African Filmmaking: Five Formations

Description

This volume attempts to join the disparate worlds of Egyptian, Maghrebian, South African, Francophone, and Anglophone African cinema—that is, five “formations” of African cinema. These five areas are of particular significance—each in its own way. The history of South Africa, heavily marked by apartheid and its struggles, differs considerably from that of Egypt, which early on developed its own “Hollywood on the Nile.” The history of French colonialism impacted the three countries of the Maghreb—Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco—differently than those in sub-Saharan Africa, where Senegal and Sembène had their own great effect on the Sahelian region. Anglophone Africa, particularly the films of Ghana and Nigeria, has dramatically altered the ways people have perceived African cinema for decades. History, geography, production, distribution, and exhibition are considered alongside film studies concerns about ideology and genre. This volume provides essential information for all those interested in the vital worlds of cinema in Africa since the time of the Lumière brothers.   Contents Preface, by Kenneth W. Harrow Introduction, by Kenneth W. Harrow African Francophone Cinema, by Olivier Barlet and Kenneth W. Harrow Anglophone West Africa: Commercial Video, by Jonathan Haynes Egypt: Cinema and Society, by Viola Shafik The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of the Cinemas of the Maghreb: From the 1960s to the New Millennium, by Valérie K. Orlando Film Production in South Africa: Histories, Practices, Policies, by Jacqueline Maingard About the Authors Index