More than a building
The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.
43 Article(s) by:
Dylan Valley
Dylan Valley was an editorial board member of Africa is a Country. He is a filmmaker and on the University of Cape Town faculty.
Trapped by history
Mexican American director John Gutierrez new film, set in Cape Town, South Africa, touches on colonialism, displacement, and man’s complicated relationship with nature.
Drake’s Plan
The plot of Drake’s music video for “God’s Plan” is him giving him out money to the poor. What was he trying to say?
Still doing the right thing
It is eerie (and tragic) how relevant the themes of racial tension and structural violence of Spike Lee’s ‘Do the right thing’ still is–both in America and South Africa.
What is happening at the Durban International Film Festival?
As with our last movie night post, we need to start with the bad news. 1.
Shadow and Axed
The latest installment of our film news series, #MovieNight.
It’s good for the future of cinema that Africa exists
Reviving our #MovieNight feature: A fortnightly feature rounding up movie news.
We watch movies (and trailers) for you
This is the first edition of a new weekly series of posts/listicles we'll be doing to
Awkward is the New Black
Our short film of the creator and star of “Awkward Black Girl,” Issa Rae, whose father is Senegalese and mother is African American and who spent part of her childhood in Dakar.
New South African feature ‘Endless River’ makes film history
South African film director and auteur Oliver Hermanus has made film history this week and his
Africa, in a state of constant self-discovery
Afripedia is a visual guide to contemporary urban culture on the continent.
Roger Young’s ‘Keys, Money, Phone’ explores the heart of young whiteness in Cape Town
Something is shifting in South Africa. White privilege is a hot topic, specifically in print and
Dookoom Rises Up
A Cape Town hip hop group causes a huge stir with its music video “Larney Jou Poes” (roughly translated: Boss, your cunt.) depicting an uprising by farmworkers.
Unlike Anything I’ve Seen Before
The Sudanese film, “Beats of the Antonov,” explores the connections between the bombs of oppression and the resilience of culture.
It’s time to drop the “world music” label
The progressive rock of The Brother Moves On is a great case study for why the category of “world music” is at best dated, and at worst problematic.
Review: The Square by Jehane Noujaim
The 16th Encounters South African International Documentary Festival opened on Wednesday with The Square, Jehane Noujaim’s
The music that changed my life
The Cape Town suburb of Observatory is known for being a small bohemian enclave, providing low
It’s Time to Stop Laughing
In neoliberal global capitalism, anything can be monetized, even the criminal exploits of a marginal schizophrenic.
Issa Rae: Internet Celebrity
Whether there will be an “Awkward Black Girl” movie or not, Issa Rae has impacted black television without ever being on television.
Facepalm: Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s “Africa”
We have no illusions about Sandler having a responsibility to create smart cinema.