DHUM 27A04 - Birth of Sub-Saharan African Cinema: pioneers and early developments (The)

The aim of this course is to trace and contextualize the birth and development of post-Independence sub-Saharan African cinema in the 1960s-1970s. From both a historical and cinematic perspective, we shall examine the ways in which this key period shaped emerging filmmaking trends in Africa, foregrounding the questions of identity and representation. How did the early African directors represent their realities and societies in a continent hitherto uniquely cinematically represented through the prism of colonial propaganda films, ethnographic cinema and Tarzan-esque fictions? Alternating the viewing and analysis of a corpus of five emblematic 1960s and 1970s feature films, we shall study the socio-political and cultural contexts of this postcolonial cinema, its influences, themes and aesthetics.

Melissa THACKWAY

Séminaire

English

Films étudiés : - Afrique sur Seine by Paulin S Vieyra / Groupe africain du cinéma (1955) - Borom Sarret by Ousmane Sembène (Senegal, 1963) - Xala by Ousmane Sembène (Senegal, 1974) - Baara by Souleymane Cissé (Mali, 1977) - Kaddu Beykat (Lettre paysanne) by Safi Faye (Senegal, 1975) - Muna Moto by Jean-Pierre Dikongue Pipa (Cameroon, 1975) - Touki-Bouki by Djibril Diop Mambety (Senegal, 1973) Lectures : Extraits ou articles de : Frantz Fanon (The Wretched of the Earth), Edward Said (Orientalism), Stuart Hall (Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation),Terrance Range (The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa), Chimamanda Adichié (The Danger of A Single Story), bell hooks (Talking Back), Christian Metz (Language et cinéma)…

As some films may be subtitled in French only, ability to read French.

Autumn 2022-2023

- A presentation in class on one of the films studied during the semester (40%) - A written review of one of the associated course texts (10%) - A final written essay (40%) - Class participation (10%)

Séance 1: Introduction The birth of sub-Saharan cinema in independence Africa: historical, political, and cultural contexts. The (troubled) representation of the African continent in the colonial era; extracts of colonial propaganda films and “Jungle Melodramas” such as King Solomon's Mines… African independence and the question of representation. Film Glossary. Séance 2: Alternative Representations Viewing and discussion of the first sub-Saharan African films: Afrique sur Seine, by P.S. Vieyra (Senegal-France, 1955, 21') and Borom Sarret (Senegal, 1963, 22') Séance 3: Post-colonial satire Introduction to and viewing of Xala by Ousmane Sembène Séance 4: Post-colonial satire II Analysis of Xala / student presentations: themes, characters, image, sound. - Sembène, “the grandfather of African cinema; influences (Italian Neo-Realism, Soviet Realism, social realism…); and influence (cinéma engagé, "The Sembènian School") - Cinema as “night school”; analysis and critiques of the new elites / acculturation / Euro vs. Afro-modernity - Culture and “Decolonizing The Mind” Séance 5: Urbanity and Class Introduction to and viewing of Baara by Souleymane Cissé Séance 6: Urbanity and Class II Analysis of Baara / student presentations: themes, characters, image, sound. - Social realism in cinema - The post-colonial city space - Class and power relations - Emancipation / domination - Séance 7: Rural Exodus and embedded spaces Introduction to and viewing of Kaddu Beykat by Safi Faye Séance 8: Rural Exodus and embedded spaces II Analysis of Kaddu Beykat / student presentations: themes, characters, image, sound. - Rural vs. urban lifestyles and practices - Community vs. individual - Rural conditions – rural exodus - Birth of African docu-fiction - Emerging women's filmmaking Séance 9: Generational Conflicts Introduction to and viewing of Muna Moto by Jean-Pierre Dikongue Pipa Séance 10: Generational Conflicts II Analysis of Muna Moto / student presentations: themes, characters, image, sound. - Generational conflicts - Pre and post-colonial practices: the invention of tradition? - Patriarchy / autocracy - Cinema as metaphor? Séance 11: Journeys, quests and exilic dreams Introduction to and viewing of Touki Bouki by Djibril Diop Mambety Séance 12: Journeys, quests, and exilic dreams II Analysis of Touki Bouki / student presentations: themes, characters, image, sound. - Emigration and exile: journeys, initiations, quests - The myth of a paradisiacal elsewhere - Hybridity and Afro-modernity - Influences of oral literature - A “Mambetian school”? (symbolism and experimental African cinema) - Semester conclusions. * For reasons of availability, the films announced may be subject to changes, but the themes of the programme will remain unchanged.