The Rise and Rise of African Film

From international filmmakers, to growing national film industries, to individuals with iPhones, Africa in film is inspiring growing audiences across and beyond the continent. No-one will be liberated by my films, its egotistical and its a fallacy to think that, says South African filmmaker Khalo Matabane after a screening of his documentary Mandela, The Myth and Me. By Thembi Mutch

The film - a beautiful, sensitive and uncompromising portrait of privilege, opportunism, cycles of abuse, forgiveness and revenge in post-apartheid South Africa - made waves amongst some audiences who were horrified that it dared to question the wisdom of some of Madibas choices and his legacy. But Matabane dismisses the idea of film as a vehicle for social change.

When I was younger, in my 20s, when I started films, I was fascinated with cinema - I thought it could change the world, he recalls. [But] the global system is so complex that its impossible to change. Youre never speaking on behalf of the wretched of the earth. People want to be entertained.

If you want to change the world, become like Che Guevara; go into the bush and wage war, he adds.

However, while Matabane may be disparaging about his ability to effect change through his films, in a way he is already part of a movement that is gradually shifting the global landscape.

He is one of a rising number of filmmakers making works about African issues that are challenging preconceptions and resonating with both African and global audiences.

US producer/director Rachel Boynton also fits into this group. Her latest documentary, Big Men, is set in Nigeria and Ghana and explores the actions and mindsets of Texan oil men, mediocre Ghanaian businessmen, and the Deadly Militant Underdogs - a desperate group of marginalised rebels or perhaps just uneducated, impoverished young men keen to see some of the profits of oil in Nigerias River State - as they go about trying to make money from West Africas oil boom. With the thrilling levels of access to these groups Boynton managed to secure, Big Men cleverly teases out moral ambiguities, corruption, hypocrisy and humanity.

I didnt set out to make a political film or to bring down the oil industry, says Boynton. I was first of all looking for a good story. The oil situation is complicated; nothing about this is simple or black and white. Its not about benevolent, na ve government and an evil oil company or vice versa. Everybody is a little bit clean and a little bit dirty.

Its a morally grey film, as it should be, she continues . Its easy to make a film to show how horrible a person is but if youre doing that, youre encouraging your audience not to empathise and youre failing to look at the system, the structures, the factors that limit and dictate what people can do.

Getting audiences to empathise is also a key aim of the film Born This Way, according to co-director Shaun Kadlec. Born This Way chronicles the stories of Esther, Gertrude, Cedric and other members of the LGBTI community living in Cameroon, getting up close and intimate. It follows highly perceptive, humane, affectionate and intimate stories and explores what it means to be gay in a country where homophobia is actively whipped up by some churches, and where homosexuality is illegal. But it is careful not to fall back on tired tropes, instead highlighting the resilience and joie de vivre of its subjects.

I was really inspired by this exciting, incredibly new, buoyant group of people, who despite really difficult situations, were still laughing, creating a gay and lesbian community, finding ways to love, says Kadlec.

Telling the lions story

This handful of recent documentaries represents a growing trend of films that treat its subjects carefully and sensitively, and are a far cry from the kinds of simplistic depictions of Africa that have long dominated. Some might argue that the ongoing need for Western producers or support for such films still undermines Africans ability to tell their own stories, but Bill Simbo, a Cameroonian LGBTI activist and executive director of the NGO CAMFED, disagrees.

Its a complex situation but when the American donors or the European Commission comment on subjects like lesbian and gay rights, then the generic African thinks, This is the Westerner again, the European, trying to promote homosexuality, going against nature... but thats irrelevant. Films like [Born This Way] are so important. They show a human side, a real side, to a complicated issue. It takes lots of courage, time and support to make this kind of movie. Black Africans have the will, we just dont have...the visibility, the economic power, the reach, the platforms, the confidence perhaps to make films like this.

Kadlec concurs. He suggests that being an outsider is not without its obstacles, but that the challenge is to be aware of ones own position and be acutely sensitive to subjects stories.

I have to think about how I am working, day to day, on the micro level, and also the legacy I am bringing to this: my history, Americas history, I am a gay man, raised in a very conservative, ecstatic Pentecostal community in an isolated part of the Midwest. I looked to find similarities with the people I was filming, and always tried my best to listen, to be alert, mindful.

Nollywood, Gollywood and Hillywood

However, while many of the most widely-viewed films about African issues are still produced with Western support, and although opportunities for African filmmakers are still very limited, this does seem to be changing, slowly but surely. And many of these works are highly challenging.

Most notably of course, Nigerias film industry Nollywood produces more films a year than any country but India, many of which are highly political and fearlessly devour themes from corruption through to the occult. As Carmela Garritano points out, popular Nollywood fil

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