I began learning about African Cinema last year in one of my Film classes, so you can't imagine the excitement I felt when I saw that we would be learning about Africa in my Film class. Combing my one passion, Film, with another, Africa, equals a lot of fun for me. What some people may confuse with this term (that I learned last year) is that African Cinema is completely different than just a film being ABOUT Africa. There are characteristics of an African film which make it part of African Cinema. The films which stem from African Cinema are those which dig deep into African tradition, so the viewers have a deeper understanding of the values and culture of the African way. You can see a list of African films by clicking here.
Ousmane Sembene, one of the most famous directors coming from Senegal, known as the 'Father of African Film, was praised for his film La noire de... (Black Girl in English) and was the first African Cinema film to be recognized internationally. Although a short film (about sixty minutes), it contains a very powerful message about women in Africa, the pride in one's own country and the struggles that occurred within these people. The ending of the film has its most value to me, where it seems that everything comes together and the viewer is left with feeling a bit of uneasiness but also some kind of satisfaction in knowing that Diouana's life will not be forgotten (this is shown when the little boy is following the French man who employed her). The ending of the film can be seen here and also a summary of the film's plot can be found here.
Another one of Sembene's films is Moolaade made in 2004, a more modern film in comparison to Black Girl which was filmed in 1966. This film deals with the issues and struggles of women within an African community, mainly with female genital mutilation and the power of the women who disagreed with this happening to their daughters and other people's daughters. Moolaade stays true to the characteristics of African Cinema; it deals with showing major issues of women in African tribes and also gives the background and culture of African people. The trailer for this film can be seen by clicking here and a more detailed summary of the film can be found here.
What I find most intriguing about African Cinema is that it is something that is completely on its own, it is something that shows to the rest of the world what is actually going on in Africa because these films come from a point of view of directors who live or have lived in this continent. Africa Cinema IS Africa; it is everything that people are too ignorant to discover more about, it is something that shows the true meaning of what it means to be African, what the struggles and issues are, what the traditions are and most importantly, who these people are.
