What is an African documentary? I would have to say it is a documentary which portrays Africans, about Africa, by an African. So what about those African films which weren't produced and narrated by Africans; are they African films? No they are not. They are films about Africa...that is all;without understanding the language, the history, the culture and the people, these films are therefore not African. Ali Mazrui's film “The Africans: A Triple Heritage”, was a perfect example of an African film. Produced, and narrated by an African about Africa.
There was one scene in the film that made me conclude that this is truly an African film produced by an African. There was a scene where a tribe was sharing the over-abundant meat that they had which showed a cow's neck being cut, and so on. Although cringing was my initial reaction, I realized to that particular group, they wouldn't have a problem with the slaughtering of a live cow...if it was a film produced by a westerner, I wondered if they would've shown that scene especially with animal right laws and such that would prohibit that action. So in a sense, we are able to get more and understand more about Africa from a film that is produced and directed by an African about Africa.
Dependability-"De-Colonizing the Mind through Image"
View number one:
View number two:
These two views are what have led to colonialism as well and neo-colonialism. View number one is where you see Africa as an "unconquered terrain" that is very attractive to the explorers. the second view is where we see the consequences of view one; a meddling of an untouched and innocent terrain. The introduction of 'modernism' has led to the inability of Africans to "conquer" their habitat and has therefore increased their dependability to this new kind of 'modernism' that is to feed, clothe and provide shelter to them. This dependability has backfired leaving these once strong independent nations become hungry, naked and homeless. A great example is shown in the film "The God's Must Be Crazy" that we watched two weeks ago where a community that was 'untouched' lived peacefully without dependence, but when modernism came in the form of a Coke bottle, their lives became absolutely dependent on this thing that was all too familiar to the 'modern' world.
Altogether, an African film about Africa does not take into account why these people we are filming are hungry all the time, never have proper clothing and forever roaming trying to find shelter--Ali Mazrui explains that because of the dependability of western modernism, we have these consequences, and what happens when the only way to 'save us' is to send more Coke bottles to this innocent, untouched continent.
1 comment:
Once Africa is in receipt of the "Coke" bottle(s), it is confronted with a new "reality" that the continent must accommodate no matter the socio-cultural and econo-political ramifications.
One thing one can learn from the movie is that the continent does not have many choices. Once the "Coke" bottle - a veritable symbol of outsider's cultural and economic ideas and values - is introduced, Africa, like the Bushmen, must either (mis)use the bottle or get rid of it. Either way, the challenge is as arduous as it can be tragic.
Wachanga
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