The production and distribution of film and audiovisual works is one of the most dynamic growth sectors in the world. Thanks to digital technologies, production has been growing rapidly in Africa in recent years. For the first time, a complete mapping of the film and audiovisual industry in 54 States of the African continent is available, including quantitative and qualitative data and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses at the continental and regional levels.The report proposes strategic recommendations for the development of the film and audiovisual sectors in Africa and invites policymakers, professional organizations, firms, filmmakers and artists to implement them in a concerted manner.
“Reveals in fascinating detail the wild popularity, controversies, and complaints provoked by this film form . . . shap[ing] the media landscape of Africa.” —Brian Larkin, Barnard College Global Nollywood considers this first truly African cinema beyond its Nigerian origins. In fifteen lively essays, this volume traces the engagement of the Nigerian video film industry with the African continent and the rest of the world. Topics such as Nollywood as a theoretical construct, the development of a new, critical film language, and Nollywood’s transformation outside of Nigeria reveal the broader implications of this film form as it travels and develops. Highlighting controversies surrounding commodification, globalization, and the development of the film industry on a wider scale, Global Nollywood gives sustained attention to Nollywood as a uniquely African cultural production. “Offers original material with respect to the transnational presence of Nollywood.” ?Moradewun Adejunmobi, University of California, Davis “Unveils a fascinating variety of the ways in which Nollywood cinema is viewed and interpreted.” ?Research in African Literatures “Delightfully entertaining yet appropriately erudite. . . . A welcome addition to the fields of film, media, African, and cultural studies.” —Cinema Journal “Highly recommended.” ?Choice “[T]he cumulative effect of [these] studies is to provide invaluable information for those wishing to keep up with where African cinema is today.” ?Journal of African History “Global Nollywood represents the most up-to-date research on Nollywood as a transnational cultural practice and is a must-read for scholars and students of African screen media.” —African Studies Review “Ground-breaking. . . . It proves that, in spite of appearing to be a niche market, Nollywood . . . can no longer be excluded from the canon of African cinema in the field of film studies.” ?African Affairs
African Film Studies is an accessible and engaging introduction to African cinemas, showcasing the diverse cinematic expressions across the continent. Bringing African cinemas out of the margins and into mainstream film studies, the book provides a succinct overview of the history, aesthetics, and theory of sub-Saharan African cinematic productions. Updated throughout, this new edition includes new chapters on Nollywood, Ethiopian cinema, Streaming, and the rise of televisual series, which serve to complement the book’s main themes: Overview of African cinema(s): Questions assumptions and defines the characteristics of African cinemas across linguistic, geographic, and filmic divides History of African cinemas: Spans the history of film in Africa from colonial import and ‘appropriation of the gaze’, the rise of Nollywood and local TV series to streaming, as well as building connections with the development of African American cinema Aesthetics: Introduces new research on previously under-explored aesthetic dimensions such as cinematography, animation, and film music Theoretical Approaches: Addresses a number of theoretical approaches and critical frameworks developed by scholars in the study of African cinemas Traditions and practices in African screen media: Features Ethiopian cinema, Nollywood, Local Televisual Series in Burkina Faso and South Africa, and the Streaming rush for Africa All chapters include case studies, suggestions for further reading, and screening lists to deepen the reader’s knowledge, with no prior knowledge of African cinemas required. Students, teachers, and general film enthusiasts would all benefit from this accessible and engaging book.
'Focus on African Films' offers pluralistic perspectives on filmmaking across Africa, highlighting the distinct thematic, stylistic, and socioeconomic circumstances of African film production.
Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Communications - Movies and Television, grade: A, Kenyatta University, language: English, abstract: Globalisation has had a considerable impact on the trends and patterns within the contemporary film industry. Traditionally, global film and television products were dominated by Western countries especially the United States in what some scholars have referred to as ‘global Hollywood’. ‘Global Hollywood’ does not only refer to films produced in Southern California but the influence of American film or pop culture on the relations and flows of film products around the world. Apart from production, distribution and consumption of Hollywood films, companies, artists and even governments from all around the world are now involved in film production through cooperation with Hollywood partners. Meanwhile, in the recent past, Hollywood has increasingly regarded South Africa industry as a potential international film market. On the other hand, the emerging South African industry can leverage on the success of Hollywood movies to develop local content for global consumers.
African Film: Looking Back and Looking Forward acknowledges all those filmmakers and film scholars who, through their productions and theorization, have made a difference to the filmic universe in Africa. Their substantial contribution reflects our world and has the potential to change our lives. The book adopts an interdisciplinary character, traversing, as it does, the diverse subjects of politics, economics and history, among others. It interrogates Africa’s filmic past, analyses current productions, projects into the future of the film in Africa, and deals with the nature of the filmmaking profession. This book contributes to the growing literature on the African film and will provide the opportunity for filmmakers, academics and students to learn about the history, theories, problems, and various approaches to production, marketing, gender issues, race and legal issues, and a host of other subjects that impinge upon the African film.
The growing body of films in and around Africa, and the seemingly incongruent growth in African film scholarship, suggests the need for new perspectives, approaches and insights into film cultures in Africa. Although it is impossible to capture the entire diversity of existing African film cultures, this collection, which has resulted from African film conferences organized by the University of Westminster, United Kingdom, has recognized the significance and urgency of this task. The book offers a unique engagement with widened African film ‘cultures’ in the context of diverse peoples, histories, geographies, languages and changing film production cultures shaped by audiences and users at home and in the diaspora. The volume is a significant contribution to the processes of representing the self and other, as well as the emergence of alternative, non-official dialogues, circulation and consumption, including on social media. Students, researchers, film policy makers, film producers, distributors and anyone else with an interest in African screen media will find in the book useful and readable analyses of socio-political factors that affect and are shaped by African film.
Contemporary African filmmaking is the subject of this insightful and exciting look at every aspect of the art form on the African continent. Focusing on new trends in African cinema from the 1990s to today, this book explores new cinematic languages and modes of production, films departure from nationalism and social realism, and the Nollywood film industry, among other topics. In this book Manthia Diawara, a renowned scholar on Black cinema, literature, and art brings readers up to date on the exciting changes taking place behind and in front of African cameras. Contributions by filmmakers, scholars, and producers as well as profiles of thirty important African directors and their films, provide valuable insight into recent developments. The volume comes with a DVD containing several interviews with filmmakers conducted by the author. Scholars, students, and anyone interested in cinematic and African cultural studies will find much to discover and celebrate in this authoritative, fascinating look at new trends in African filmmaking.
