cinéma africain | african cinema

The question of ‘authenticity’ has been at the heart of much critical thinking about African cinema. During the colonial era, cinematic images of Africa effectively served to reinforce the Western vision of the ‘dark continent,’ viewing Africa as a wild and savage place, existing outside of history. When African filmmakers began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s, they set out to counter these demeaning Western representations of their continent. However, although there was widespread agreement that colonial representations were distorted and ‘inauthentic,’ the definition of an ‘authentic’ African cinema has remained deeply problematic. What should an African film look like? How should it differ from Western cinema?