Africa Is a Country

10 African films to watch out for

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

10 African films to watch out for

By
Tom Devriendt

http://youtu.be/tLyhZlgWIpM

This is a random selection of ten films we don’t know much about, yet, but which we hope to see once completed or screened at the nearest film festival. ‘The Door of No Return’ (La Puerta de No Retorno) follows Santiago Zannou who accompanies his father, Alphonse, to his homeland, Benin, 40 years after he left it. Trailer above.

‘Finding Mercy’ (which premieres at the Tri Continental Film Festival in Johannesburg this month) is about retrieving a childhood friendship in a newly independent Zimbabwe:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/40136444 w=500&h=400]

‘Meanwhile in Mamelodi’ is a documentary by Benjamin Kahlmeyer on life in a Pretoria township during the 2010 World Cup:

‘Healers’, directed by Thomas Barry, highlights the work of The Umthombo Youth Development Foundation and tells the story of how a doctor and a matron at a rural South African hospital in KwaZulu Natal started a groundbreaking scholarship programme to enable local youth to qualify as healthcare professionals:

‘Gardens of my Ancestors’ is a short film by South African filmmaker Tsholofelo Monare:

‘After The Battle’ is an account of two people caught up in the Egyptian revolution:

‘Fidaï’ tells the story of an ex-fighter for Algerian independence, and has had its first screening at some recent film festivals:

‘The Hidden Smile’, a short film by Ventura Durall, set in the streets of Addis Abeba:

‘Walking at Dawn’ is a film by Silvia Firmino, set in Mozambique and premiering at the Dockanema Documentary Film Festival in Maputo this month:

And the trailer for ‘The Marshal of Finland’ had a few people up in arms in Finland. True, having a Kenyan actor to play the country’s most famous military figure is quite the coup.

Further Reading

Repoliticizing a generation

Thirty-eight years after Thomas Sankara’s assassination, the struggle for justice and self-determination endures—from stalled archives and unfulfilled verdicts to new calls for pan-African renewal and a 21st-century anti-imperialist front.

Drip is temporary

The apparel brand Drip was meant to prove that South Africa’s townships could inspire global style. Instead, it revealed how easily black success stories are consumed and undone by the contradictions of neoliberal aspiration.

Energy for whom?

Behind the fanfare of the Africa Climate Summit, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline shows how neocolonial extraction still drives Africa’s energy future.

The sound of revolt

On his third album, Afro-Portuguese artist Scúru Fitchádu fuses ancestral wisdom with urban revolt, turning memory and militancy into a soundtrack for resistance.

O som da revolta

No seu terceiro álbum, o artista afro-português Scúru Fitchádu funde a sabedoria ancestral com a revolta urbana, transformando memória e militância em uma trilha sonora para a resistência.

Biya forever

As Cameroon nears its presidential elections, a disintegrated opposition paves the way for the world’s oldest leader to claim a fresh mandate.

From Cornell to conscience

Hounded out of the United States for his pro-Palestine activism, Momodou Taal insists that the struggle is global, drawing strength from Malcolm X, faith, and solidarity across borders.