THIS IS MY AFRICA
Zina Saro-Wiwa - Filmmaker
Skrivet av Christian Hofverberg 2009-03-30 09:45
The African Diaspora and the question of identity were the overriding themes in this year’s CinemAfrica Film Festival. One of the most entertaining and insightful movies on this subject was the documentary “This is My Africa” by the Nigerian-British filmmaker Zina Saro-Wiwa. Urbanlife had the privilege to sit down and talk with her about her work, African identity and her love for Brazilian culture.
Just a few minutes after having finished a panel discussion about African and European identity at the CinemAfrica Film Festival in Stockholm Zina Saro-Wiwa gives Urbanlife the background to her unique film.
– It’s a film that sets out to change the way people in general view Africa using the intimate memories and opinions of twenty people, Zina Saro-Wiwa starts off telling us.
She shot the film in four days, with mainly British-based Africans. They got a simple questionnaire from her in which they were asked to share their opinions about Africa. Among those taking part we find actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, known from movies like American Gangster and Inside Man.
– I remixed the answers and the result is a sort of fifty-minute crash course in African culture, Zina continues.
One of Zina’s questions “what would you like Africa to be in 2060” elicited responses that, just a few years ago, might have been looked upon as a joke. But with the onset of the American and European recession, many of these projections may not seem so ridiculous.
Artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE provided the biggest laughs and cheers of the screening when, tongue-in-cheek, he stated that in the year 2060 he would like Africa to have their very own Bono organizing a Make Poverty History concert to aid Europe!
Answering a question from Urbanlife, Zina Saro-Wiwa says she doesn’t have a problem with being viewed as an African filmmaker.
– In the past it might have felt like I was being pigeonholed but now I think it’s kind of powerful to play with what this label means. I believe that directors should be able to just be directors but I also think it’s very important to think and discuss what black, African or Nigerian really means. People have a tendency to run away from that because they don’t want to be pigeonholed, but I think it would be great if someone called me an African filmmaker and it would mean all sorts of things in a much more expansive way, Zina says.
Coming from a more established ethnic minority in Britain, the 33-year old filmmaker, writer and TV presenter thinks that one of the most important things for the Afro-Swedish minority to focus on is to not see themselves as victims.– This is going to sound awful but can’t we just stop being so depressing? she says with a mischievous laugh.
– But seriously, overkill on grievance politics turns people off and people just stop listening, she adds soberly.
Zina feels that it’s much better if you as an ethnic minority present yourself outside the role of victims and start to be as positive, hard-working and as creative as possible even in the face of discrimination.
Zina Saro-Wiwa also thinks that the Afro-Swedish minority shouldn’t deny Swedish people’s right to be Swedish, just as the Swedish majority shouldn’t deny any ethnic minority to express their culture.
Going back to some of the things that emerge from the panel discussion Zina tells Urbanlife a little more about her strong connection to Brazil and Brazilian culture. She doesn’t know how that connection got created but she reveals that when she hears Brazilian music she, in her own words, “goes funny”. Her love for black Latin music shines through when she starts to talk about artists like Djavan and Gilberto Gil.
– I love Brazilian culture, on occasion more that Nigerian culture, but for many reasons, including socio-economic ones, I’m so grateful that I was born a Nigerian with a family culture that prized education and could afford to have me well educated. It’s tough being black in Brazil. I hate too sound too much like a preacher, but I feel that we as black people can draw strength from all our different experiences whether it be the African-American, Afro-Latino or the African experience. I could despair at the black condition sometimes but at the same time I feel, God we’ve got so many things going for us. There is so much for us to explore and achieve, Zina finishes off with a hopeful voice.
And with that said, Urbanlife thinks there is no question that Zina Saro-Wiwa herself has a lot going on for her and has a lot in store for us all in the future.
If you would like to know more about Zina and her other projects visit: www.thisismyafrica.com and www.africalab.org
