INTRODUCTION One might think that defining African Cinema would be an easy enough task. Spend a little time in the attempt, however, and the difficulty in doing so definitively soon becomes evident. A film set in Africa, shot in Africa by an African crew, and starring an African cast is certainly an example of African … Continue reading The Brightwell Guide to African Cinema
Tag: African Cinema
Los Angeles’ Pan-African Film Festival …a year heavy on Nollywood and South African films
Los Angeles’s Pan-African Film Festival is currently in effect (February 10-17). I have a long-lasting love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, their website (despite improvements this year) remains hard to navigate, is rife with typos, incomplete information and omissions. In other words, it’s inexcusably bad. How about a calendar, folks? In addition, every … Continue reading Los Angeles’ Pan-African Film Festival …a year heavy on Nollywood and South African films
Cinema of Burkina Faso
Background on Burkina Faso What is now Burkina Faso has been continuously inhabited for at least 14,000 years. The main indigenous population of this Sahelian region were the Yonyonse, who remained for thousands of years until they were displaced by the Mossi people of what is now Ghana only a thousand years ago. The Mossi … Continue reading Cinema of Burkina Faso
Senegalese Film
During the Colonial era, cinematic images of Africa and its people were entirely the work of Western filmmakers. The Tarzan movies, African Queen, King Solomon's Mines and others were usually filmed on soundstages half a world away from Africa and made little to no effort toward authenticity, instead trading in exoticism aimed primarily at exploiting … Continue reading Senegalese Film
Eric Brightwell 