Le Franc and is distributed by California Newsreel Productions.
Critical response Critical response to the film was mostly positive. Reviewer for The New York Times, A.O. Scott described the film as a "masterpiece of understated humanity".
"The last film by Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty (1945–98) is a wondrously affirmative marketplace legend-cum-political allegory about an indomitable crippled girl, granddaughter of a blind street singer, who reinvents herself as a newspaper vendor. The score is infectious, and the metaphor overwhelming." – The Village Voice "The dreams of Djibril Diop Mambety have flown beyond the screens, to glide like whimsical and devouring suns." – Ecrans d'Afrique
Accolades
La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil earned various awards and nominations, with the nominations in categories ranging from recognition of the film itself to its screenplay, direction and editing, to the performance of the lead actor, Lissa Balera. It was selected as one of the ten best films of 2000 by the Village Voice.
Year Film Festival Award Category Recipients Result 1999 Castellinaria International Festival of Young Cinema Special Mention Acting Lissa Balera International Biennal for Film Music International Prize for Film and Media Music Special Mention Wasis Diop Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film ACCT Promotional Award Best Actor/Actress of the South Lissa Balera Golden Bayard Best Film (Meilleur Film Francophone) Djibril Diop Mambéty Jury Special Prize Djibril Diop Mambéty Procirep Award Djibril Diop Mambéty 2000 Aspen Shortsfest The Ellen Djibril Diop Mambéty Chicago International Children's Film Festival Adult's Jury Award Short Film or Video – Live-Action Djibril Diop Mambéty Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival Best Short Djibril Diop Mambéty
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