Africa Is a Country

New Films

New Films

By
Sean Jacobs

This list is partly self-indulgent. It is also a way–hopefully weekly–for me to keep an online record of films I still would like to see. Here’s a few.

First up, Lotte Stoofs’s documentary film about the life of a landmark hotel in Beira, Mozambique:

“Swahili Fighting Words,” a feature documentary about a Tanzanian filmmaker’s search for his family roots:

“The Encounter,” a short about “a young white woman on a search for inner peace, [who] gets stuck in an elevator with an older African man”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCkWB5Vc7_k

Then there’s “Umkhungo,” a short film by a Johannesburg director that weds Hollywood and popular South African beliefs about the supernatural:

There seems to be a few films with themes on gay beauty competitions in Cape Town. We’ve blogged here about “Glitterboys and Ganglands.” Now there’s “Sisterhood,” a film about 3 farmworkers who dream of acceptance and winning a local drag competition.

The documentary “Blood in the Mobile”:

Director Franck Piasecki Poulsen embarks on a personal mission to uncover the origin of the minerals in his Nokia cell phone. Navigating the bureaucracy, corruption, and dangers of eastern Congo, he arrives at Bisie, one of the largest and most notorious illegal mines in the region, where armed groups maintain tight control and inhumane conditions, and child labor runs rampant. Determined to know if his cell phone is funding conflict in Congo, Poulsen works his way into Nokia’s corporate offices, where he confronts executives about their mineral supply chain.

Here’s the trailer:

Tom hasn’t yet seen the film “Blue Bird,” by Belgian director Gust van den Berghe, about “two African children” who leave “their village” to find their lost blue bird. Yes the bird is literally black. I think it is supposed to be a fable or a fairy tale:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK7qRw_qe6g&w=560&h=315]

Finally, some short films in their entirety. (These I have watched):

I like the 3 shorts on cultural producers from the DRC made by Cultural Resistance. First up, “Thembo Kash: Cartooning for Justice,” a 5 minute film about a political cartoonist. Sample opinion: “I’ve drawn Congo as a cake. People are helping themselves, but the Congolese don’t benefit from it”:

Then there’s a film about rapper Lexxus Legal, “a long-time veteran of the hip-hop scene in the DRC”:

Finally, there’s a film about the legendary Papa Wemba (he’s been singing since 1969) talking about his music and politics in the DRC:

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.