DOCSLIB.ORG

Press Book Bamako (ENG).Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Press Book Bamako (ENG).Pdf DP Bamako - anglais 12/05/06 12:58 Page 1 ARCHIPEL 33, CHINGUITTY FILMS, MALI IMAGES ARTE France and LOUVERTURE FILMS present bamako a film by Abderrahmane Sissako 2006 • 1.85 • 1H58 • DOLBY SRD www.bamako-film.com PRESSE INTERNATIONAL SALES ALIBI COMMUNICATIONS / BRIGITTA PORTIER LES FILMS DU LOSANGE OFFICE IN CANNES : Tel. : +331 44 43 87 24 / 13 / 28 Plage Royale Tel: 0032 477 98 25 84 or 06 29 60 75 41 Fax : +331 49 52 06 40 fax : 04 93 38 61 60 DETAILS IN CANNES : DANIELA ELSTNER +33 6 75 13 05 75 JULIETTE SCHRAMECK +33 6 89 85 96 95 LISE ZIPCI +33 6 84 21 74 53 DP Bamako - anglais 12/05/06 12:58 Page 2 SYNOPSIS Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up… In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes… Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa's desire to fight for its rights… BAMAKO BAMAKO 3 2 DP Bamako - anglais 12/05/06 12:58 Page 4 INTERVIEW WITH ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO / How did this project come into being ? one lives on a continent where film- making is difficult and uncommon, one First, this film is linked to my desire feels entitled to speak in the name of to film in my father's house, who has others: faced with the seriousness of passed away. the situation in Africa, I felt a kind of This house is located in Bamako, in the urgency to bring up the hypocrisy of the poorer neighbourhood of Hamdallaye. North towards the Southern countries. It's a plain house, made of earth. For years, a tap and a well have been stan- / Without a doubt, your film adopts ding side by side in the courtyard. Here, the least traditional narrative. How attention and it was absolutely message through a parable seemed the water is expensive, and to save money, did you develop this method ? necessary that the sophisticated state- right thing to do. I wanted the debate my father had a well dug. ments be put into perspective by compa- that is carried out by the main charac- This courtyard is where I grew up, At first, I wanted to limit the setting ring them with the lives that go on in the ters in the trial, to be regularly broken with my many brothers, sisters, cou- of the film to a trial without ever lea- courtyard. up by other realities which sometimes sins, aunts, uncles, close and distant ving it. Afterwards, I understood that I The people who gravitate around the take the form of parables. relatives. Never had we been less that could perhaps go further if I gave up courtroom believe in the trial but don't It was impossible for me to imagine twenty-five sleeping, eating, learning, the idea of a single space, one theatri- expect anything from the verdict. this trial anywhere but within a real living almost in turn. cal setting, and that I could introduce When talking about the West, in order living place. Today, most of us have left the house characters outside the trial. to encourage me, one of the witnesses to live elsewhere - and yet the house is said: "At least they'll know that we know". still always full... New cousins, close / What is striking, is precisely the life and distant relatives live there, go to that goes on outside the courtroom: / In Waiting for Happiness, you sho- school or quit to work on some odd women are dying fabric, a mother wed the impotence of Africa's public job or other. nurses her little daughter, a couple authorities and western countries' For me, this house is associated with breaks up, another gets married... anti-immigration policies. Here, you the memory of passionate discussions reach a new stage with a film in the with my father about Africa. I developed the secondary plots form of a parable. The other reason that urged me to because I wanted the lives of the people make this film has to do with my views living in the courtyard to echo or inter- I deeply believe that life and hope go on Africa - Africa, not as the continent fere with the speeches delivered at the beyond the notion of justice. Speaking that I call my own, but as a place of bar. The trial debates illustrate a kind of in a straightforward way is extremely injustice which directly affects me. When intelligence which monopolizes all of our difficult these days and conveying my BAMAKO BAMAKO 4 5 DP Bamako - anglais 12/05/06 12:58 Page 6 / You remind us that women play a Also, a large portion of the African central role in Africa and prevent the elite is a party to the West: they've continent from erupting into violence. never had the courage to act in favor of changing things because each person is Yes, they are the ones who prevent us only looking out selfishly for their own from being too pessimistic about the interests. future of the continent... When one So, I saw this western sequence as a sees their will to fight, their strength, it's metaphor of the World Bank's or the only normal to give them an essential IMF's mission - since these missions are part in the film, in the trial as well as in carried out jointly by the Europeans the life that goes on around the cour- and the Africans. tyard. / How did you go about the filmma- / How is the western spaghetti scene king ? related to the film ? / Is it possible to say that the trial has / How did you think up the "dialogues" For me, we had to film the trial as a cathartic quality to it ? of the main characters in the trial ? For me, it was a case of showing that one would a documentary: a scene The real question is this: no court of It's worth knowing that I called upon cow-boys aren't all white and that the couldn't be interrupted, a witness law exists to call into question the judges and professional lawyers and West isn't solely to blame for Africa's wouldn't have been asked to repeat a power of the strongest. It wasn't so also real witnesses. I worked a long woes. We too have a share of blame. sentence and we let the court presi- much a question of laying the blame on time with them. I decided what the fra- This is why the cow-boy who shoots the dent and the lawyers listen to the testi- who is guilty than denouncing the fact mework of the proceedings was going "extraneous" schoolteacher is African. monies and intervene as they saw fit. that the predicament of hundreds of to be like and then I let them put it to millions of people is the result of poli- life. When we were filming, I gave them cies that have been decided outside a lot of freedom when testifying, accu- their universe. sing or defending. You find this idea in a statement Some of them had been chosen given by Aminata Traoré, one of the among the victims of the famous witnesses, who refuses to accept that "structural adjustments" of the World poverty is the main feature of Africa: Bank and the IMF: these are the people no, she says, Africa is rather a victim of that we call the "outcasts", the laid off its wealth ! workers, like those former public ser- So, in this way, I wanted to offer ano- vants who found themselves out of ther image of my continent, one diffe- work because public services had been rent from war and famine. privatized and sold to western multina- This is where an artist's creativity tionals... These "witnesses" had the fee- comes in, not to change the world, but ling that a real trial was taking place to make the impossible realistic, like and so when they came to testify in these proceedings against international court they voiced their resentment. financial institutions. Here again, I didn't make anything up. BAMAKO BAMAKO 6 7 DP Bamako - anglais 12/05/06 12:58 Page 8 CAST Melé Aïssa MAÏGA Chaka Tiécoura TRAORÉ Saramba Hélène DIARRA Falaï Habib DEMBÉLÉ Chaka's sister Djénéba KONÉ Journalist Hamadoun KASSOGUÉ Court President Hamèye MAHALMADANE Victims' Attorneys Aïssata TALL SALL William BOURDON We used four video cameras and a real". I wanted to show his personal Defense Attorneys Roland RAPPAPORT sound recordist, deliberately letting point of view, without sound. These Mamadou KONATÉ them be visible on the screen. Because images represent for me the glance of Mamadou SAVADOGO I wanted everyone to get used to this those who don't have the means to Prosecutor Magma Gabriel KONATÉ technical device, just as one would in speak out. Witnesses any trial. • (in order of appearance) Zegué BAMBA On the other hand, for the scenes Aminata TRAORÉ outside the trial, we chose a fictional Madou KEITA scenario, with shooting script, reverse- Georges KEITA angle shots, master shots... and we Assa BADIALLO SOUKO shot on 16 mm. Samba DIAKITÉ This is how it turned out that toge- ther, in the same film, we had profes- Special appearances sional actors and actual lawyers, in the roles of the cow-boys Danny GLOVER judges and witnesses, people from the Elia SULEIMAN neighbourhood, and members of my Dramane BASSARO family.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Poverty and the Struggle to Survive in the Fuuta Tooro Region Of
    What Development? Poverty and the Struggle to Survive in the Fuuta Tooro Region of Southern Mauritania Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christopher Hemmig, M.A. Graduate Program in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Sabra Webber, Advisor Morgan Liu Katey Borland Copyright by Christopher T. Hemmig 2015 Abstract Like much of Subsaharan Africa, development has been an ever-present aspect to postcolonial life for the Halpulaar populations of the Fuuta Tooro region of southern Mauritania. With the collapse of locally historical modes of production by which the population formerly sustained itself, Fuuta communities recognize the need for change and adaptation to the different political, economic, social, and ecological circumstances in which they find themselves. Development has taken on a particular urgency as people look for effective strategies to adjust to new realities while maintaining their sense of cultural identity. Unfortunately, the initiatives, projects, and partnerships that have come to fruition through development have not been enough to bring improvements to the quality of life in the region. Fuuta communities find their capacity to develop hindered by three macro challenges: climate change, their marginalized status within the Mauritanian national community, and the region's unfavorable integration into the global economy by which the local markets act as backwaters that accumulate the detritus of global trade. Any headway that communities can make against any of these challenges tends to be swallowed up by the forces associated with the other challenges.
    [Show full text]
  • Toolkit: the Story of African Film Author: Lindiwe Dovey Toolkit: the Story of African Film 2 by Lindiwe Dovey
    Toolkit: The Story of African Film Author: Lindiwe Dovey Toolkit: The Story of African Film 2 By Lindiwe Dovey Still from Pumzi (dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2009), courtesy of director Toolkit: The Story of African Film 3 By Lindiwe Dovey Toolkit 1: The Story of African Film This Toolkit is a shortened version of an African film course syllabus by Lindiwe Dovey which she is sharing in the hopes that it can support others in teaching African film and/or better integrating African film into more general film and screen studies courses. The Story of African Film: Narrative Screen Media in sub-Saharan Africa A course developed by Professor Lindiwe Dovey Background to the Course I developed this course when I first arrived as a Lecturer in African Film at SOAS University of London in September 2007, and it has been taught every year at SOAS since then (by guest lecturers when I have been on sabbatical). Because of my passion for African filmmaking, it has been my favourite course to teach, and I have learned so much from the many people who have taken and contributed to it. I have been shocked over the years to hear from people taking the course (especially coming in to the UK from the US) that they could not find anything like it elsewhere; there are hundreds of film courses taught around the world, but so few give African film the deep attention it deserves. In a global context of neoliberal capitalism and the corporatisation of higher education I am concerned about what is going to happen to already-marginalised academic subjects like African film.
    [Show full text]
  • ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO Not Far from Timbuktu, Now Ruled by the Religious Shadows but Resist with Dignity
    LES FILMS DU WORSO AND DUNE VISION PRESENT A FILM BY ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts SYNOPSIS fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes issue tragic and absurd sentences. with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their twelve-year-old shepherd. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed the fisherman who slaughtered «GPS», his beloved cow. He now has to by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, face the new laws of the foreign occupants. cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become On July 29th, 2012 in Aguelhok, SHORT DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT a small city in northern Mali – FILMOGRAPHY ABDERRAHMANE SISSAKO more than half of which was being occupied by men who were mostly FEATURES-FILMS, SHORTS and DOCUMENTARIES outsiders – an unspeakable crime took place to which the media 1989 THE GAME (short) largely turned a blind eye. A thirty-something couple, blessed with two children, were stoned to death. 1992 OCTOBRE (short) 1995 (short) Their crime: they weren’t married. The video of their killing, which was LE CHAMEAU ET LES BÂTONS FLOTTANTS posted online by the perpetrators, is horrid. The woman dies struck 1996 SABRYA (short) by the first stone, while the man lets out a hollow rasp of a cry. Then 1997 ROSTOV-LUANDA (documentary) silence.
    [Show full text]
  • Festival Guidedownload
    PRINCIPAL PARTNERS MAJOR PARTNER PARTNERS MEDIA PARTNERS SUPPORTER Lights (on). Camera. Action. Proud Sponsor of the Emirates Film Competition You’re in the spotlight - but getting there doesn’t just require talent. It needs dedication, support and of course a reliable energy source! Dolphin Energy Limited provides 30% of the UAE’s energy requirements and supports initiatives that nurture personal development. That’s the power of positive energy. www.dolphinenergy.comwww.dolphinenergy.com 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival | adff.ae 1 00000 Dolphin Film Festival A5 Ad (English).indd 1 9/8/13 5:40 PM 2 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival | adff.ae 8TH ABU DHABI FILM FESTIVAL ADFF.AE THE EASIEST AND MOST CONVENIENT WAY TO PLAN YOUR FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE A WORLD OF STORIES For 10 days the 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival brings the best storytellers in Arab and INSIDE international cinema to the capital. Start Opening Night ................................................................ 4 exploring our guide to the Festival right away Closing Film .................................................................... 5 so you don’t miss out! Programme Overview .................................................. 7 Narrative Feature Competition ................................. 9 As well as taking in some of today’s best and most exciting films, ADFF gives you the New Horizons Competition .......................................14 opportunity to share the experience with the Documentary Feature Competition .......................19 filmmakers and talent who come from
    [Show full text]
  • Musical Resistance in Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu
    Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, (2020, special issue), 108-122 1646-5954/ERC123483/2020 108 Musical Resistance in Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu Katy Stewart* *University of Sheffield Abstract When Abderrahmane Sissako’s film Timbuktu was released in 2014, it attracted a great deal of controversy – as well as an Oscar nomination. Was lauded as an exceptionally artistic, poetic film which brought the world’s attention to the plight of Timbuktu under jihadi rule, but the way in which Sissako chose to humanise jihadists, and the elliptical way in which he constructs the film – missing many of the finer details of the political and military situation – was criticised by some, and it was almost withdrawn from competition at FESPACO, the world’s largest African film festival. This article argues that much is missed in such readings of the film, and proposes that an intermedial approach to analysing the film offers a new understanding of it. By exploring the intermedial and intercultural borders and connections in Timbuktu, it will be shown how Sissako combines diverse influences, including Italian Westerns and the Wassoulou music of southern Mali, to create a film that does not merely represent resistance, but is itself an act of resistance against extremism, in Mali. Intermedial borders between film, music and social media are of particular significance in this regard. With a focus on the diegetic and extra-diegetic performances of Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, the article demonstrates how such intermediality can engage the spectator’s “symbolic participation” (Manthia Diawara, 2015) and contributes to a movement of artistic resistance against extremism in Mali.
    [Show full text]
  • Sydney Film Festival Announces Five Special Screenings on Sale Now
    MEDIA RELEASE EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 3 JUNE 2014 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FIVE SPECIAL SCREENINGS ON SALE NOW The 61st Sydney Film Festival announces five extra films, direct from Cannes Film Festival, to screen this 4-15 June. The films are: Cannes Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan; the Jury Prize winner Mommy, directed by Xavier Dolan (whose film Tom at the Farm will also screen at SFF 2014); the werewolf romance When Animals Dream, directed by Jonas Alexander Arby; the Ecumenical Jury Prize Winner Timbuktu, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako; and Special Jury Prize Winner The Salt of the Earth, directed by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders. In addition, as previously announced, SFF will screen the Studio Ghibli documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, by award-winning director Mami Sunada. “We are really pleased to announce these special screenings as part of the 2014 program,” said Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “These are some of the most interesting and important films from the recent Cannes Film Festival and we encourage audiences to add them to their SFF experience.” Sydney Film Festival runs for 12 days from Wednesday 4 June and screens over 190 films across nine venues including the magnificent State Theatre. Over 100 filmmaker guests attend the Festival to take part in talks, panels and Q&As. For the most up-to-date information on screenings and guests visit sff.org.au The 61st Sydney Film Festival runs 4-15 June 2014 and brings a packed program of screenings and special events to even more venues across Sydney.
    [Show full text]
  • Ways of Seeing (In) African Cinema Panel: Selected Filmography 1 The
    Ways of Seeing (in) African Cinema panel: Selected Filmography The Higher Learning staff curate the digital resource packages to complement and offer further context to the topics and themes discussed during the various Higher Learning events held at TIFF Bell Lightbox. These filmographies, bibliographies, and additional resources include works directly related to the guests’ career and event’s themes, as well as works that, while seemingly unrelated, were discussed during the event as jumping off points for further research. Please refer to the event video to see how all topics and themes relate to the Higher Learning event. *mentioned or discussed during the panel Sub-Saharan African Feature Films Black Girl. Dir. Ousmane Sembène, 1965, Senegal. 60 mins. Production Co. Les Actualities Françaises / Films Domirev. Mandabi. Dir. Ousmane Sembène, 1968, France and Senegal. 90 mins. Production Co.: Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP) / Filmi Domirev. Le Wazzou Polygame. Dir. Oumarou Ganda, 1970, Niger. 50 mins. Production Co.: unknown. Emitaï. Dir. Ousmane Sembène, 1971, Senegal. 101 mins. Production Co.: Metro Pictures. Sambizanga. Dir. Sarah Maldoror, 1972, Angola. 102 mins. Production Co.: unknown. Touki Bouki. Dir. Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973, Senegal. 85 mins. Production Co.: unknown. Harvest: 3000 Years. Dir. Haile Gerima, 1975, Ethiopia. 150 mins. Production Co.: Mypheduh Films, Inc. Kaddu Beykat. Dir. Safi Faye, 1975, Senegal. 95 mins. Production Co.: Safi Production. Xala. Dir. Ousmane Sembène, 1975, Senegal. 123 mins. Production Co.: Films Domireew / Ste. Me. Production du Senegal. Ceddo. Dir. Ousmane Sembène, 1977, Senegal. 120 mins. Production Co.: unknown. The Gods Must Be Crazy. Dir. Jamie Uys, 1980, Namibia.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Persmap
    Persmap - Herengracht 328 III - 1016 CE Amsterdam - T: 020 5308848 - email: [email protected] Timbuktu Kidane woont samen met zijn vrouw Satima en hun dochter Toya in de woestijn buiten de stad Timbuktu. In tegenstelling tot Timbutku, waar de religieuze fundamentalisten heersen, is het een vredige plek. In de stad lijden de mensen onder het terreurregime van de Jihadisten, die vastbesloten zijn om de islamitische geloofsovertuiging op te leggen. Muziek, gelach, sigaretten en zelfs voetbal zijn verboden. De vrouwen zijn een schaduw van zichzelf geworden, maar houden waardig stand. Iedere dag spreekt het geïmproviseerde tribunaal absurde en tragische veroordelingen uit. Kidane en zijn familie zijn gespaard gebleven van de chaos in Timbuktu. Alles verandert wanneer Kidane per ongeluk de visser Amadou doodt, en hij geconfronteerd wordt met de nieuwe wetten van de buitenlandse bezetters. TIMBUKTU werd genomineerd voor de Oscar Beste Buitenlandse Film en voor een Gouden Palm en won vele prijzen waaronder 7 Césars (Franse Oscars). Speelduur: 100 - Land: Frankrijk - Jaar: 2015 - Genre: Drama Release datum bioscoop: 26 maart 2014 Distributie: Cinéart Meer informatie over de film: Cinéart Nederland - Janneke De Jong & Noor Pelser Herengracht 328 III / 1016 CE Amsterdam Tel: +31 (0)20 5308844 Email: [email protected] / [email protected] www.cineart.nl Persmap en foto’s staan op: www.cineart.nl Persrubriek - inlog: cineart / wachtwoord: film - Herengracht 328 III - 1016 CE Amsterdam - T: 020 5308848 - email: [email protected] Short Director’s Statement On July 29th, 2012 in Aguelhok, a small city in northern Mali – more than half of which was being occupied by men who were mostly outsiders – an unspeakable crime took place to which the media largely turned a blind eye.
    [Show full text]
  • Press-Release-BFS-Ti
    VTIFF.ORG/BFS For more information: CONTACT Orly Yadin Eric Ford Executive Director, VTIFF Co-Founder, Burlington Film Society P 802.310.6423 P 802.355.5418 E [email protected] E [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Area Theatrical Premiere of Academy Award Nominated Timbuktu in March Burlington, VT: (March 16, 2015) Main Street Landing, The Burlington Film Society (BFS), the Vermont International Film Foundation (VTIFF) are pleased to present an exclusive Burlington area theatrical premiere of the 2015 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language film, Mauritanian/French production Timbuktu. The screening will take place on Thursday, March 26th at 7pm at The Main Street Landing Film House, 60 Lake Street in Burlington. Following the screening, there will be discussion lead by Laurence Clerfeuille, board member of Alliance Française and professor of French at Saint Michael's College. This screening of Timbuktu is free for VTIFF Members, $8 general admission, $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1360733. To learn more about VTIFF Membership and benefits, please visit http://vtiff.org/membership. Screening sponsored by Main Street Landing and Alliance Francaise of the Lake Champlain Region About the film: Timbuktu 2014, 97 Minutes, Mauritania/France, rated PG-13 Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako Nominee – Best Foreign Language Film - 2015 Academy Awards Official Competition 2014 Cannes Film Festival (Winner: Prix du Jury Ecuménique, François Chalais Award) Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their shepherd.
    [Show full text]
  • Df S;Dlkj;Fdslk ;Lkfdj;Lfdsjlkfdj
    MoMA’s 13th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILM PRESERVATION SHOWCASES NEWLY RESTORED MASTERWORKS AND REDISCOVERIES Festival Features Films by Chantal Akerman, Dario Argento, Lino Brocka, Samuel Fuller, William K. Howard, Yasujirô Ozu, Helma Sanders-Brahms, Orson Welles and Many Others Guest presenters include Guy Maddin and Abderrahmane Sissako To Save and Project: The 13th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation November 4–25, 2015 The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters NEW YORK, October 1, 2015—The Museum of Modern Art presents the 13th annual edition of To Save and Project, an international festival of newly preserved and restored films from archives, studios, distributors, foundations, and independent filmmakers, from November 4 through 25, 2015. The 13th edition of To Save and Project is organized by Joshua Siegel, Curator, and Dave Kehr, Adjunct Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art. This year’s festival includes some 75 newly restored features and shorts from 16 countries—nearly all of them New York or North American premieres—by filmmakers as diverse as Chantal Akerman, Dario Argento, Samuel Fuller, and Yasujirô Ozu. A wide variety of rarities are presented, from a major sidebar devoted to “The Unknown Orson Welles” to pioneering European feminist films (including a director’s cut of Helma Sanders-Brahms’s Germany, Pale Mother) and rediscoveries from Iran, Morocco, and the Philippines; and from long-lost silent comedies starring Clara Bow, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy to extended original Italian releases of classics by Federico Fellini, Dario Argento, and Dino Risi. Guest presenters include Guy Maddin, the Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu, 2014), and noted film historians like John Canemaker, Tom Gunning, and Eddie Muller.
    [Show full text]
  • Resistant Representations? Genre and Gender in Francophone African Film
    Resistant representations? Genre and Gender in Francophone African Film Abstract This article analyses the ways in which contemporary Francophone African film interrogates concepts of identity and representation through its inflections of elements of film genre, particularly genre-linked presentations of gender. The article examines in detail Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s Les Saignantes (2005) and Abderrahmane Sissako’s Bamako (2006) as case studies, focusing on how the films’ reformulations of gender and genre reflects on the nature of representation in postcolonial cultural contexts. To explore how these inflections of genre and their reflection on representation may be politically resistant, the argument brings into dialogue theories of film genre as a relational concept (Stam, Neale, Bordwell and Thompson) and gender identity theory, drawn from the work of Spivak and Irigaray. In combination with detailed readings of the two films, this approach leads to two broader conclusion:firstly, that the strategic deployment of gender constructions within re- articulations of genre coordinates can constitute a form of aesthetic resistance; and secondly that insights from postcolonial theory and gender theory can inform the analysis of film genre in non- Western contexts and elucidate the signification of film genre in contexts defined by networks of cultural appropriation, adaptation and exchange. Key words: African film. Film genre. Gender. Strategic essentialism. Representation. Aesthetics. With the rise of academic interest in transnational and global cinema, scholars have begun to pay attention specifically to how film genre signifies across borders. A number of approaches have emerged. One approach, which focuses on cultural synergies between filmmakers and audiences, is instanced in David Desser’s work on film noir in transnational contexts.
    [Show full text]
  • Africana Video Collection
    Africana Video Collection Contents: Africana Documentaries………………page 1 Africana Feature Films.……………page 155 Africana Television …………..…….page 216 Marjorie Iglow Mitchell Multimedia Center—Africana Video Collection AFRICANA DOCUMENTARIES A L’ÉCOLE NOMADE CALL NUMBER: 371.829 A111 vhs SUMMARY A documentary of efforts to scholarize nomadic Tuareg children in Niger. A.B.C. AFRICA CALL NUMBER: 362.73096 A111 vhs 84 minutes, c2001, director, Abbas Kiarostami ; producers, Marin Karmitz, Abbas Kiarostami. SUMMARY: In Kampala, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and crew document the lives of Ugandan orphans to show the devastating effect of years of civil war and the AIDS epidemic, as well as the work of Ugandans who are trying to improve their conditions. ABEILLES FORESTEIRES AFRICAINES CALL NUMBER: 595.799 A138 vhs 27 minutes, 1981; director, Alain R. Devez SUMMARY: Ecological study of the meliponidae that, supposedly, went from Amazonia to Africa via North America and Asia. In Africa, these stingless bees cohabit with the Apis mellifica adansonii. ABOLICAO CALL NUMBER: 981.00496 A154 vhs 150 minutes, 1998, produced by Jeronimo Cesar de Freitas; directed by Zozimo Bulbul. SUMMARY: Abolicão is a startling look at the racial situation of Black Brazilians in contemporary Brazil. The director asks the following question to Black Brazilians from diverse walks of life - musicians, politicians, activists, people in government -- "We are celebrating 100 years since the abolition of slavery in Brazil, what does the abolition of slavery mean to you?" THE ACADEMY, WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA CALL NUMBER: 378.6881 A168a vhs 53 minutes SUMMARY Promotional film for the Academy and its three educational components: the College of Out-of-School Training, the Technikon Namibia, and the University of Namibia.
    [Show full text]