W7. Northwest Africa Film as 'Third Cinema'

Have you ever seen the African film? If I do not take unit ‘cinemas and culture’, I also do not take the opportunity to see the Africa movie like most of people who are used to Hollywood movie. This unit deals emerging national and transnational cinemas across four regions and Francophone Northwest Africa is one of them. This week, I will explore Northwest Africa film as third cinema in relation with local identity.

According to Mestman (2011, p. 29), ‘Third Cinema’ referred to a cinema of ‘cultural decolonisation’ for the Third World that was defined in opposition to the cinema of Hollywood (First Cinema) and sought to overcome the limitations attributed to the so-called ‘auteur cinema’ (Second Cinema). African characters in early West African film were predominantly absent and/or voiceless (Thackway 2007, p. 458). Thus after that, film became a means of challenging Western hegemony for many filmmakers (Thackway 2007, p. 459). Film offered filmmakers a medium in which to restore African dignity by establishing perspectives and voices that portray African realities from an African point of view (Thackway 2007, p. 459).

The NW Africa film, Keita: The Heritage of the Griot can be a good example. This film is based on the African oral epic Sundjata and deals the conflict between the old and the new legacies (Ogwang 1997, p. 110). Many people in African communities and nations have faced a grievous issue how to balance between tradition and modern world (Ogwang 1997 p. 110). In this context, Keita raises a question about local identity as Northwest African living in a global world.

References

Mestman, M 2011, 'Third Cinema/Militant Cinema: At the Origins of the Argentinian Experience (1968-1971)', Third Text, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 29-40, retrieved 27 August 2012, Art & Architecture Complete, EBSCOhost.

Ogwang, EO 1997, ‘Review Keita: The Heritage of the Griot’, Dir: DaniKouyate, in Folklore Forum, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 109-110, retrieved 27 August 2012,

Thackway, M 2007 ‘Future Past: Integrating orality into Francophone West African film’, Codell, J (ed) Genre, Gender, Race, and world cinema, Malden, MA, Blackwell.

Resources

http://iubfesa.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/movie-night-keita/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikQWscrpCao&feature=share&list=PL37F3988FEB615385

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