Portal:African cinema
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He transitioned into filmmaking in the 1960s and produced classic films including La Noir de (1966) and Xala (1975) which addressed societal inequalities and post-colonial corruption. Black Girl is widely considered the first Sub-Saharan African film by an African filmmaker to receive international attention. His final film, Moolaade (2004), explored the controversial subject of female genital mutilation.
His legacy encompasses a rich body of literary works and influential films making him a seminal figure in African cultural expression. In 2016, the film was ranked among the 100 greatest films since 2000 in an international critics poll by 177 critics around the world.
Kannywood is the sobriquet for the Hausa-language cinema of Northern Nigeria and based in the northern state of Kano. It is a part of the larger Nigerian cinema, known as Nollywood, which includes other production centres producing films in many other Nigerian languages. The name "Kannywood" is a portmanteau derived from the city name of Kano and Hollywood. "Kannywood" was coined in 1999 by Sunusi Shehu Daneji, publisher of Tauraruwa ("Star") Magazine to capture the growing Hausa video film scene from which point it became the popular reference term for the film industry of Northern Nigeria. The term preceded the label Nollywood which originated with New York Times journalist Norimitsu Onishi in a 2001 article about the Lagos-based film industry.
The Hausa language cinema emerged in the 1960s with productions out of RTV Kaduna and Radio Kaduna. Veterans like Dalhatu Bawa and Kasimu Yero pioneered popular dramas, and in the 70's and 80's, Hausa Comedy was introduced by the likes of Usman Baba Pategi and Mamman Ladan. The 1990s saw a dramatic change in Hausa-language cinema in an effort to attract larger audiences drawn to Bollywood movies. Kannywood, a cinematic synthesis of Indian and Hausa culture emerged and became extremely popular. Turmin Danya ("The Draw"), 1990, is usually cited as the first commercially successful Kannywood film and followed by others such as Gimbiya Fatima, In Da So Da Kauna, Munkar, Badakala and Kiyarda Da Ni.
Kano, a predominantly Muslim state, enforces both Sharia and secular laws with implications on Kannywood productions. For example the state censorship’s unit does not allow male and female actors to touch even if portraying a husband and wife. In 2024, state authorities announced that films could not portray cross dressing, and in reaction to the gang related violence in the North, prohibit depictions of violence.
Notable Kannywood actors include Ali Nuhu, Fati Muhammad, Rahama Sadau, and Rabilu Musa Ibiro.
The 31st edition of the New York African Film Festival is being held from the 8th to 30th of May. The festival,co-presented with Film Society of Lincoln Center, has introduced African filmmakers such as Abderrahmane Sissako, Lupita Nyong’o and Tunde Kelani to American audiences. Films set to screen this year include Banel and Adama (2023) by Ramata Toulaye-Sy, Xale (2022) by Moussa Sene Absa and Le Spectre de Boko Haram (2023) by Cyrielle Raingou.
The 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, considered one of the film industry’s biggest award shows on the continent, took place on May 11th. In a departure from past editions, performance categories like Best Actor and Best Actress Awards were determined by a jury instead of an audience voting system. Among the notable winners this year includes Breath of Life for best film, best director (BB Sasore), best lead actor (Wale Ojo), best supporting actress (Genoveva Umeh) and best supporting actor (Demola Adedoyin)
Seven films from African filmmakers were selected to screen at the 77th edition of the Cannes Festival taking place May 14-25. These include works by Somalian-born Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise), Egyptian filmmakers Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir (The Brink of Dreams), French-Moroccan screenwriter, director, and producer, Hamich Benlarbi (La Mer Au Loin/ Across the Sea), French-Algerian filmmaker Emma Benestan (Animale), Zambian-Welsh director and screenwriter Rungano Nyoni (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl), Egyptian artist and film director Hala Elkoussy (East Noon), and Franco-Moroccan director, Nabil Ayouch (Everybody Loves Touda).
This Year’s Cannes Film Festival includes a number of African Jury Members for its various sections:French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré (Un Certain Regard), Moroccan filmmaker and producer Asmae El Moudir (Un Certain Regard), Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal (Cinéfondation and Short Films Competition), Belgian-Congolese singer and filmmaker Baloji (Caméra d'Or), Dyana Gaye, French-Senegalese filmmaker (L'Œil d'Or), and Eliane Umuhire,Rwandan actress (Critics’ Week),
The biopic of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters and starring Joke Silva, Kehinde Bankole, and is set to premiere in Nigerian cinemas nationwide on May 17. The film chronicles the life of the Nigerian educator, political campaigner, suffragist, and women's rights activist and the mother of the Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti.
Black Tea is a 2024 romantic drama film co-written and directed by Mauritanian director, Abderrahmane Sissako. an international co-production between France, Mauritania, Luxembourg, Taiwan and Ivory Coast, it tells the story of A young Ivorian girl named Aya who moves to China and falls in love with an older Chinese man named Cai. The film explores the challenges to their relationship due to their backgrounds and societal biases. The director was inspired to write this story after discovering a restaurant called "La Colline Parfumée" (The Perfumed Hill) run by an Afro-Chinese couple. It premiered at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, competing for the Golden Bear award.. It sparked discussions about love, identity, and cultural intersectionality.
Atlas Studios is a film studio located in Morocco and is regarded as the world’s largest film studio based on its acerage. It was established by Mohamed Belghmi in 1983. The studio benefits from the area’s favourable climate and the diversity of the natural landscapes, allowing for the effective portrayal of various environments. Many of the studio sets from previous film productions serve as tourist attractions with guided tours. Notable productions include Game of Thrones, Aladdin and the British TV series Atlantis.
Fanta Régina Nacro was the first Burkinabè woman to direct a narrative film. Her films are known for challenging societal norms, traditions, and the role of men in Burkinabè society, often using humor to address sensitive issues from AIDS and sexual health to gender roles.
Djibouti-Canadian film director and screenwriter Lula Ali Ismaïl is the first woman from Djibouti to produce a film, earning her the nickname of "the first lady of the Djibouti cinema”.
The Moroccan documentary Trances (1981) directed by Ahmed El Maânouni following the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane was restored in 2007 by Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project. Trances was the Project’s first restoration.
Three South African actors Thuso Mbedu, John Kani and Kagiso Lediga will be part of the cast of Disney’s upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King film. Legida will play the role of young Rafiki while Kani will play the role of older Rafiki. The film is set to be released in theaters in December 2024
Sana Na N’Hada (b. May 26 1950) is a pioneering filmmaker in Guinea-Bissau. He was the first director of Guinea-Bissau’s National Film Institute. He collaborated with notable filmmakers like Chris Marker on Marker’s essay film Sans Soleil (1983) and Flora Gomes on his first two short films. His works encompass shorts, documentaries and feature films. His first feature film, Xime (1994), was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ivie Okujaiye (b. May 16 1987) is a Nigerian producer, actress and scriptwriter who gained popularity after winning the Amstel Malta Box Office reality TV show in 2009, earning the moniker “Little Genevieve” for her resemblance to veteran Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji. She made her Nollywood debut in Alero’s Symphony (2011) and has featured in other notable productions, including Hotel Majestic (2015) and Enakhe (2020). She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Young Actor in 2012 and the Trailblazer Award at the 2013 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.
Ama K. Abebrese (b. May 3 1980) is a British-Ghanaian actress, TV presenter and producer. Best known for her role in the drama film Sinking Sands (2010), she won the Best Actress category at the 2011 AMAA Awards. Abebrese also starred in Beasts of No Nation (2015) and Azali (2018), Ghana’s first submission to the Oscars. Her most recent role is in The Storm, a Ghanian crime drama by Ben Owusu set for release in July 2024. She has earned multiple notable awards and nominations, including wins at the Ghana Movie Awards and Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Gavin Hood (b. May 12 1963) is a South African director and actorr who rose to prominence for the South African drama film Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006, the first South African film and first African film not made in French to win the award He has since gone on to produce international productions such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) Eye in the Sky (2015) and Official Secrets (2019).
Aïssa Maïga (b. May 25 1975) is a Senegal-born French actress whose breakthrough role was in Abderrahmane Sissako’s Malian drama Bamako (2006) for which she was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress. She was the first French actress of African descent to ever receive a nomination. She is also known for roles in films such as Paris, je t’aime (2006) Caché (2006), Mood Indigo (2013), and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut, The Boy Who harnessed the Wind (2019). She is a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion, founding the DiasporAct collective to address the underrepresentation of people of color in the French film industry. DiasporAct published a book of essays, called Noire n’est pas mon métier ('Black is not my job”) (ed. Seuil) that detail the inequity and racism black women face in the French film industry.
Matt Bish (b. 15 May, 1975) also known as Matthew Bishanga is a Ugandan filmmaker and the creative director of Bish Films. He co-founded Bish Films alongside his brother in 2005 in order to produce music videos. They, however, branched out to filmmaking and went on to direct the first Ugandan feature film, Battle of the Souls, in 2007, which went on to earn 11 nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards and won in the Best Visual Effects and Best Supporting Actor categories. His other notable productions include A Good Catholic Girl (2010) and State Research Bureau (2011).
"Africa has always been the home of storytellers. The large number of film festivals is testament to the continuing culture of film on the continent. But it is not enough…Lack of investment in studios, cinemas and talent means that, despite recent successes, the majority of Africans struggle to find stories that resonate or represent us, and this is a loss to the global community. Africa has a wealth of beautiful stories that deserve to find a wider audience, but this can only happen if film-makers get funding to make good quality films, supported with adequate marketing, and access to distribution and outlets."
Juliet Asante, Ghanaian actress, producer and director
Tsotsi, a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood. It is based on a novel of the same name by Athol Fugard. The film follows the story of a young Johannesburg street boy whose life takes an unexpected turn after he steals a car and discovers a baby in the backseat. The film was praised for its “powerful storytelling and emotional depth”. The film’s soundtrack showcases Kwaito music performance by South African artist Zola and the afropop groupMafikizolo.
Kwaito music is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1980s. Despite its similarities to hip hop music, kwaito has a distinctive manner in which the lyrics are sung, rapped and shouted. The musical score composed by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker incorporates the vocals of renowned South African singer and poet, Vusi Mahlasela.
It received a score of 82% on Rotten tomatoes and a score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards, becoming the first African film in a language other than French to achieve this feat.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a 2013 Nigerian historical drama film. The film was directed by Biyi Bandele and is based onthe best-selling novel of the same name by writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Taking place during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), a conflict caused by religious and political differences between the Igbo ethnic group and Muslim Hausa-Fulanis , the film follows the lives of twin sisters Olanna and Kainene from a wealthy Nigerian family as they navigate love, loss and political turmoil.
The film features Thandiwe Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor and an ensemble cast that includes Onyeka Onwenu, Genevieve Nnaji, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, O.C. Ukeje, Zack Orji, and John Boyega in one of his first film roles. The film, which had a budget of $10 million, the largest for a Nollywood film at that point, was shot across five weeks in Tinapa Studio, Calabar and Creek Town, Nigeria. Bandele listed malaria and typhoid as two of the major challenges of the shoot, with several members of the cast and crew becoming ill, including star Thandiwe Newton. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was nonetheless a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing Nigerian film before it was overtaken by The Wedding Party in 2016.
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