Senegal, France, Belgium and Germany / 2022 / 104mins / Documentary / French

The year 1960 marked the end of the colonial empires across the African continent. France disappeared from the map, leaving behind a colonial creation, the CFA Franc, a currency that still circulates in almost all of France’s former territories south of the Sahara. Why did those countries never denounce this strange legacy after they regained their freedom? The film delves into a little-known story that started in the 19th century and continues to the present time.

Katy Lèna N’diaye

Katy Léna N'diaye, born in 1968, is a Senegalese-French documentary filmmaker, best known for her documentaries about women muralists in Africa. Born in Senegal, N'diaye grew up in Europe. She studied modern literature in Paris, and undertook further study in broadcast journalism. She has worked as a journalist for TV5 Monde and RTBF, and lives in Brussels, Belgium. N'diaye's documentary Traces – characterized by Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times as "visually sharp and lovingly informal" – focussed on mural painting by Kassena women in Burkina Faso. In the documentary, three elderly women explain the content of the murals covering the reddish-clay huts to Anetina, a young unmarried woman. Awaiting for Men documented three older women talking as they painted the town wall in Oualata, an oasis town on the edge of the Sahara Desert in southeast Mauritania. Parallel to her career as a filmmaker, Katy Léna Ndiaye works for television as well. From 2000 to 2018, she presented and later directed Reflets Sud and Afrique Plurielle CIRTEF productions, broadcast on TV5 Monde and the Belgian RTBF. Since 2013, she has been running Indigo Mood Films, a production company based in Senegal. Learn More