Cinema of Africa

Cinema of Africa covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels were the primary cinematic technology in use. As there are more than 50 countries with audiovisual traditions, there is no one single 'African cinema'. Both historically and culturally, there are major regional differences between North African and sub-Saharan cinemas, and between the cinemas of different countries.
The cinema of Egypt and the cinema of Tunisia are among the oldest in the world. Cinema of Egypt in particular is the most established and flourishing industry in Africa. Pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière screened their films in Alexandria, Cairo, Tunis, Susa, Libya and Hammam-Lif, Tunisia in 1896. Albert Samama Chikly is often cited as the first producer of indigenous African cinema, screening his own short documentaries in the casino of Tunis as early as December 1905. Alongside his daughter Haydée Tamzali, Chikly would go on to produce important early milestones such as 1924's The Girl from Carthage. In 1927, Egypt produced Laila, the first feature-length film by Aziza Amir. In 1935, the Studio Misr in Cairo began producing mostly formulaic comedies and musicals, but also films like Kamal Selim's The Will (1939). Egyptian cinema flourished in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, considered its Golden Age. Youssef Chahine's seminal Cairo Station (1958) laid the foundation for Arab film.
The Nigerian film industry is the largest in Africa in terms of volume, number of annual films, revenue and popularity. It is also the second largest film producer in the world. In 2016, Nigeria's film industry contributed 2.3% to its gross domestic product (GDP).
During the colonial era, Africa was represented largely by Western filmmakers. In the first decades of the twentieth century, Western filmmakers made films that depicted black Africans as "exoticized", "submissive workers" or as "savage or cannibalistic". For example, see Kings of the Cannibal Islands in 1909, Voodoo Vengeance (1913) and Congorilla (1932).
Colonial era films portrayed Africa as exotic, without history or culture. Examples abound and include jungle epics based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burrou, and the adventure film The African Queen (1951), and various adaptations of H. Rider Haggard's novel King Solomon's Mines (1885).
African cinema evolved through different historical phases, each reflecting the socio-political landscape of the continent. The early years of African cinema were heavily influenced by colonialism, with many films produced by European directors who often depicted Africa through a colonial lens. However, the post-independence era saw a surge in films by African filmmakers who sought to portray authentic African stories, often focusing on themes of decolonization, identity, and cultural heritage. This period gave birth to what is often referred to as the "Golden Age" of African cinema, characterized by filmmakers like Ousmane Sembène, who is widely regarded as the father of African cinema
One of the first films to be entirely produced in Africa was the South African dramatic film The Great Kimberley Diamond Robbery (1911). It was followed by De Voortrekkers (1916), South Africa's (and possibly Africa's) first epic film and oldest surviving film, about the Great Trek and targeted at an Afrikaner audience. A notable theme in early South African cinema was the ethnic confrontation between Afrikaner (specifically Boer) and British South Africans.
Much early ethnographic cinema "focused on highlighting the differences between indigenous people and the white civilised man, thus reinforcing colonial propaganda". Marc Allégret's first film,Voyage au Congo (1927) respectfully portrayed the Masa people, in particular a young African entertaining his little brother with a baby crocodile on a string. Yet Africans were portrayed merely as human, but not equals; a dialogue card, for example, referred to the movements of a traditional dance as naive. His lover, writer André Gide, accompanied Allégret and wrote a book, also titled Voyage au Congo. Allégret later made Zouzou, starring Josephine Baker, the first major film starring a black woman. Baker had caused a sensation in the Paris arts scene by dancing in the Revue Nègre [fr] clad only in a string of bananas.
In the French colonies, Africans were prohibited by the 1934 Laval Decree from making films of their own. The ban stunted the growth of film as a means of African expression, political, cultural, and artistic. Congolese Albert Mongita did make The Cinema Lesson in 1951 and in 1953 Mamadou Touré made Mouramani based on a folk story about a man and his dog. In 1955, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra – originally from Benin, but educated in Senegal – along with his colleagues from Le Group Africain du Cinema, shot a short film in Paris, Afrique-sur-Seine (1955). Vieyra was trained in filmmaking at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris, and despite the ban on filmmaking in Africa, was granted permission to make a film in France. Considered the first film directed by a black African, Afrique Sur Seine explores the difficulties of being an African in 1950s France.
Portuguese colonies came to independence with no film production facilities at all, since the colonial government there restricted film-making to colonialist propaganda, emphasizing the inferiority of indigenous populations. Therefore, little thought was given until independence to developing authentic African voices.
In the mid-1930s, the Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment in eastern and south-eastern African countries was conducted in an attempt to "educate the Bantu, mostly about hygiene. Only three films from this project survive; they are kept at the British Film Institute.
Before the colonies' independence, few anti-colonial films were produced. Examples include Statues Also Die (Les statues meurent aussi) by Chris Marker and Alain Resnais, about European theft of African art; the second half of the film was banned for years by the French authorities. The 1950 film Afrique 50 by René Vautier, showed anti-colonial riots in Côte d'Ivoire and in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), and was likewise banned, with Vautier being jailed for several months.
Also doing film work in Africa at this time was French ethnographic filmmaker Jean Rouch, controversial with both French and African audiences. Film documentaries such as Jaguar (1955), Les maitres fous (1955), Moi, un noir (1958) and La pyramide humaine (1961). Rouch's documentaries were not explicitly anti-colonial, but did challenge perceptions of colonial Africa and give a new voice to Africans. Although Rouch was accused by Ousmane Sembene and others of seeing Africans "as if they are insects," Rouch was an important figure in the developing field of African film and was the first person to work with Africans, of whom many had important careers in African cinema (Oumarou Ganda, Safi Faye and Moustapha Alassane, and others).
Because most films made prior to independence were egregiously racist in nature, African filmmakers of the independence era, – such as Ousmane Sembene and Oumarou Ganda, among others – saw filmmaking as an important political tool for rectifying the image of Africans put forward by Western filmmakers and for reclaiming the image of Africa for Africans.
The first African film to win international recognition was Sembène Ousmane's La Noire de... also known as Black Girl. It showed the despair of an African woman who has to work as a maid in France. It won the Prix Jean Vigo in 1966. Initially a writer, Sembène had turned to cinema to reach a wider audience. He is still considered the "father of African cinema". Sembène's native Senegal continued to be the most important place of African film production for more than a decade.
With the creation of the African film festival FESPACO in today's Burkina Faso in 1969, African film created its own forum. FESPACO now takes place every two years in alternation with the Carthago film festival in Tunisia.
The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes, or FEPACI) was formed in 1969 to promote African film industries in terms of production, distribution and exhibition. From its inception, FEPACI was seen as a critical partner organization to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union. FEPACI looks at the role of film in the politico-economic and cultural development of African states and the continent as a whole.
Med Hondo's Soleil O, shot in 1969, was immediately recognized. No less politically engaged than Sembène, he chose a more controversial filmic language to show what it means to be a stranger in France with the "wrong" skin colour.
Souleymane Cissé's Yeelen (Mali, 1987) was the first film made by a Black African to compete at Cannes. Cheick Oumar Sissoko's Guimba (Mali, 1995) was also well received in the West. Many films of the 1990s, including Quartier Mozart by Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroon, 1992), are situated in the globalized African metropolis.
Nigerian cinema experienced a large growth in the 1990s with the increasing availability of home video cameras in Nigeria, and soon put Nollywood in the nexus for West African English-language films. Nollywood produced 1844 movies in 2013 alone.
The last movie theatre in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, shut down in 2004. Many of the former cinemas were converted to churches. In 2009 the UN refugee agency screened Breaking the Silence in South Kivu and Katanga Province. The film deals with rape in the Congolese civil wars In neighboring Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, a 200-seat cinema, MTS Movies House, opened in 2016, and in April 2018, construction began on another new cinema .
A first African Film Summit took place in South Africa in 2006. It was followed by FEPACI 9th Congress. The Africa Movie Academy Awards were launched in 2004, marking the growth of local film industries like that of Nigeria as well as the development and spread of the film industry culture in sub-Saharan Africa.
Contemporary African cinema deals with a wide variety of themes relating to modern issues and universal problems.
Migration and relations between African and European countries is a common theme among many African films. Abderrahmane Sissako's film Waiting for Happiness portrays a Mauritanian city struggling against foreign influences through the journey of a migrant coming home from Europe. Migration is also an important theme in Mahamat Saleh Haroun's film Une Saison en France, which shows the journey of a family from the Central African Republic seeking asylum in France. Haroun is part of the Chadian diaspora in France, and uses the film to explore aspects of this diasporan experience.
Africanfuturism and Afrofuturism is a growing genre, encompassing Africans both on the continent and in the diaspora who tell science or speculative fiction stories involving Africa and African people. Neill Blomkamp's District 9 is a well-known example, portraying an alien invasion of South Africa. Wanuri Kahiu's short film Pumzi portrays the futuristic fictional Maitu community in Africa 35 years after World War III.
Directors including Haroun and Kahiu have expressed concerns about the lack of cinema infrastructure and appreciation in various African countries. However, organizations such as the Changamoto arts fund are providing more resources and opportunities to African filmmakers.
Some African countries suffer a lack of freedom of speech, that undermine the film industry. This is specially severe in Equatorial Guinea. The feature film The Writer From a Country Without Bookstores is the first to be shot in the country and critic with Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo's dictatorship, one of the longest lasting in the world.
African cinema, like cinema in other world regions, covers a wide variety of topics. In Algiers in 1975, the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI) adopted the Charte du cinéaste africain (Charter of the African cinéaste), which recognized the importance of postcolonial and neocolonial realities in African cinema. The filmmakers start by recalling the neocolonial condition of African societies. "The situation contemporary African societies live in is one in which they are dominated on several levels: politically, economically and culturally." African filmmakers stressed their solidarity with progressive filmmakers in other parts of the world. African cinema is often seen a part of Third Cinema.
Some African filmmakers, for example Ousmane Sembène, try to give African history back to African people by remembering the resistance to European and Islamic domination.
The African filmmaker is often compared to the traditional griot. Like griots, filmmakers' task is to express and reflect communal experiences. Patterns of African oral literature often recur in African films. African film has also been influenced by traditions from other continents, such as Italian neorealism, Brazilian Cinema Novo and the theatre of Bertolt Brecht.
Recognised as one of the pioneers of Senegalese cinema as well as cinema developed on the African continent at large, ethnologist and filmmaker Safi Faye was the first African woman film director to gain international recognition. Faye's first film La Passante (The Passerby) was released in 1972 and following this, Kaddu Beykat (Letter from My Village), the filmmaker's first feature film was released in 1975. Faye continued to be active with several released works in the latter half of the 1970s all the way through her latest work, the 1996 drama film Mossane.
Sarah Maldoror, a French filmmaker and the daughter of immigrants from Guadeloupe has been recognised as one of the pioneers of African cinema in the diaspora. She is the founder of Les Griots (The Troubadours), the first drama company in France made for actors of African and Afro-Caribbean descent. Originally in the theatre, she went on to study filmmaking at the State Institute of Cinematography of the Russian Federation (VGIK) in Moscow. In 1972, Maldoror shot her film Sambizanga about the 1961–74 war in Angola. Surviving African women of this war are the subject of the documentary Les Oubliées (The forgotten women), made by Anne-Laure Folly 20 years later. Maldoror also worked as assistant director on The Battle of Algiers (1966) with filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo.
In 1995, Wanjiru Kinyanjui made the feature film The Battle of the Sacred Tree in Kenya.
In 2008, Manouchka Kelly Labouba became the first woman in the history of Gabonese cinema to direct a fictional film. Her short film Le Divorce addresses the impact of modern and traditional values on the divorce of a young Gabonese couple.
Kemi Adetiba, hitherto a music video director, made her directorial debut in 2016 with The Wedding Party. The film, about the events involved in the celebration of an aristocratic wedding, would go on to become the most successful Nollywood film in the history of her native Nigeria.
Wanuri Kahiu is a Kenyan film director, best known for her film From a Whisper, which was awarded Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009. Nearly 10 years after the release of From a Whisper, Kahiu's film Rafiki, a coming-of-age romantic drama about two teenage girls in the present-day Kenya. The film made headlines, partly for its selection at the Cannes Film Festival but also for its exploration of sexuality that did not sit well with the Kenyan government.
Rungano Nyoni, best known for the internationally acclaimed feature film I am Not a Witch is a Zambian-Welsh director and screenwriter. Born in Zambia and also raised in Wales, Nyoni went on to graduate from the University of Arts in London with a Master's in acting in 2009. Her filmography as a filmmaker (whether as a director or screenwriter) also includes the short films: The List (2009, short), Mwansa The Great (2011, short), Listen (2014, short), and she was also one of the directors of the international film project Nordic Factory (2014). She has been awarded a variety of awards including a BAFTA for outstanding debut by a British filmmaker for I am Not a Witch.
African cinema has been a powerful medium for exploring and challenging the representations of African identity. Filmmakers often grapple with the portrayal of African cultures, traditions, and modernity, striving to present a narrative that counters the stereotypical depictions seen in Western media. Films such as "Black Girl" by Ousmane Sembène and "Yeelen" by Souleymane Cissé are examples where African filmmakers use cinema to assert their identity and challenge the dominant narratives imposed by colonial and post-colonial powers. These films have contributed significantly to a reimagining of African identity on the global stage.
Despite its growth, African cinema faces significant challenges, including limited funding, distribution difficulties, and competition with Hollywood and Bollywood. Many African filmmakers struggle to secure financing for their projects, and those who do often face hurdles in distributing their films both within Africa and internationally. The lack of a robust distribution network means that many African films do not reach a wide audience, limiting their impact and profitability. Moreover, the dominance of Hollywood and Bollywood films in African markets poses a significant challenge to local filmmakers who must compete for audience attention
In October 2021, UNESCO published a report of the film and audiovisual industry in 54 states of the African continent including quantitative and qualitative data and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses at the continental and regional levels. The report proposes strategic recommendations for the development of the film and audiovisual sectors in Africa and invites policymakers, professional organizations, firms, filmmakers and artists to implement them in a concerted manner.
Part 1 of the report is titled Pan-African Trends Shaping the Future of the Continent's Film and Audiovisual Sector, Part 2 is Strategic Development and Growth Models, Part 3 presents detailed national mappings of the countries, and an annex lists historical key dates in African cinema from 1896 to 2021. Apart from the historical developments of audiovisual productions, major filmmakers and their artistic merit and recent trends, such as online streaming, as well as the lack of training, funding, and appreciation of this industry, are discussed.
The future of African cinema looks promising with the advent of digital technology and the rise of new platforms for distribution, such as streaming services. These advancements are making it easier for African filmmakers to produce and distribute their films globally. Additionally, there is a growing interest in African cinema from international audiences and film festivals, providing more opportunities for African filmmakers to showcase their work on the world stage. The increased visibility of African films is also fostering collaborations between African filmmakers and their counterparts in other parts of the world, leading to richer and more diverse cinematic narratives
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO. Text taken from The African film industry. Trends, challenges and opportunities for growth​, UNESCO.