Sharon A. Russell's Guide to African Cinema

A documentary examining political repression in Cameroon, Central Africa.

Filmmaker David Achkar searches for his father, Marof Achkar, who was sent to the notorious Camp Boiro prison in 1969 for treason.

Venerable storytellers recount for the camera and their listeners the founding myths of Malagasy culture.

In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.

In this semi-autobiographical film, black soldiers help to defend France, but are detained in prison camp before being repatriated home.

In protest of forced conversion to Islam, the Ceddo (outsiders) kidnap King Demba War's daughter Princess Dior Yacine and hold her hostage.

Around 1960, Englishman Toby Hood comes to Johannesburg to run a publishing company. He is open-minded and befriends people with different social ranks, but the harsh realities of society force him to make a choice about friendships.

As World War II is going on in Europe, a conflict arises between the French and the Diola-speaking tribe of Africa, prompting the village women to organize their men to sit beneath a tree to pray.

Two teens, Tamari and Itai, are impoverished following the death of their parents when their uncle takes their plow which they need to feed themselves. While their preoccupied neighbors in the village ignore them, Itai leaves for Harare and Tamari stays behind to care for their younger brother and sister. Finally, some of the neighbors notice and come together to support the children.

A man in the pursuit of the "perfect" woman, ends up with something quite different than what he bargained for.

Portraits of contemporary African women from four West African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin.

Two women rebel against the traditions of a village society.

A broke and dopey musician, constantly harassed by his exasperated landlady, glues his lottery ticket to his door and when it turns out to be a winner must carry his door to the lottery office.

Gito is a young African intellectual returning home from France with numerous academic degrees and ministerial ambitions. Gradually his ambitions are crushed by the daily realities of his country. Gito is tested further by the alliance between his French girlfriend and his old sweetheart who join forces to teach Gito an unforgettable lesson.

Cameroonian filmmaker Bassek ba Kobhio provides a fascinating revisionist perspective on Albert Schweitzer, Noble Peace Prize winner and secular saint of the colonial era. Like FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK, this film begins to rewrite the history of colonialism from the point of view of the colonized. LE GRAND BLANC DE LAMBARÉNÉ is not, however, a facile exercise in iconoclasm but rather a deeply-felt lament for a missed opportunity, for a cross-cultural encounter between Africa and Europe which never happened. The film reveals that the ultimate tragedy of colonialism may have been its refusal to see and value the colonized as autonomous, creative human beings. The film's epigraph, ironically, is a famous remark by Schweitzer himself: "All we can do is allow others to discover us, as we discover them."

Burial of a Christian political activist in a Muslim cemetary forces a conflict imbued with religious fervor. A satiric portrayal of religion and politics, sometimes humorous, sometimes deadly serious.

Documents the rise and fall of a cruel and despotic village chief Guimba, and his son Jangine in a fictional village in the Sahel of Mali.

Dramaan is the most popular man in Colobane, but when a woman from his past, now exorbitantly wealthy, returns to the town, things begin to change.

A young ANC activist and poet from Soweto is the sole witness to a brutal train massacre by an Inkatha militant.

A young African man must try every trick in the book in this attempts to win the heart of the most beautiful girl in his village.

A storyteller named Djeliba comes to the town of a young boy named Mabo with promises that he will reveal the origin of the boy's ancestry.

Documentary about African political leader Patrice Lumumba, who was Prime Minister of Zaire (now Congo) when he was assassinated in 1961.

A classic African film that has struck a nerve that runs across the continent, with an original soundtrack and supporting performance by Zimbabwe's legendary World Music sensation, Oliver Mtukudzi.

A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France.

Follows the story of two young boys and their adventure through the streets of Africa.