New Films
December 13, 2011 By 3 CommentsThis 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”:
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:
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:
Comments
Hi, I don’t know what you are exactly looking for, but GRANDE HOTEL, hm, I don’t know. I find it a bit disappointing that this film is not more but a copy of Licinio Azevedos’ 2007 NIGHT LODGERS. Same place, same storyline, much better, a film from Mosambik. And since you are searching – don’t miss FOR THE BEST AND FOR THE ONION by Niger based director Sani Magori, an extremely talented filmaker; and NGWENYA THE CROCODILE by Isabel Noronha, Mosambik, a beautiful film about Malangatana Ngwenya, one of Africa’s most creative and subversive artists. Have fun
I thought these would all be African films made by Africans….except for a couple they’re NGO advocacy films and non-African directors??? Not like you guys to fall into that little hole
@Matthias: Thanks for the comments and the great suggestions. BTW, the list does not prejudge a film’s merits.
@D Djeli: As I commented before, this is not a comment on the films; I am merely noting their existence. If I felt moved I would write about them. And there’s no problem with non-Africans making films; it’s it’s good–and again I have not said anything about these films above yet, merely noted them–then we’ll acknowledge that just as we do films by Africans.