Despite being a large continent with the most number of countries on the planet, and therefore one of the most diverse parts of the world, Africa has been severely underrepresented when it comes to cinema (while remaining extremely popular within local markets – Nigeria has one of the biggest film and television industries of all time), something that many global filmmakers and critics have actively worked to counteract, particularly through shining a light on the incredible art produced across the continent and the ingenious people associated with them. As a result, there is a small handful of African directors that are viewed as definitive of the continent’s cinematic output, and are often viewed as founders of various movements within their homeland. One of the most notable is Djibril Diop Mambéty, whose work in his native Senegal is beyond revolutionary, to the point where he is often considered the greatest director to have come out of Africa, despite having made less than half a dozen films across his two-decade career. His crowning achievement will always be the astonishing Touki Bouki, also widely considered one of the greatest and most instantly recognizable African films ever made, but the work that perhaps represents Mambéty’s genius as not only an African artist but a truly global filmmaker, is Hyenas, his other major film and one that is gradually starting to develop a much more prominent place in the cinematic conversation. A loose adaptation of the stageplay The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the film tells the story of a small African village that is saved from bankruptcy after the arrival of a former resident who has become inexplicably wealthy, and who promises her former hometown a huge sum of money. However, in exchange for this fortune, she asks for something in return: the murder of the local shopkeeper, who she feels wronged her decades before when they were lovers. What transpires is a fascinating, layered examination of African social systems, filtered through the lens of a dark tragicomedy that is carefully constructed by a director whose affection for this material and steadfast commitment to representing his country and culture in a way that is both insightful and unique.

While viewing it as a homogenous entity does an immense disservice to the vibrant and diverse cultures spread across the continent, one of the keys to understanding African cinema overall is the use of allegory as a fundamental narrative tool. It is rare to find a film produced in Africa that doesn’t employ some kind of metaphor in their storytelling, particularly the more socially aware and historically-resonant projects, of which Hyenas is one of the most prominent. Mambéty was a director who demonstrated a two-pronged approach to filmmaking – on one side, he had a firm grasp on the cultural pulse of his native Senegal during the period in which he wrote and directed, as well as an extensive knowledge of his country’s history, both of which intermingle to create his cinematic masterpieces that are both narratively insightful and genuinely very bold in how they tell stories. A film like Hyenas contains multiple layers, despite the simplicity of the story and the fact that it was an adaptation of an existing play, with the location and general structure mainly being altered. In his endeavour to craft this film, Mambéty makes use of his knowledge of Senegalese culture and history and blends in elements of mythology to create a truly enchanting and captivating film. The reason for this approach becomes clear the more time we spend with this film – much like the majority of African films produced in the 20th century, Hyenas is a film that stands in firm opposition to the shadow of colonialism, which lingers heavily over this film. Senegal achieved independence from France in 1960, but even three decades later, the aftershocks can still be felt. Mambéty was not entirely insistent on hammering in overwrought commentary about the sins of imperialism, and instead smartly crafts a detailed satire that uses the more bleak moments of the past as a narrative device, supplementing the bitingly funny and often quite dark storyline, which is perhaps one of the most fervently passionate and daring examples of postcolonial satire to come out of the continent, providing both a unique overview of Senegalese history and culture, as well as a disquieting glimpse into the aftermath of a violent and oppressive system.

A cursory glance at the premise of Hyenas would likely mislead the viewer into thinking that this was going to be a dense, overwhelmingly harsh postcolonial drama filled with nightmarish imagery and anger. These elements are present to an extent, but from its first moments, it becomes clear that Mambéty was once again showcasing his penchant for artistic anarchy, crafting a hilarious and chaotic dark comedy that is as narratively bleak as it is outrageously funny. Much like the original text, this film is designed as a tragicomedy, using themes of postcolonial rage, betrayal and poverty as the foundation for an oddly captivating film that is equally intent on being an informative experience as it is an entertaining one. The director works laboriously to find the right tone for this material, and there is a reason why Mambéty is considered one of the most inimitable, challenging directors to ever work in the medium, since there was a certain quality in his work that has yet to be replicated, whether in Africa or elsewhere. Much like Touki Bouki, this film is very funny, but the humour is not obvious and comes from very different places than we would expect. The film has to deal with quite a tricky tone since trivializing the harsh subject matter would be inappropriate, but so would delivering a heavy-handed drama that holds the viewer captive and makes them feel as if they are somehow responsible for the suffering being shown on screen, which is perhaps one of the reasons why postcolonial African cinema has remained quite underpraised in terms of mainstream cinema. Mambéty is not interested in sentimentality – there are moments of tenderness, but they’re more closely associated with the human aspects of the film (and thus aligned with the comedic qualities, for the most part) – and instead, he focuses on creating a unique and peculiar atmosphere that is tonally very unique and truly impossible to parrot. Not quite applying tenets of magical realism in the same way as some of the director’s other postcolonial counterparts, but still quite enchanting in how it establishes a very off-kilter and intriguing tone, Hyenas is consistently challenging the boundaries of storytelling in ways that are creative and deeply inventive, which is perhaps the reason it has come to hold such a cherished place within African film culture.

Hyenas is a film in which the primary source of attention is Mambéty’s incredible directorial vision, as well as the creative elements (which we’ll get to shortly), so we can sometimes overlook the fact that this contains some truly incredible performances by a cast of brilliant actors, many of them amateurs or not well-known to those outside the very small cinematic community of Senegal. The two anchors of the cast are Mansour Diouf and Ami Diakhate, who deliver extraordinary and layered performances that are as compelling as they are bitingly funny – and what only elevates them further is their incredible humanity, both actors working closely with the director to prevent them defaulting to mere archetype, which could have easily occurred in a less compassionate or insightful film. Diouf is our protagonist Dramaan Drameh, a man trying to live out his final years in relative harmony, and whose position as an elder of their small village comes into question with the arrival of  Diakhate’s wealthy outcast Linguère Ramatou, whose presence is both a blessing and a curse to the other characters, which is one of the signs of a truly well-developed villain, and one that contains substance beyond the one-line premise of simply complicating the lives of the people that occupy the film. The two leads have extraordinary chemistry, and while the film may be ensemble-based (with even Mambéty himself having a substantial supporting role as perhaps the most mysterious character in the film), it is Diouf and Diakhate that truly add the necessary detail to elevate it and make it so extremely compelling. The approach to defining these characters as somewhere between representatives of postcolonial Senegalese society and figures plucked straight out of the country’s mythology leads to some layered, complex performances that oscillate between outrageously funny and profoundly unsettling. The character-based work in Hyenas was not entirely necessary, considering how well-written the premise was, but it only becomes richer and more evocative with such unique characters residing within the story. Everyone is extraordinary, and the film as a whole becomes a wonderful exercise in how to write unique and engaging characters without having to depend on archetypes, instead allowing the film to take on its unique style in terms of the kinds of people that we meet throughout the narrative, each one unique and vital to the overall themes Mambéty is exploring.

Mambéty was not only a tremendous storyteller, but he had a directorial vision that ensured that absolutely every aspect of his films was well-crafted to the point of bordering on revolutionary. Purely in terms of the story and how it handles some of the trickier narrative elements, Hyenas would already be considered an astonishing film – but it’s the visual and aural aspects that truly bring the film to life, enriching an already exceptional story and elevating it to yet another dimension of brilliance. Matthias Kälin is enlisted as director of photography, and his work is stunningly gorgeous – the colours, framing and amount of detail captured in every shot is worth the price of admission alone, with each grain of sand and every wrinkle on the faces of these actors being shown in detail. The rich, evocative cinematography allows us to leap into this world, and the viewer is guided through perhaps the most beautiful and striking depiction of Senegal ever committed to film, which may not have been the primary purpose of this film but becomes one of its greatest strengths and one of the many reasons it is such a unique piece of filmmaking. Wasis Diop, the director’s brother and a tremendous musician in his own right (and someone who did as much for his native country’s music as Mambéty did for cinema) composes the achingly beautiful and haunting score, which blends contemporary African jazz with traditional music from Senegal’s past, the combination being truly distinctive and entirely complementary to the images shown on screen. It isn’t often we find a film that is equally as adept at the triage of narrative, imagery and score, but Hyenas is a film that defines the very concept of being a labour of love, and even on a purely creative level, Mambéty’s work in cobbling this film together through working with some of the finest artists in their respective field is one of the primary reasons the film is such a resounding success, each intricate detail being perfectly represented as he goes about telling this complex and daring story that is only made more enthralling through the sheer artistry found in every corner of the production.

There could be a solid argument made that Hyenas is not only the greatest African film ever made but one of the most important pieces of world cinema ever produced, an idea that is slowly flourishing as time progresses and more viewers start to become aware of this astonishing and exceptionally moving film. A stunning, well-crafted folktale that is as socially conscious as it is deeply resonant in terms of historical and cultural details, which the director scatters liberally throughout the film, crafting it into a bespoke and daring existential odyssey. Covering themes as diverse and complex as the spectre of colonialism, the broken promises of the post-imperialism independence that the director’s artistic and political predecessors fought valiantly to achieve, and more universal concepts such as heartbreak, revenge and the inevitability of death, Hyenas is an endlessly complex examination of the human condition, explored with such poeticism and attention to detail, with the toggling between comedy and tragedy being a perfect approach to the material. Some films are simply too magnificent to even begin to encapsulate in words, and considering how much of his work depends on visual and auditory elements, its fair to say that Mambéty didn’t intend for us to fully comprehend the film and its endless stream of unique ideas, but rather to feel it with every one of our senses, allowing ourselves to get immersed in the world he creates, which is equally magical and provocative, the exact blend that made his work extremely unique and impossible to replicate. Mambéty was a true original, and there will never be a filmmaker who sees the world in the way he did – his ability to combine humour and pathos in a way that felt genuine and heartfelt, while also not neglecting the more subversive and bitingly funny edges, is precisely why he is viewed as one of the most revolutionary African filmmakers, and someone whose work only continues to become more integral to how we view global cinema and the ideas embedded within. There has never been a better time to explore cinema from this continent, and Mambéty is a tremendous entry-point, since he is admired by both experts in the field and newcomers, his work being daring and wildly entertaining, and quite simply some of the most superb filmmaking of its generation, a bold assertion but one that is said without even an iota of hesitation, one of the many reasons behind what could quite possibly be one of the most unique films ever made.