Focus on African Films
Bloomington: Indiana University Press (2004), ix, 327 pp.
Contains illustrations, directory pp. 273-303, bibliogr. pp. 305-306, index
ISBN 978-0-25321668-7
Signature commbox: 100:50-General 2004
"Emphasizing post-independent films released since the 1950s and the burgeoning commercial film production of the last decade, Focus on African Films provides unique and pluralistic perspectives on filmmaking throughout Africa. As a whole, the collection highlights the distinct thematic, stylistic, and socioeconomic circumstances of African filmmaking. Individual essays show how conditions in Africa have generated a broad range of views and techniques, from the stylistically innovative documentaries of Jean-Marie Teno and Abderrahmane Sissako and the "documentary fiction" of Mahamat-Saleh Haroun to the vibrant art films of Jean-Pierre Bekolo and the new films from South Africa. Contributors also outline the direction of increasingly popular, less didactic sub-Saharan filmmaking in films such as Daniel Kamwa's Pousse-Pousse, Ngangura Mweze's La vie est belle, and Imungu Ivanga's Dôlé." (Publisher description)
PART I: REEXAMINING "OFFICIAL HISTORY"
1 Come Back South Africa: Cinematic Representations of Apartheid over Three Eras of Resistance / Robert Cancel
2 Ousmane Sembene and History on the Screen: A Look Back to the Future / Samba Gadjigo
3 Film and History in Africa: A Critical Survey of Current Trends and Tendencies / Mbye Cham
4 Fiction, Fact, and the Responsibility of the Critic: Camp de Thiaroye, Yaaba, and The Gods Must Be Crazy / Josef Gugler
PART II: DECONSTRUCTING CONTEXTUAL SPACES
5 African Cities as Cinematic Texts / Françoise Pfaff
6 Images of France in Francophone African Films (1978-1998) / Madeleine Cottenet-Hage
7 The Failed Trickster / Kenneth W. Harrow
8 Manu Dibango and Ceddo's Transatlantic Film Scores / Brenda Berrian
PART III: ORIGINAL AND BURGEONING CINEMATIC PRACTICES
9 The Other Voices of Documentary: Allah Tantou, Afrique, Je te plumerai / N. Frank Ukadike
10 Videoeconomy: The Case of Nigeria / Françoise Balogun
PART IV: INSIDE/OUTSIDE: EXPATRIATE FILMMAKERS
11 Africa Through a Woman's Eyes: Safi Faye's Cinema / Beti Ellerson
12 Haile Gerima: From Africa to the Americas / Françoise Pfaff
PART V: INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS: INFLUENCES AND CONFLUENCES
13 The Russian Connection: Soviet Cinema and The Cinema of Francophone Africa / Josephine Woll
14 African and Latin American Cinemas: Contexts and Contacts / Maria Roof
PART VI: SOURCES AND RESOURCES
15 Where to View, Rent and Purchase African Feature Films: Africa, Europe, the U.S. and Canada / Valerie Wheat
1 Come Back South Africa: Cinematic Representations of Apartheid over Three Eras of Resistance / Robert Cancel
2 Ousmane Sembene and History on the Screen: A Look Back to the Future / Samba Gadjigo
3 Film and History in Africa: A Critical Survey of Current Trends and Tendencies / Mbye Cham
4 Fiction, Fact, and the Responsibility of the Critic: Camp de Thiaroye, Yaaba, and The Gods Must Be Crazy / Josef Gugler
PART II: DECONSTRUCTING CONTEXTUAL SPACES
5 African Cities as Cinematic Texts / Françoise Pfaff
6 Images of France in Francophone African Films (1978-1998) / Madeleine Cottenet-Hage
7 The Failed Trickster / Kenneth W. Harrow
8 Manu Dibango and Ceddo's Transatlantic Film Scores / Brenda Berrian
PART III: ORIGINAL AND BURGEONING CINEMATIC PRACTICES
9 The Other Voices of Documentary: Allah Tantou, Afrique, Je te plumerai / N. Frank Ukadike
10 Videoeconomy: The Case of Nigeria / Françoise Balogun
PART IV: INSIDE/OUTSIDE: EXPATRIATE FILMMAKERS
11 Africa Through a Woman's Eyes: Safi Faye's Cinema / Beti Ellerson
12 Haile Gerima: From Africa to the Americas / Françoise Pfaff
PART V: INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS: INFLUENCES AND CONFLUENCES
13 The Russian Connection: Soviet Cinema and The Cinema of Francophone Africa / Josephine Woll
14 African and Latin American Cinemas: Contexts and Contacts / Maria Roof
PART VI: SOURCES AND RESOURCES
15 Where to View, Rent and Purchase African Feature Films: Africa, Europe, the U.S. and Canada / Valerie Wheat
