“7th Station”: On the tracks of the memory of Mame Maodo

From Saint-Louis to Dakar, via Louga, Thiès and Rufisque, “7e Gare” takes up history to explore the social, spiritual and intellectual influence of Seydil Hadj Malick Sy. This documentary film directed by Abdoul Aziz Al Hussein Diop and Maniang Diagne broadens his view to several cities which were spaces of influence of his thought. A screening is planned for October 17, 2026 and will be followed by a panel devoted to the revival and future of the railway in Senegal.

The train not only transported passengers. He also circulated ideas, knowledge and heritage. It is this memory that “7e Gare” aims to awaken, an audiovisual project dedicated to the figure of Seydil Hadj Malick Sy and his influence beyond Tivaouane.

This production is notably inspired by a spiritual exchange between Seydil Hadj Malick Sy and Mame Khalifa. In the story transmitted by collective memory, several cities are mentioned as being able to accommodate this other spiritual maturity according to a press release. These cities are then not simple points on a map: they become spaces of transmission, influence and influence. All connected to the railway and equipped with a station allowing the junction with Tivaouane, they form the common thread of an itinerary where the train becomes the metaphor for the circulation of men, ideas and spiritual heritages.

A journey between cities

Saint-Louis, Louga, Thiès, Dakar and Rufisque thus constitute the main stages of this exploration, to which is added Tivaouane. “Through interviews, archives, testimonies, portraits and prospective views, the documentary intends to return to the particular links between Mame Maodo and these different cities,” we read in the press release.

In Saint-Louis, the first announced stop, the film returns to Seydil Hadj Malick Sy’s stay in the former political and intellectual capital of French West Africa. The episode focuses in particular on his intellectual and religious influence, his relationships with Mor Massamba Diéri Dieng and El Hadj Ahmed Ndiaye Mabéye, as well as the role of the Zawiya as a space of knowledge and spiritual education.

Retracing the memory

Behind these different stops lies the same ambition: to show how a religious and intellectual heritage is inscribed in the territories and in memories. The project thus claims an approach at the crossroads of railway memory, religious heritage and the national story, with the idea that each station can become the starting point for a reflection on the circulation of knowledge, faith and civilizations in Senegal.

But “7e Gare” doesn’t just look to the past. The project also intends to question what this history says about contemporary Senegal and its future. The screening of the documentary must therefore be followed by a panel devoted to the revival and future of railways in Senegal. This meeting will bring together institutional and railway stakeholders, representatives of religious families, academics, historians, heritage specialists and development stakeholders.

“7th Station” thus intends to make cinema a space of memory and dialogue: to rediscover the traces of Seydil Hadj Malick Sy in the territories crossed by the train, before opening the discussion on the future of Senegalese rail.

The documentary premiere is scheduled for October 17, 2026, a 52-minute screening, followed by a public discussion of approximately 60 to 75 minutes.

Arame NDIAYE