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The term African cinema usually refers to the film production in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
 following formal independence, which for many countries happened in the 1960s. Some of the countries which belong geographically to Africa (Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, for example) had developed a national film industry much earlier. Often, African Cinema also includes African directors living in the diaspora
African diaspora

The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world - predominantly to the Americas, then later to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe....
.

ng the colonial era, Africa was represented in cinema by Western filmmakers.






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The term African cinema usually refers to the film production in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
 following formal independence, which for many countries happened in the 1960s. Some of the countries which belong geographically to Africa (Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, for example) had developed a national film industry much earlier. Often, African Cinema also includes African directors living in the diaspora
African diaspora

The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world - predominantly to the Americas, then later to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe....
.

History


Film during the colonial era

During the colonial era, Africa was represented in cinema by Western filmmakers. The continent was represented as being without history or culture. Examples of cinema about Africa shot during the colonial era include jungle epics such as Tarzan
Tarzán

Tarz?n was a half-hour syndicated series that aired 1991 in television?1994 in television. In this version of the show, Tarzan was portrayed as a blond environmentalist, with Jane turned into a French ecologist....
 and The African Queen
The African Queen

The African Queen is an Cinema of the United States drama film directed by John Huston and produced by Sam Spiegel and John Woolf. The screenplay was adapted by James Agee, John Huston, John Collier and Peter Viertel from the 1935 in literature novel by C....
, and various adaptations of H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard

Sir Henry Rider Haggard Order of the British Empire , was a prolific writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire....
's 1885 novel titled King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines

King Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian era adventure writer and fabulist, Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a quest into an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain in search of the missing brother of one of the party....
. As with many African writers, for example Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe , born Albert Chin?al?m?g? Achebe on 16 November 1930, is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart , which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.....
, repudiating stereotypes and images about Africa and Africans was an important motivation for many African film makers.

In the French colonies, filmmaking was formally forbidden to Africans. The first francophone African film, L’Afrique sur Seine by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra

Paulin Soumanou Vieyra was a Benin/Senegal film director and historian. As he lived in Senegal after age ten he is more associated to that nation....
, was actually shot in Paris in 1955.

Before independence, only a few anti-colonial films were produced. Examples of this include Les statues meurent aussi by Chris Marker
Chris Marker

Chris Marker is a French writer, photographer, film director, multimedia artist and Documentary film maker.He is best known for directing La Jet?e , as well as Sans Soleil and AK , a documentary about Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa....
 and Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais

'Alain Resnais' is a French film director whose early works are often grouped within the French New Wave or nouvelle vague film movement. Although he has had a long and fruitful career, Resnais is best known for three early works that deal with themes of memory and trauma: Night and Fog , Hiroshima Mon Amour , and Last Year at M...
 about European robbery of African art (which was banned by the French for 10 years), or Afrique 50 by René Vauthier about anti-colonial riots in Cote D'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire

, formerly Ivory Coast, officially the , is a country in West Africa. The government officially discourages the use of the name Ivory Coast in English, preferring the French name to be used in all languages ....
 and in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso , also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and C?te d'Ivoire to the south west....
).

Many of the ethnographic films produced in the colonial era by Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch

Jean Rouch was a France filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cin?ma v?rit? in France, sharing the aesthetics of the direct cinema in the US pionered by Richard Leacock,D.A....
 and others were rejected by African film makers because in their view they distorted African realities.

1960s and 70s

The first African film to win international recognition was Ousmane Sembène
Ousmane Sembène

Ousmane Semb?ne , often credited in the French style as Semb?ne Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer....
's La Noire de... also known as Black Girl. It showed the despair of an African woman who has to work as a maid in France. The writer Sembène had turned to cinema to reach a wider audience. He is still considered to be the 'father' of African Cinema. Sembène's native country Senegal
Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
 continued to be the most important place of African film production for more than a decade.

With the of the African film festival FESPACO in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso , also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and C?te d'Ivoire to the south west....
 in 1969, African film created its own forum. FESPACO now takes place every two years in alternation with the film festival Carthago in (Tunisia
Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
).

The Federation of African Filmmakers (FEPACI) was formed in 1969 in order to focus attention on the promotion of African film industries in terms of production, distribution and exhibition. From its inception, FEPACI was seen as a critical partner organization to the OAU, now the AU. FEPACI looks at the role of film in the politico-economic and cultural development of African states and the continent as a whole.

Med Hondo's O soleil O, shot in 1969, was immediately recognized. Politically not less engaged then Sembène, he chose a more controversial filmic language to show what it means to be a stranger in France with the 'wrong' skin colour.

Djibril Diop Mambéty
Djibril Diop Mambéty

Djibril Diop Mamb?ty was a Senegalese film director, actor, orator, composer and poet. Though he made only a small number of films, they received international acclaim for their original and experimental cinematic technique and non-linear, unconventional narrative style....
's sophisticated comedy Touki-Bouki (1973), about a young couple in Dakar who want to make a trip to Paris at all costs, is still considered one of the best African films ever made.

1980s and beyond

Souleymane Cissé's Yeelen (Mali 1987) and Cheick Oumar Sissoko's Guimba (Mali 1995) were well received in the west. Some critics criticized the filmmakers for adapting to the exotic
Exoticism

Exoticism is a trend in art and design, influenced by some ethnic groups or civilizations since the late 19th-century. In music exoticism is a genre in which the rhythms, melodies, or instrumentation are designed to evoke the atmosphere of far-off lands or ancient times ....
 tastes of western audiences

Many films of the 1990s, e.g. Quartier Mozart by Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroon 1992), are situated in the globalized African metropolis.

A first African Film Summit took place in South Africa in 2006. It was followed by FEPACI 9th Congress.

Production and reception

African film makers often have difficulty accessing African audiences. The commercial cinemas in Africa often have to book blindly and show primarily Hollywood or Bollywood
Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry in India. The term is often used to refer to the whole of Cinema of India....
 films. However, there are still limited venues where African audiences have access to African films, e.g. at the Panafrican film festival in Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou is the Capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 National 2006 census final results ....
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso , also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and C?te d'Ivoire to the south west....
. Most African filmmakers still rely heavily on European institutions for financing and producing their films. A commercially viable video production has been set up in Nigeria
Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federation constitutional republic comprising States of Nigeria and one Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria....
, colloquially known as Nollywood.

Mission

The political approach of African film makers is clearly evident in the Charte du cinéaste africain (Charta of the African cinéaste) which the union of African film makers FEPACI adopted in Algiers
Algiers

Algiers Nicknamed El-Bahdja or Alger la Blanche for the glistening white of its buildings as seen rising up from the sea, Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea....
 in 1975.

The filmmakers start by recalling the neocolonial
Neocolonialism

Neocolonialism is a term used by post-colonial critics of developed countries' involvement in the developing world. Critics of neocolonialism argue that existing or past international economic arrangements created by former colonial powers were or are used to maintain control of their former colonies and dependencies after the decoloniza...
 condition of African societies. "The situation contemporary African societies live in is one in which they are dominated on several levels: politically, economically and culturally." African filmmakers stressed their solidarity with progressive filmmakers in other parts of the world. African cinema is often seen a part of Third Cinema
Third Cinema

Third Cinema is a Latin American film movement of the 1960s-70s which decries neocolonialism, the capitalism system, and the Hollywood model of cinema as mere entertainment to make money....
.

In the words of Souleymane Cissé
Souleymane Cissé

Souleymane Ciss? is a Malian film director....
: "African filmmakers' first task is to show that people here are human beings and to help people discover the African values that can be of service to others. The following generation will branch out into other aspects of film. Our duty is to make people understand that white people have lied through their images." (Thackway, p. 39)

Some African filmmakers, e.g. Ousmane Sembène, try to give back African history to African people by remembering the resistance to European and Islamic domination.

The role of the African filmmaker is often compared to traditional Griot
Griot

A griot or jeli is a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician, considered a repository of oral history. As such, they are sometimes also called bards....
s. Like them their task is to express and reflect communal experiences. Patterns of African oral literature often recur in African films. African film has also been influenced by traditions from other continents such as Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism

Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors....
, Brazilian Cinema Novo
Cinema Novo

Cinema Novo or Novo Cinema was practised by Brazilian film director in the 1950s and 1960s. In Portugal it flourished after the 1960s, where it lasted, inspired by the French New Wave movement of the New wave, the direct cinema techniques, and by the ideals the Carnation Revolution up to the early 1980s ....
 and the theatre of Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht

was a Germany poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the Twentieth-century theatre, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and Theatre, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble?the post-war theatre company operated by Brec...
.

Women directors

Ethnologist and filmmaker Safi Faye
Safi Faye

Safi Faye is a Senegalese film director and Ethnology. She was the first Sub-Saharan African woman to direct a commercially distributed feature film....
 was the first African woman film director to gain international recognition.

In 1972, Sarah Maldoror
Sarah Maldoror

Sarah Maldoror, born Sarah Ducados in Gers, France is a black French film director.She choose her artist's name in remembrance of The Songs of Maldoror by Lautr?amont....
 had shot her film Sambizanga about the 1961-1974 war
Portuguese Colonial War

The Portuguese Colonial War , also known as the Overseas War in Portugal or in the Portuguese Empire as the War of liberation , was fought between Portuguese military history and the emerging nationalist movements in Portuguese Empire between 1961 and 1974....
 in Angola
Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean....
. Surviving African women of this war are the subject of the Documentary
Documentary film

Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and new media productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a televis...
 Les oubliées (The forgotten), made by Anne-Laure Folly two hundred and twenty years later.

Directors by country

  • Angola: Sarah Maldoror
    Sarah Maldoror

    Sarah Maldoror, born Sarah Ducados in Gers, France is a black French film director.She choose her artist's name in remembrance of The Songs of Maldoror by Lautr?amont....
    , Zeze Gamboa
  • Benin: Jean Odoutan, Idrissou Mora Kpai
  • Burkina Faso: Idrissa Ouedraogo
    Idrissa Ouedraogo

    Idrissa Ouedraogo is a film director from Burkina Faso. He is best known for his films Yaaba and Tila?....
    , Gaston Kaboré
    Gaston Kaboré

    Gaston Kabor? is a Burkina Faso film director and an important figure in Burkina Faso's film industry. He has won awards for his films Wend Kuuni and Buud Yam....
    , Dani Kouyaté, Fanta Régina Nacro
    Fanta Régina Nacro

    Fanta R?gina Nacro is a film director from Burkina Faso. She received her first degree in audiovisual science and techniques from INAFEC in 1986 and also earned a Master?s Degree in Film and Audiovisual Studies at the Sorbonne....
    , Apolline Traore, Orissa Touré, Pierre Yameogo, Sanou Kollo, Pierre Ruamba
  • Cameroon: Jean-Pierre Bekolo
    Jean-Pierre Bekolo

    Jean-Pierre Bekolo is a film director....
    , Bassek Ba Kobhio, Jean-Pierre Dikongue, Jean-Marie Teno, François Woukoache
  • Cape Verde: Fernando Vendrell, Francisco Manso
  • Central African Republic: Didier Ouenangare
  • Chad: Issa Serge Coelo
    Issa Serge Coelo

    Issa Serge Coelo is a Chadian film director. Born in Biltine, Chad, he studied history in Paris and film at the Ecole Sup?rieure de R?alisation Audiovisuelle ....
    , Mahamat Saleh Haroun
    Mahamat Saleh Haroun

    Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is a film director from Chad who has lived in France since 1982. He made his first feature film, Bye Bye Africa, in 1999....
  • Côte d'Ivoire: Desiré Ecaré
    Desiré Ecaré

    D?sir? Ecar?'s was born on April 15, 1939 in Treicheville, Ivory Coast. He directed the seminal film Faces of Women in 1985 which went on to win the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes Film Festival....
    , Fadika Kramo Lancine, Roger Gnoan M'Bala, Jacques Trabi
  • Democratic Republic of Congo: Mweze Ngangura, Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, Joseph Kumbela, Zeka Laplaine
  • Egypt: Salah Abu Seif
    Salah Abu Seif

    Salah Abu Seif was one of the most famous Egyptian film directors. He is considered to be the godfather of the realistic cinema in Egypt. Many of the 41 films he directed are considered Egyptian classics....
    , Youssef Chahine
    Youssef Chahine

    Youssef Chahine was an Egyptians film director active in the Cinema of Egypt since 1950. He was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif ....
    , Yousry Nasrallah
    Yousry Nasrallah

    Yousry Nasrallah is an Egyptian film director.Nasrallah was born to a Coptic Christian family in Cairo. He graduated in economics and political science at Cairo University....
    , Ezzel Dine Zulficar
    Ezzel Dine Zulficar

    Ezzel Dine Zulficar was an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, actor, and film producer....
    , Sherif Arafa
    Sherif Arafa

    Sherif Arafa is the director and writer and producer, an Egyptian, was born in December 25,1960 and graduated from the Higher Institute of Cinema in 1982,He is the son of director Saad Arafa and older brother of the director Amr Arafa...
    , Tarek Al Erian, Atef El Tayeb, Khaled Youssef
    Khaled Youssef

    Khaled Youssef , is an Egyptian director and film writer, being the most loyal student of Youssef Chahine, he acquired his name "Youssef"....
    , Ali Badrakhan, Dawood Abdel Said, Magdy Ahmed Ali, Marwan Hamed, Amr Arafa, Barakat
    Barakat

    Barakat may refer to:*Barakat!, 2006 French-Algerian film, directed by Djamila Sahraoui*al-Barakat, Somalian consortium*Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdaadi, 12th-century philosopher and physicist...
    , Ehab Mamdouh, Sandra Nashat, Enas El Deghedy, Adel Adeeb, Mohamed Khan
    Mohamed Khan

    Mohamed Hamed Hassan Khan is an Egyptian film director, screenwriter and actor.Born in October 26th 1942, He completed his high school in Egypt, then traveled to England where studied at the London School of Film Technique between 1962 and 1963....
    , Ehab Lamey, Shady Abdel Salam, Hala Khaleel, Khairy Beshara
    Khairy Beshara

    Khairy Beshara is an Egyptians film director active in the Cinema of Egypt since the 1970s. He is considered one of the Egyptian directors who re-defined Realism in Egyptian cinema in the 1980s....
    , Ali Ragab, Hady El Bagoury, Radwan El Kashef, Ashraf Fahmy, Samir Seif
    Samir Seif

    Samir Seif born to a Coptic Christian family in Cairo, Egypt, is a prominent Egyptians film director active in the Egyptian film industry also in TV....
    , Ali Abdel Khaleq, Nader Galal
  • Ethiopia: Haile Gerima
    Haile Gerima

    Haile Gerima born Gondar, Ethiopia, March 4, 1946 is an Ethiopian filmmaker who immigrated to the United States in 1968. At UCLA he, along with award-winning filmmakers Charles Burnett ...
  • Gabon: Imunga Ivanga
    Imunga Ivanga

    Imunga Ivanga: is a Gabonese filmmaker.He was born in 1967 in Libreville, Gabon. He studied at University of Libreville and has a masters in literature....
  • Ghana: Kwaw Ansah, King Ampaw, John Akronfrah, Fara Awindor
  • Guinea: David Achkar, Gahité Fofana, Mohamed Camara
    Mohamed Camara (film director)

    Mohamed Camara is a Guinean film director and actor based in France. He studied at the Atelier Blanche Salant in Paris. He has explored controversial topics in his films such as incest , child suicide and homosexuality ....
  • Guinea-Bissau Flora Gomes
  • Mali: Souleymane Cissé
    Souleymane Cissé

    Souleymane Ciss? is a Malian film director....
    , Cheick Oumar Sissoko
    Cheick Oumar Sissoko

    Cheick Oumar Sissoko is a Malian film director and politician....
    , Abdoulaye Ascofare
    Abdoulaye Ascofaré

    Abdoulaye Ascofar? is a Malian poet and filmmaker....
    , Adama Drabo
    Adama Drabo

    Adama Drabo is a Malian filmmaker and playwright....
  • Mauritania: Med Hondo, Abderrahmane Sissako, Sidney Sokhana
  • Niger: Oumarou Ganda
    Oumarou Ganda

    Oumarou Ganda was a Nigerien director and actor who brought African cinema to international attention in the 1960s and 1970s....
  • Nigeria Ola Balogun, Eddie Ugboma, Amaka Igwe, Zeb Ejiro, Lola Fani-Kayode, Bayo Awala, Izu Ojukwu
    Izu Ojukwu

    Izu Ojukwu is a Nigerian film director. Working predominantly in action films, this technically driven director is known for his unorthodox camera work and visuals....
    , Greg Fiberesima,Tunde kelani Jide Bello
  • Kenya: Judy Kibinge, Jane Munene, Anne Mungai
  • Senegal: Ousmane Sembène
    Ousmane Sembène

    Ousmane Semb?ne , often credited in the French style as Semb?ne Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer....
    , Paulin Soumarou Vieyra, Djibril Diop Mambéty
    Djibril Diop Mambéty

    Djibril Diop Mamb?ty was a Senegalese film director, actor, orator, composer and poet. Though he made only a small number of films, they received international acclaim for their original and experimental cinematic technique and non-linear, unconventional narrative style....
    , Moussa Sene Absa, Safi Faye
    Safi Faye

    Safi Faye is a Senegalese film director and Ethnology. She was the first Sub-Saharan African woman to direct a commercially distributed feature film....
    , Ababacar Samb-Makhbaram, Ben Diogaye Beye
    Ben Diogaye Beye

    Ben Diogaye B?ye is a Senegalese filmwriter, filmmaker, film producer and journalist. He was the co-director of nearly a dozen Senegalese films, including Touki Bouki with Djibril Diop Mambety, Baks with Momar Thiam, Sarah et Marjama with Axel Lohman, and the co-screenwriter of the latter two....
    , Clarence Delgado, Ahmadou Diallo, Bouna Medoune Seye, Moussa Touré, Mansour Sora Wade
    Mansour Sora Wade

    Mansour Sora Wade is a Senegalese film director who studied at Paris 8 University. He won the Tanit d'or in 2002....
    , Samba Félix Ndiaye
  • Somalia: Abdisalam Aato
    Somaliwood

    Somaliwood is an informal name for the Cinema of Somalia that has developed in the African diaspora community of Columbus, Ohio, centered around the Olol Films production company....
  • Sudan: Gadalla Gubara
    Gadalla Gubara

    Gadalla Gubara is a Sudanese filmmaker who has been making films since 1946. He is considered the first African filmmaker and has been a pioneer of African cinema....
  • Togo: Anne Laure Folly
  • South Africa: Lionel Ngakane
    Lionel Ngakane

    Lionel Ngakane was a South African filmmaker.Ngakane was educated at Fort Hare University College and Wits University, and worked on Drum and Zonk magazine magazines from 1948 to 1950....
    , Seipati Bulani-Hopa, Mickey Dube, Gavin Hood
    Gavin Hood

    Gavin Hood - South African filmmaker, screenwriter, Film producer and actor, best known for winning the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film for the film Tsotsi ....
    , Zola Maseko
    Zola Maseko

    Zola Maseko is a Swaziland film director and screenwriter. He is noted for his documentary films related to xenophobia....
    , Sechaba Morejele, Morabane Modise, Teddy Matthera
  • Zimbabwe: M.K. Asante, Jr.


Films about African cinema

  • Caméra d’Afrique, Director: Férid Boughedir, Tunesia/France 1983
  • Les Fespakistes, Directors: François Kotlarski, Eric Münch, Burkina Faso/France 2001
  • This is Nollywood
    This Is Nollywood

    This Is Nollywood is a Nigerian documentary film by Franco Sacchi and Robert Caputo, detailing the Cinema of Nigeria, much along the same lines as the acclaimed 2007 documentary, Welcome to Nollywood, by Jamie Meltzer...


Bibliography

  • Olivier Barlet, African Cinemas : decolonizing the gaze, Zed Books, London, 2001
  • Fernando E. Solanas, Octavio Getino, "Towards a Third Cinema" in: Bill Nichols (ed.), Movies and Methods. An Anthology, University of California Press 1976, pp. 44-64
  • Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike, Black African Cinema, University of California Press 1994
  • Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike, Questioning African Cinema: Conversations with Filmmakers, University of Minnesota Press 2002, ISBN 0-8166-4005-X
  • Melissa Thackway, Africa Shoots Back: Alternative Perspectives in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Film, Indiana University Press 2003, Includes a comprehensive bibliography and a select filmography
  • Africultures : see www.africultures.com (French and English)
  • Samuel Lelievre (ed.),Cinémas africains, une oasis dans le désert ?, CinémAction no 106, Paris, Télérama/Corlet, 1st trimester 2003
  • Écrans d’Afriques (1992-1998) - French and English - to read on www.africine.org or www.africultures.com


See also

  • Somaliwood
    Somaliwood

    Somaliwood is an informal name for the Cinema of Somalia that has developed in the African diaspora community of Columbus, Ohio, centered around the Olol Films production company....
  • African literature
    African literature

    African literature refers to the literature of and for the African peoples. As George Joseph notes on the first page of his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, while the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral literature....
  • List of African films
    List of African films

    A list of African films by country of origin. Please note that this list may not be entirely accurate or up-to-date....
  • Political cinema
    Political cinema

    Political Cinema in the narrow sense of the term is a cinema which portrays current or historical events or social conditions in a partisan way in order to inform or to agitate the spectator....
  • Third Cinema
    Third Cinema

    Third Cinema is a Latin American film movement of the 1960s-70s which decries neocolonialism, the capitalism system, and the Hollywood model of cinema as mere entertainment to make money....
  • Women's cinema
    Women's cinema

    The term women's cinema usually refers to the work of women film directors. It can also designate the work of other women behind the camera such as cinematographers and screenwriters....
  • World cinema
    World cinema

    World cinema is a term used primarily in English language speaking countries to refer to the films and film industry of non-English speaking countries....


External links

  • Very Large African Cinema & Movies selection
  • Comprehensive database of African media