African Cinema: A Diasporic Bridge
‘What are the staple movies made by (Black) Africans that form a bridge to ‘Blackness’ on the continent and beyond?’
There is a magnetic force that always seems to draw Black people together whenever we are in a workspace. In this gathering, we often discuss topics with the assumption that we all have the same foundational understanding of ‘Blackness.’ In many of these encounters, we do seem to have lived the same lives, but just in different places. The gap in this experience however is highlighted when we take into account our socio-economic background, the place where our understanding of ‘Blackness’ was formed (on the continent, Europe, North America, South America, the Caribbean, etc.), our religious background, and the pop cultural media we interacted with that influenced the, at times rigid, identity of what being ‘Black’ means and what one should know to be valid as a Black person. A few weeks ago, I was dragged into one of these conversations with some work friends who were discussing movies. Particularly, the ‘Black’ movies every Black person should know.
This conversation was sparked when an East African coworker revealed that he did not know the classics such as ‘Love & Basketball,’ ‘Love Jones,’ ‘The Best Man,’ ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ etc. You know, the movies most of us raised with African American culture have all seen at some point. In our animated conversation – with all the sound effects of a couple of Black men discussing passionate takes – there was also space for genuine questions such as:
‘Do we all know the same movies?’ ‘What about movies made by Africans on the continent or in Europe?’ As in: ‘What about African cinema?’ It’s here, I guess, that my brain started to think about writing an article about this. Triggered by the lingering question: ‘What are the staple movies made by (Black) Africans that form a bridge to ‘Blackness’ on the continent and beyond?’
Credit where credit is due, my wife was the one who (re)introduced me to many of the names I will list here. I grew up in West Africa before moving to Europe at the age of twelve. Towards the end of the 90s, I remember watching movies made by Africans but alas my memory, as it often does, failed me when it comes to names, so I ended up forgetting a lot of them.
When talking about movies and African cinema one name you can not escape is Senegalese grandmaster, Ousmane Sembène . And he recognized something very particular about movies and their need for them. Ousmane Sembène arguably the most influential African filmmaker to date started making movies because he deemed literature – his first love – too inaccessible, here we are now a world full of movies, and yet the bridge is not always accessible for the Black diaspora to cross it. In this list, I try to invite you the reader to take a step towards the bridge that movies in the ways we tell our stories about our lives.
Atlantics (Original title: Atlantique) is a 2019 romantic drama about the push and pull factors of migration by young Senegalese men. Directed by Senegalese-French filmmaker Mati Diop. She’s the niece of the late Djibril Diop Mambéty.
Da Yie is a 2019 short film by Ghanaian-Belgian filmmaker Anthony Nti. A story set in Ghana detailing the journey of Matilda and Prince.
Mother of George a 2013 drama set in Brooklyn. A newly wed Nigerian American couple is dealing with fertility issues. Directed by celebrity photographer turned film director Andrew Dosunmu. (Warning some images might be confronting)
Xala, a 1975 drama set in the aftermath of post colonial Senegal, this Ousmane Sembene classic is a critical fiber of post colonial African cinema and critique on governments not working for its people. Note to the reader: This is arguably the best opening sequence of a movie, ever.
La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun) is a short film by Djibril Diop Mambéty that speaks on the life of a disabled child Sili depicting the courage of street children.
Bamako, Timbuktu, and Waiting for Happiness (original title: Heremakono) by Mali-Mauritania filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, all excellent movies from one of Africa’s finest filmmakers.
Soleil O is a 1967 classic by Mauritanian filmmaker Med O’hondo. It portrays the life of an immigrant making his way to Paris in search of his Gaul ancestors. Here he encounters indifference, rejection, and humiliation, before heeding the final call for an uprising.
Sambizanga by Sarah Maldoror is a 1972 drama focusing on the Angolan liberation war against the Portuguese.
Lumumba by Haitian Raoul Peck (fun fact Peck was the minister of culture between 1996-1997), known for his documentary filmmaking ( I’m not your negro), Lumumba is a feature film about the life of the first prime minister of DR Congo.
Les prières de Delphine/Delphine’s Prayers or Chez Jolie Coiffure by Rosine Mbakam Cameroonian filmmaker focuses on migrant women issues.
Honorable mentions based on research and not my actual knowledge about these movies or documentaries:
De Cierta Manera (One Way or Another)—Sara Gomez
Ludi (2021) by Edson Jean, a hardworking and exhausted nurse, battles co-workers, clients, and one impatient bus driver to learn her self-worth as she chases the American Dream in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood.
Rafiki by Wanuri Kahiu is a 2018 Kenyan drama. The story is based on the romance between Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya.
Angelica - directed by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad, Puerto Rico, 2016,
Tango Negro: The African Roots of Tango (2013) by Angolan filmmaker Dom Pedro explores the expression of Tango's Africanness and the contribution of African cultures in the creation of the tango.
The Mali-Cuba Connection Africa Mia Directed by Edouard Salier and Richard Minier | 2020 |
For more specific reads on the Afro-latin experience, here is a list by the publication HipLatina: HipLatina list
Creating a list is limiting even in an attempt to create something that invites you to explore. I recognize being West African that my knowledge is limited when it comes to other parts of the continent and its diaspora. So read this list as a small gateway into the beautiful world of all the amazing stories Black people on the continent and in the diaspora tell and an invitation to embark on crossing that bridge more frequently.