African Cinema:
The term African cinema refers to film production in Africa, following formal independence, which for many countries happened in the 1960s. Some of the countries in North Africa had developed a national film industry much earlier and are related to West Asian cinema. Often, Africa Cinema also includes directors from among the African diaspora.
History
Film during the colonial era
During the colonial era, Africa was represented exclusively by Western filmmakers. The continent was portrayed as an exotic land without history or culture. Examples of this kind of cinema abound and include jungle epics such as Tarzan and The African Queen, and various adaptations of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel titled King Solomon's Mines.
In the French colonies Africans were, by law, not permitted to make films of their own. This ban was known as the "Laval Decree". In 1955, however, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra - originally from Benin, but educated in Senegal - along with his colleagues from Le Group African du Cinema, shot a short film in Paris by the name of Afrique Sur Seine (1955). Vieyra was trained in filmmaking at the prestigious Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographique (IDHEC) in Paris. and in spite of the ban on filmmaking in Africa, was granted permission to make a film in France. Afrique Sur Seineexplores the difficulties of being an African in France during the 1950s and is considered to be the first film directed by a black African.
Before independence, only a few anti-colonial films were produced. Examples include Les statues meurent aussi by Chris Marker and Alain Resnais about European robbery of African art and Afrique 50 by Rene Vauthier about anti-colonial riots in Cote d'lvoire and in Upper Volta.
Also doing film work in Africa during this time was French Ethnographic filmmaker, Jean Rouch. Rouch's work has been controversial amongst both French and African audiences. With films like Jaguar (1955), Les maitres fous (1955), Moi, un noir (1958), and La pyramide humaine (1959), Rouch made documentaries that were not explicitly anti-colonial, but which challenged many received notions about colonial Africa and gave a new voice to Africans through film. Although Rouch has been accused by Ousmane Sembene - and others - as being someone who looks at Africans "as if they are insects", Rouch was an important figure in the early development of African film and was the first person to work with several Africans who would go on to have important careers in African cinema.
The term African cinema refers to film production in Africa, following formal independence, which for many countries happened in the 1960s. Some of the countries in North Africa had developed a national film industry much earlier and are related to West Asian cinema. Often, Africa Cinema also includes directors from among the African diaspora.History
Film during the colonial era
During the colonial era, Africa was represented exclusively by Western filmmakers. The continent was portrayed as an exotic land without history or culture. Examples of this kind of cinema abound and include jungle epics such as Tarzan and The African Queen, and various adaptations of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel titled King Solomon's Mines.
In the French colonies Africans were, by law, not permitted to make films of their own. This ban was known as the "Laval Decree". In 1955, however, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra - originally from Benin, but educated in Senegal - along with his colleagues from Le Group African du Cinema, shot a short film in Paris by the name of Afrique Sur Seine (1955). Vieyra was trained in filmmaking at the prestigious Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographique (IDHEC) in Paris. and in spite of the ban on filmmaking in Africa, was granted permission to make a film in France. Afrique Sur Seineexplores the difficulties of being an African in France during the 1950s and is considered to be the first film directed by a black African.
Before independence, only a few anti-colonial films were produced. Examples include Les statues meurent aussi by Chris Marker and Alain Resnais about European robbery of African art and Afrique 50 by Rene Vauthier about anti-colonial riots in Cote d'lvoire and in Upper Volta.
Also doing film work in Africa during this time was French Ethnographic filmmaker, Jean Rouch. Rouch's work has been controversial amongst both French and African audiences. With films like Jaguar (1955), Les maitres fous (1955), Moi, un noir (1958), and La pyramide humaine (1959), Rouch made documentaries that were not explicitly anti-colonial, but which challenged many received notions about colonial Africa and gave a new voice to Africans through film. Although Rouch has been accused by Ousmane Sembene - and others - as being someone who looks at Africans "as if they are insects", Rouch was an important figure in the early development of African film and was the first person to work with several Africans who would go on to have important careers in African cinema.