This November, IDFA will host the world premiere of Mangabangabaka, a documentary from Malagasy filmmaker Michaël Andrianaly, known for his award winning work in socially charged cinema. Competing in the festival’s International Competition, the film offers a deep dive into Madagascar’s nightlife, asking who gets to reinvent themselves when raw survival must always come first. 

Through personal diary entries and an intimate portrait of Sonia, a sex worker who seeks a fresh start after 30 years on the streets, Andrianaly captures a life caught between the desire for change and the pull of the night. 

Blending hidden mechanisms of violence with the warmth of intimate relationships, the film exposes a society where sex work is everywhere, yet deeply taboo. The presence of Sonia and her peers at the heart of daily life disrupts a social balance that is, in fact, built precisely around women. While women are celebrated as central to the country’s identity, sex workers are pushed into silence, in order to preserve this idealised image of womanhood. Despite mounting debts and the fear of falling apart, Sonia refuses to give up on changing her place in society and reclaiming her sense of self-worth. Can the void of mangabangabaka, a word meaning complete emptiness, finally be filled with the possibility of a life entirely her own?

The documentary is a coproduction between Les Films de la Pluie, Imasoa Film, Ana Films and Pilumpiku Production. It will have its world premiere in IDFA’s International Competition on November 18, followed by five additional screenings throughout the festival.

ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

After thirty years in sex work, Sonia decides to turn her life around. Yet the night keeps calling her back, as she struggles to break free from the hardships of a fractured society, where life, family and one’s identity are shaped by the necessity of survival.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

Having worked as a sex worker in Toamasina, Madagascar, since the age of 16, Sonia has learned to navigate life under the weight of necessity. Her body is treated as her only asset; the night, her only horizon. As she grows older, fatigue and fear set in, and Sonia decides to leave sex work behind and become a seamstress. The first orders start coming in, but her financial needs become increasingly pressing, and her debts continue to pile up. Torn between the desire for a fresh start and the fear of falling apart, Sonia’s journey is shaped by the struggle to survive and show her children that a different life is possible, alongside a deeply personal search for who she is beyond the identity society has imposed on her – one forged on the streets, under the gaze of men and through the trade of her body. Changing her social role – but, above all, her perception of herself – is a daunting challenge.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT:

“I’ve been making documentary films in Toamasina, Madagascar, for a decade. I’m drawn to stories of people who stand their ground in the face of life’s hardships, the government, and politics. Those who, despite everything, hold on. My filmmaking has become my way of activism, and portraying these people has become a political act. The protagonists I film denounce, in their own way, what’s wrong in Madagascar: expropriation, corruption, the exploitation of one person by another, poverty, inequality, and more. In Malagasy, the word for “country” is “firenena,” which is derived from the term “reny,” meaning “mother.” For us, the structure of the country is inseparable from the structure of the family and the foundational role of the mother within her own family. 

“Sonia’s story speaks of the mechanisms of violence”

However, for me, the country’s crisis is inextricably linked to the crisis of the family model, which suffers first and foremost from the economic crisis, a lack of education, and a lack of culture. My encounter with Sonia, outside a nightclub in downtown Tamatave – the Queen’s Club – was a turning point. Her story is that of a woman who was pushed into prostitution at the age of 16 out of financial necessity, in a country where you can become a prostitute at the very moment you become a woman. I felt there was a film to be made. A film that would tell her story – that of a woman fighting for her own survival and that of her children. Sonia has all the makings of a heroine, with her strengths and weaknesses. She has overcome many fears and is now ready to open up and share her story, which speaks volumes about the mechanisms of violence in Malagasy society. Beyond her story of prostitution, I wanted to portray a woman fighting to rebuild her family’s independence and raise her children so that they, too, do not fall into the traps of society”, Michaël Andrianaly.

SCREENINGS SCHEDULE AT IDFA 2026

Wed, November 18 09:15 – 10:51 Pathé City 5 *Press and industry screenings

Wed, November 18 20:30 – 22:19 Tuschinski 4

Thu, November 19 11:45 – 13:39 Tuschinski 2

Fri, November 20 16:45 – 18:39 Het Documentaire Paviljoen: De Spiegel

Sat, November 21 19:45 – 21:39 Cinema De Vlugt – Theaterzaal

Sun, November 22 14:15 – 15:52 Tuschinski 5

BIOGRAPHY AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Michaël Andrianaly, director

Michaël Andrianaly was born in July 1978. He is a director, cinematographer, and photographer. He lives in Toamasina, on the east coast of Madagascar. After making his first short documentary, Todisoa and the black stones, as part of a workshop in 2013, he directed two films that were selected for numerous international festivals: Njaka Kely (2015) and Nofinofy (2019), which won two awards at Cinéma du Réel and the Étoile de la Scam. Gwetto, his fourth documentary film, was selected for Visions du Réel in April 2023 and later streamed on the Tënk and TV5 Mondeplus platforms. In 2024, Michaël Andrianaly received the True Vision Award for his body of work at the True/False Film Fest in Columbia. Both Nofinofy and his new feature-length documentary, Mangabangabaka, were recipients of the Scam’s “Brouillon d’un rêve” grant. Through a style of social cinema that is close to his heart, Michaël Andrianaly explores the daily concerns of the Malagasy people and seeks to depict, through his films, the upheavals and major issues facing his island.

Filmography
 

• 2013: TODISOA AND THE BLACK STONES: After losing his land to a mining project, Todisoa struggles to provide for his family by selling charcoal, in a portrait of displacement and the human cost of economic exploitation.
• 2015: NJAKA KELY: The film follows 17-year-old Njaka as he searches for his place within the makeshift family formed by a woman who runs a pedicab business and cares for her drivers as her own children.
• 2019: NOFINOFY: After the municipality demolishes his barbershop, Romeo moves his business to a makeshift shack while holding on to his dream of opening a proper salon
• 2023: GWETTO: The film follows four young men from different parts of Madagascar who work at a car wash in Toamasina, facing exploitation and discrimination as they search for a better future.

Sylvie Plunian, producer, Les Films de la pluie

After studying film in Rennes and earning a master’s degree in documentary production in Strasbourg, Sylvie Plunian spent eight years working in Lussas, in the South of France. In 2014, she returned to Brittany and founded Les Films de la pluie in Finistère, supporting filmmakers on long-term projects, with a focus on interregional and international co-productions and first films. Over the past 12 years, she has produced around 20 documentaries, several of which have enjoyed successful international runs, won festival awards and received two Étoiles de la Scam. These include In the Stillness of Sounds and Suzanne from Day to Day by Serge Steyer and Stéphane Manchematin, A Land of Paper by Marion Boé, Draw Me a Feminist by Tanguy and Galane Alanou, and Nofinofy by Michaël Andrianaly. Her work focuses on portraits offering unique perspectives on the world, as well as personal films exploring identity, family ties, gender and origins. In November 2026, Michaël Andrianaly’s Mangabangabaka will premiere in IDFA’s International Competition, marking over a decade of collaboration between the director and producer.

Milana Christitch, producer, Ana Films

Milana Christitch has been producing documentaries at ANA FILMS since 2009. Founded in 1993 and based in Strasbourg, ANA FILMS develops and produces creative documentaries for television and cinema, focusing on international co-productions and auteur-driven projects. Milana has produced over 60 documentaries, collaborating with European broadcasters including ARTE La Lucarne, France Télévisions, Yle and Ciné+, with films presented at major international festivals. Recent productions include 11 Underground by Chico Pereira, awarded Best Documentary at DocPoint Helsinki 2025 and Best Documentary Director at Alcances; Suzanne from Day to Day by Stéphane Manchematin and Serge Steyer, selected for DOK Leipzig and awarded the Hors Frontières Jury Prize at Traces de Vie; and Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitting Gang by Robin Hunzinger and Claudie Hunzinger, which premiered in IDFA’s Luminous section and screened at numerous international festivals. Before joining ANA FILMS, Milana worked as an editor and network coordinator at Apollonia, European Artistic Exchanges (2002–2008), contributing to international visual arts projects supported by the European Commission’s Culture 2000 programme.

KEY CREDITS:

• WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Michaël Andrianaly
  COPRODUCTION: Les Films de la Pluie, Imasoa Film, Ana Films and Pilumpiku Production
• IMAGE: Michaël Andrianaly
• SOUND: Wilfried Andrianjara
• IMAGE EDITING & COLOR GRADING: Denis Le Paven
• SOUND EDITING & SOUND MIX: Pablo Salaün
• SCRIPT DOCTOR: Justine Bonno
• ARTISTIC COLLABORATOR: Céline Dréan
• ORIGINAL MUSIC: Leba saxophone
• PRODUCERS: Sylvie Plunian (Les Films de la Pluie), Michaël Andrianaly (Imasoa Film), Milana Christitch (Ana Films), Mamounata Nikièma (Pilumpiku Production)
• PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS: Audrey Euzen (Les Films de la Pluie), Manya Halas, Caroline Moreau (Ana Films)

FILM DATA:

• YEAR: 2026
• DURATION: 91’
• COUNTRIES: France, Madagascar, Burkina Faso
• LANGUAGE: Malagasy
• SUBTITLES: English subtitles throughout

Supported by: With the support of la Région Bretagne in partnership with le CNC, of la Fondation Alter-Ciné and of le Fonds Image de la Francophonie with the financial contribution of the European Union and the support of l’Organisation des États ACP This film received la bourse Brouillon d’un rêve of la SCAM, with the support of La Culture avec la Copie Privée and participated in the annual writing residency organized by the Ty Films association.