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Guide to African Cinema

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Guide to African Cinema GUIDE TO AFRICAN CINEMA SHARON A. RUSSELL GREENWOOD PRESS GUIDE TO AFRICAN CINEMA Reference Guides to the World’s Cinema Guide to the Cinema of Spain Marvin D’Lugo Guide to American Cinema, 1965–1995 Daniel Curran GUIDE TO AFRICAN CINEMA SHARON A. RUSSELL Reference Guides to the World’s Cinema Pierre Horn, Series Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Russell, Sharon A., 1941– Guide to African cinema / Sharon A. Russell. p. cm.—(Reference guides to the world’s cinema, ISSN 1090–8234) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–29621–9 (alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures—Africa—History. I. Title. II. Series. PN1993.5.A35R87 1998 791.43'096—dc21 97–27560 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ௠ 1998 by Sharon A. Russell All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97–27560 ISBN: 0–313–29621–9 ISSN: 1090–8234 First published in 1998 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America TM The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 To Karen, Mary Jean, and Sue for the support of their friendship CONTENTS Foreword ix Preface xi Introduction 1 GUIDE TO AFRICAN FILM 15 Distributors 173 Bibliography 177 Index 181 FOREWORD For the first time, on December 28, 1895, at the Grand Cafe´ in Paris, France, the inventors of the Cine´matographe, Auguste and Louis Lumie`re, showed a series of eleven two-minute silent shorts to a public of thirty- five people each paying the high entry fee of one gold Franc. From that moment, a new era had begun, for the Lumie`re brothers were not only successful in their commercial venture, but they also unknowingly created a new visual medium quickly to become, throughout the world, the half- popular entertainment, half-sophisticated art of the cinema. Eventually, the contribution of each member of the profession, especially that of the director and performers, took on enormous importance. A century later, the situation remains very much the same. The purpose of Greenwood’s Reference Guides to the World’s Cinema is to give a representative idea of what each country or region has to offer to the evolution, development, and richness of film. At the same time, because each volume seeks to represent a balance between the interests of the general public and those of students and scholars of the medium, the choices are by necessity selective (although as comprehensive as pos- sible) and often reflect the author’s own idiosyncracies. Andre´ Malraux, the French novelist and essayist, wrote about the cin- ema and filmmakers: ‘‘The desire to build up a world apart and self- contained, existing in its own right...represents humanization in the deepest, certainly the most enigmatic, sense of the word.’’ On the other hand, then, every Guide explores this observation by offering discussions, written in a jargon-free style, of the motion-picture art and its practition- ers, and on the other provides much-needed information, seldom available x FOREWORD in English, including filmographies, awards and honors, and ad hoc bibli- ographies. Pierre L. Horn Wright State University PREFACE Any research project always poses difficult decisions about the material to be covered. While the author would like a work to be as inclusive as possible, many factors are involved in the process of selection. Time and space are the most obvious limitations on any project. The projected length of a text determines the number of topics that can be covered adequately. A guide is by its nature less inclusive than an encyclopedia. The time that can be devoted to a project is also a consideration. A work that takes years of research is different from one that is done in a shorter period of time. There is also the point that every author reaches when the research must stop and the writing begin or the job will never be finished. Film presents other challenges. Unlike books, many films are not available from libraries or even interlibrary loan. The task of locating a specific title can be challenging. All of these factors entered into the decisions I made in constructing this guide. I know my choices will not please everyone involved in work in this field. This is the case with any book. But I hope my explanation of how and why certain decisions were made will clarify those choices. African film presents specific problems for the researcher. Finances and distribution have always been difficult for the filmmaker, and these same dilemmas confront those who pursue research in this area. Film distribu- tion is subject to a complex maze of contracts that allow for the different kinds of screening in the United States from classroom use to the movie theater. A specific film may not be available because conflicts over its ownership can prevent distribution contracts. Many important films are not available to be screened in the United States. Others may be available in small private collections. Distributors who own the rights to films have xii PREFACE different policies about allowing researchers access to their collections. While some are most accommodating, others charge prohibitive rental fees. Very few African films are available from even those video rental companies that feature foreign films. A check of the index of a video rental or sales catalogue will reveal very few tapes. One of the largest guides to video tapes, Video Hound’s Golden Movie Retriever (1997), lists one Al- gerian film and eleven South African films, and the majority of those listed as South African use the country as the setting for action-adventure or horror. Such a situation makes viewing of the films, which are the primary texts for the researcher, a challenge. While locating secondary sources is always part of the process of gath- ering information for a book, often the same problems that exist in locat- ing films occur when tracing down information about these films. As the films are not popular, there are not many secondary sources to support them. Those books that do exist go out of print quickly and remain part of reference libraries’ noncirculating collections. Many texts only exist in foreign publications. Much of the information I used in this book was purchased during trips to France. But every project presents its own unique dilemmas. Even though availability was not the primary criteria I used to select films and directors, I felt the guide would be most useful to others if it dealt with subjects that would be accessible to the general public. No analysis can ever be a substitute for an actual experience with the work. I hope this guide serves as an introduction to the subject and stimulates interest in African film. I also feel that if film after film is una- vailable, interest can easily turn to frustration. Therefore, I did consider availability as one element of the selection process. With African film the challenges of viewing are connected to the topic itself and the attitude of the rest of the cinematic community to films from this region. The question of the effect of postcolonial attitudes on production and distribution is discussed further in the Introduction. The relationship between the film or director and colonialism did play an important part in the selection process. Most people have a view of African film that is based on Hollywood-style productions, which often exhibit a fascination with the landscape and stereotyped perceptions of the inhabitants. These films are not monolithic in their presentation of the continent, but the vast majority fixate on the otherness of the people and the land. They are ‘‘Hollywood style’’ because not all come from the United States, but they share a visual style and a narrative technique that foreground a seamless presentation of the story and a dedication to com- mercialism at the expense of controversy or deep analysis. While a few do present negative images of colonialism, they accomplish this from the per- spective of the European or American rather than the African. There are a handful of recent films that examine colonial and postco- lonial attitudes from a European perspective that manage to avoid the PREFACE xiii easy answers associated with the Hollywood style. These films posed the most difficult decisions in relation to the book. Claire Denis’ Chocolat (1988) is a complex exploration of the colonial situation that contrasts past and present through the eyes of a young woman who remembers her child- hood as she revisits modern Cameroon. I reluctantly eliminated it because of its European perspective. However, I did decide to include A World of Strangers (1962) primarily because its story is surrounded by documentary footage of South Africa. Until recently, most South African films represent some kind of compromise, and I included a few examples to suggest what is available in a country that is restructuring itself and its image. At the same time, I could not bring myself to include the controversial The Gods Must Be Crazy (1984). Some people defend its presentation of aspects of the South African culture. I have an African friend who loves watching it with his family and sees the Bushman hero as an example of the classic trickster. Some critics severely attack it for its denigration of the Bushman and a lack of recognition of the true situation in South Africa during the period covered by the film.
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