UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CATALOGUE

African cinemas : decolonizing the gaze /

Barlet, Olivier.

African cinemas : decolonizing the gaze / Olivier Barlet ; tra nslated by Chris Turner. - London ; New York : Zed Books, c2000. - xii, 315 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-298) and index.

Machine generated contents note: PREFACE viii PART I THE ORIGIN, AK IN TO A PASSAGE --1 HUMAN BEINGS, NOT ANTS! 3 -- Black is black Coloni al projections The ethnographic gate: involvement or -- contempt? Afr ican responses Being on the same wavelength The politics -- of everyd ay life Founding figures Class struggle without placards The -- novel istic path Africa first English-speaking Africa: educational cinema -- and the Hollywood dream French guardian angels Revolutionary -- film makers? --2 DECOLONIZING THOUGHT 34 -- Africa betrayed Unspoilt Africa Pointing the finger The mirror-space -- The primacy of the collectiv e The freedom to say no The duty to show? --3 'PROVERBS WERE FLESH AND BLOOD': THE REFERENCE TO THE PAST 47 -- Necessary memoty Black pharao hs The struggle with oneself African -- recalcitrance History as nost algia Legend, afalse trail? 'Shelling' -- history The African cry --4 CLOSING YOUR EYES 72 -- The refusal to mimic the West Optingfor openn ess Torn asunder -- by modernity 5 OPENING UP T.HE CRACKS IN IDENTITY 82 -- A unified world Symbols in motion * Reading with the heart * Pas sing on -- knowledge * Blocked transmission * Drawing strength from the source * An -- alternative development * The origin in doubt * Infidel ities * The Marabouts' -- projective mechanism * From nudiy to modesty --6 AN OPENNESS OF APPROACH 109 -- South African introspection * Afro-A merican rites of passage ' Hybridized -- identity French assimilationis m * Farewell to negritude * The anxiety of -- integration * A cinema of revelation --PART II AT THE WELLSPRINGS OF NARRATION --7 BLACK HUMOURS 129 -- A politicaly committedpastiche Laughing at oneself Derision as a -- strategy * A vital laughter * A cathartic parody --8 'MEN DIE, BU T WORDS REMAIN': AT THE ORIGIN OF NARRATION, ORALITY 143 -- First, sile nce The path of simple self-evidence The primacy of orality -- Contrap untal symbols Cultural specifcities of the image Griots of a -- new ki nd The voice-off. the consciousness of the filmmaker Theatre is a -- m ere waystation * Letting them tell you stories What slowness? -- Spac e-time A cyclical composition * Rather than heroes, the art of -- the p aradox * The topicality of myth --9 'IF YOUR SONG IS NO MPROVEMENT ON S ILENCE, KEEP QUIET!' 183 -- Dances of resistance * Talkingdrums The son g of thepeople -- African sound --10 SPEAKING YOUR OWN LANGUAGE 195 -- The expression of lived experience * A revisited French -- Failing to reach your audience? Prioriy to the emotions * Opening up -- to multi culturalism * Is dubbing the answer? * Save the actor! --11 TOWARDS A C RITICISM BASED ON THE NEED TO EXIST 210 -- The Western diktat Towards a subjective criticism * The dead -- weight of criticism African critic ism --PART III BLACK PROSPECTS? 12 'HE WHO WANTS HONEY HAS THE COURAGE TO CONFRONT THE BEES': THE DIFFICULTY OF MAKING FILMS 221 -- The trials and tribulations of filming * The dream of financial autonomy -- The trials and tribulations offunding The trials and tribulations of -- pro duction --13 THE AFRICAN AUDIENCE IS ANYTHING BUT HOMOGENEOUS 232 -- Th e agonies of distribution Dilapidated auditoriums The video monster - - Accompanying one's film A pluralistic audience ' A school of life --1 4 A FICKLE AUDIENCE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 251 -- Aiming true ' A l imited audience Promotion through festivals --15 'WHEN YOU'VE GOT MEAT TO COOK, YOU GO AND FIND SOMEONE WITH FIRE': THE LOGICS OF WESTERN AID 260 -- The heart and the head Giving and after The internationalizat ion -- option ConsolidatingprofessionaliZation Wrestling with the bla nk -- page The 'Ecrans du Sud' experience A key ministry Surviving -- Planet Atria --16 TELEVISUAL STRATEGIES 278 -- Africa can make it! Ge tting beyond the passive 'waiting game' -- Taking television by storm - -CONCLUSION 288 BIBLIOGRAPHY 29 1 APPENDIX: WHERE TO SEE BLACK AFRICAN FILMS 299 --INDEX 306.

1856497429 1856497437 (pbk.)

00-032001


Motion pictures-- History.--Africa, Sub-Saharan

791.43/096