kagablog : portal to art/ film/ photography and more

For an insiders look at the south african film industry and related themes see:

state of industry

also see observations and remarks on south african media vs West importation by Sabelo

kagablog_rest vs west

more from kagablog on Africa in Motion click below...

AMotion

Jean Rouch, the ethnographic filmmaker with his penetrative and performative camera

Les Maitres Fous (1954)

A timeless controversial film, Les Maitre Fous depicts the Hauka (West African) religious ceremony, predominantly found at the time to be practised amongst the Songhay and Djerma of the Niger river Basin. Described as ritual exorcising of colonialism.

from the Documentary Educational Resources;
The imagery in Les Maitres Fous is powerful and often disturbing: possessed men with rolling eyes and foaming at the mouth, eating a sacrificed dog (in violation of taboo), burning their bodies with naming torches. Beyond the imagery, the themes are also powerful, and have had an impact in our own culture:Jean Genet's The Blacks was modeled upon the Hauka inversion in which blacks assume the role of masters, and Peter Brook's Marat/Sade was influenced by the theatricality and invented language of Hauka possession. Yet, as Rouch reminds us in an interview in Cineaste, possession for the Hauka cultists was not theater but reality. The significance of this reality is left ambiguous in the film, although Rouch's commentary suggests that the ritual provides a psychological release which enables the Hauka to be good workers and to endure a degrading situation with dignity. The unexplored relation of the Hauka movement to their colonial experience 1-S perhaps the most intriguing issue raised by this ceremony in which the oppressed become, for a day, the possessed and the powerful.

In order to truely be able to contextualise this film and read it within a specific cultural context, Paul Stoller's article "Horrific Comedy; Cultural Resistance and the Hauka Movement in Niger (Ethos, Vol 12 No. 2, 1984) is recommended. Stoller states,

In this paper I consider the Hauka movement of Songhay possession
dance as a dramatic form in which the deities practice horrific
comedy. This comedy, I suggest, provides a symbolic means by
which the Songhay anchor themselves culturally in a world which
the way of the European is rapidly changing. By aping the European
they have resisted culturally the way of the European and have expressed
metaphorically their preference for the traditions of their
ancestors. In so doing the Songhay have used symbolism to protect
their cultural identity from the ever expanding encroachments of
European civilization.

"If a cultural institution is laughed at, its meaning cannot be taken at face value. Laughter must be regarded as a denial of cultural automation and the affirmation of a complex human freedom to follow, change or create culture"(Codere 1956:349-350). The comedy of paradox is therefore a major tool which can be used by people to resist culturally the influence of powerful foreigners.

interview with rouch...


les tambours d'avant Tourou et Bitti - Rouch

hollywood, bollywood, nollywood and now riverwood???

Nigerian Nollywood...

The invasion of the video-movie in Nigeria: With the advent of video related technologies in the 90's, filmmaking became largely accesble to a home market and offered an affordable alternative to both the producers of the film as well as the consumers, home-viewers. The article by Francis Harding in the Journal of African Cultural Studies (Vol 16, No. 1, June 2003, pp69-94), Africa and the moving image: television, film and video, provides a good overview of the benefits of the recent developments of this market in Nigeria (and Ghana), identifying key aspects that have encouraged this industry to emerge and become greatly popular not only amongst the local market but across the continent and within diasporic communuities world wide.

"The creation of a localised genre of African video-movies, whose themes are the violent chase, gangsters, romance, and religion and whose location and setting, dress and narratives are highly localised."

Kenyan emerging film industry...

some clips from african films....

african film la vie est belle in two parts...

From the CaliforniaNewsReel -

La Vie est Belle takes us inside the vibrant music scene of Kinshasa, the Congo's exhilarating and exasperating capital whose back alleys and clubs pulsate to the beat of some of the most influential music in the world. The film, starring Soukous music legend Papa Wemba, tells the "rags to riches" story of a poor country musician who seeks fame in the city's vibrant music industry. This lively farce illustrates the Congolese faith in Systeme-D or debrouillardise, fending for yourself to survive in the face of overwhelming obstacles. If there is a commercial cinema in Africa's future, then La Vie est Belle may be one of its precursors

Pfaff in the book, The Cinema of Ousmane Sembene writing on the use of sound and limited music in his films writes;

In some instances, sounds are used rhythmically and melodiously to create a musical effect without the help of a musical instrument. Concerning the greatest part of the musical score of Ceddo, Sembene specifies that "it is not exactly music. It is a repetition of sounds and rythmns. It is done with bottles. Why not harmonise sounds and rythmns, why should we always resort to traditional African music for our films?"

the great sembene, sengalese acclaimed writer and filmmaker....a short clip from his film La niore de..



more clips from borom sarret, moolade, yeleen

africa and filmmaking...bits and bobs and other related thoughts...

Tsotsi
South African film that has won a host of awards at various international film festivals including the Edinburgh Film Festival, Los Angeles AFI Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival.

The synopsis taken from the official website (see link above) states the following

Tsotsi n. thug, gangster, hoodlum

Set amidst the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto - where survival is the primary objective - TSOTSI traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader who ends up caring for a baby accidentally kidnapped during a car-jacking.

TSOTSI is a gritty and moving portrait of an angry young man living in a state of extreme urban deprivation. His world pumps with the raw energy of "Kwaito music" - the modern beat of the ghetto that reflects his troubled state of mind.

The film is a psychological thriller in which the protagonist is compelled to confront his own brutal nature and face the consequences of his actions. It puts a human face on both the victims and the perpetrators of violent crime and is ultimately a story of hope and a triumph of love over rage.

"Tsotsi" literally means "thug" or "gangster" in the street language of South Africa's townships and ghettos. "Kwaito" is South Africa's answer to American Hip Hop.


For more video clips go to the official website - it gives both comprehensive documentation/ press releases/ reviews etc but also other video clips on the "making of" the film, and related areas such as Kwaito Music.







U-Carmen
This is what the Barbican had to say about ...

This impressive adaptation sets George Bizet's masterpiece in the underworld of a South African township, and won the Golden Bear at last year's Berlin Film Festival.

Theatre director Mark Dornford-May has effortlessly translated the famous love story of Don José and the sensuous cigarette seller Carmen from Spain to Cape Town, and the libretto from French into the local Xhosa.

Acclaimed, local-born opera singer Pauline Malefane is a revelation in the title role, supported by a magnificent cast from the acclaimed Dimpho Di Kopane theatre company.

South Africa 2005 Dir. Mark Dornford-May 127 min.


to listen to an interview with the south african star and co-writer Pauline Malefane... go to the BBC collective - click here
Also a good link to an interview with the Director on the film see the BBC film network - or click here









DV8 Project talking about the film industry in south africa...







FESPACO

To find out more information about the FESPACO Film Festival, Journeyman Pictures have a short clip on the film festival to be found on Utube - which can also be ordered as a DVD format. Unfortunately the clip is not embeddable but you can watch it on youtube / click here






....in this clip on African Cinema and Revolution, Zola Maseko (Drum, 2004) discusses revolution in African cinema at the Here & Now African & African American Art & Film Conference. Seated (L to R) are Jacquie Jones, Moussa Sene Absa, Maseko, and NYU's Institute of African Studies Chair Manthia Diawara.


Manthia Diawara's book, African Cinema: Politics and Culture - is a recommended read for anyone who is interested in contemporary issues surrounding the African cinema.

on independant filmmaking in africa

Balufu Bakupa Kanyinda discusses independent filmmaking in Africa at the Here & Now Art & Film Conference. Seated, L to R, are John Akomfrah, CCH Pounder, and Kanyinda

Beyond Freedom : Animated Documentary

poetry as a political voice