NIanthia Diawara

politics & culture

indiana university press
bioomington & Indianapolis
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L 1992 by l\[.lnrhi8 Diawara
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Library of Congress Cataloging-n-Publication Data
Diawara, lvianrhia, date.
African .:inema ; palitics and culture .1 .Nlanthia Diawara.
p. cm.-(Blacks in the iasporal
Includes biblagraphlcal reterences and index.
0-253-31704-5.-ISBN 0-253-20707-X (pbk.i
1. lvlorlon 2. lvlocion
:.1specrs-Africa. 3. }vIonon pic::ures-PaltlcaI aspecrs-Afnca.
1. Tirle. II. Senes.
PN1993.5.A35D5 1992
791..+3' 096-dc20 91-24579
2 3 4 5 96 95 94 93 92
JUN 0 2 1992
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The eleventh Pan-African Film Fmival or Ouagadougou (FESPACO
'89j demonstrares how diversified Alriean films are today, Next to
Yee!en (Souleymane Ciss, 1987j, and Yaaba (Idrissa Ouedraogo,
1989j, whieh put inco play the theme of the return ta the sources, an
Africa without the presence of outsiders, there are Camp de Thiaro)'e
(Ousmane Sembne and Thierno Sow, 1988j and ivIonu Nega (Fiora
Gomes, 1988), which make the colonial question the;r main subject.
Finzal1 (Cheiek Oumar Sissoko, 1989j, Bal pOi/ssire (Henri Duparc,
1988j, and BOi/ka (Roger G'lOan M'Baia, 1988) are social realisr
narratives thar deal with questions oi modernity and tradition,
.- This themarie diversification prodl1ces a tvpology or narratives rhat
eompere for the spectator's attention. Each one ot the.' narrative move-
ments-the return ta the 'sources, the historieal confrontation bet\veen
Africa andEurope, and the social realise-presents of Africa
thar makes ,;- daim ra befnlli'r and more faithEu! to reali!'! than the
orhers, At FESPACO '89 many people inrpreted the diversified styles
of films as a sign of maturiry in African cinema. Others, painting to
Yee!en and Yaaba, argued that it marked the end of "mgouge"
(filmmaking on shoestrings that ref1ect5 the "miserable" African con-
dition of lifej l and the end of an era chat pnvileged polemieal and
loosely construeted contents at the e.xpense of cmemane iorms, And
others expressed concern that sorne filmmakers have used this opportu-
nity to rurn their backs on polities and on a serious questioning of the
oppression oi women and the marginalized, This argument also put
forth that filmmakers, by emphasizing beautiful images over serious
1-+1
(ontent arlJ.l-:'sis.l"L\.J ::.urrer.d[ed IO Eurr"")pC:'.'ln nmion::. or what African
("inema ongllI to b . .:'.
Cle:::.rly [here :ue ::my :\U"LCm unages, J.nd iI S;;:115 tri ';icd ta expec:
filmmJkers of different gener3tions, diiferi!.t countnes, J.nd different
tendencies to Ste the same ,-\fricd eVr-;:\vhere. le is therefore
Dot intention tO sort out \vhich modes of representatlon .lre rigne
and \vhich Jfe \\Tong. Ir seems i:O be more t!:"uictlll co C[dee che c,,'oluron
or these new A.h-lcaD c:nemJ.s [rom '8""7 ID '39 Jnd
co .1trempt to V3.!uare eaen narr3tive mO\-ement ln the contexc or ifS own
modes ai productlon.
Social Realise :"IGatves
Firsr let's eX:J.mine the naE3.Ilve or the movement l call the
cendency, vvhich debnes lrsdf by socl_ocuIDJ,.IaJ
iS5..\KS, The films in rhis eategory dra'N on eontempoorv experiences,
and-rhey oppose tradition ra modernity, oral to written, agrarian and
customarv communities to urban and inclU;5triaiized svsrems, and sub-
sisrencc ra highly productive filmmakers
often use a tradirional position ta criticize and lnk cerrain orms or
modernity to neocolonialism and cultural imperialism. From a mod-
ernist point or vievv, they a150 attempt ta rOffianticize
rradiIionai values as pure and originaL.Theheroes are women,
dren, and orher marginalized groups thar are pushed into the shadows
by the ehIes of rradition and modernitv=
The social cealist tendeney, \vhich uses melodram8, sarir.::, ane com-
dy. communicares more with Airican specJ.Iors chan the twa succeed-
ing movemenrs, whch, as l will show, require more fram che speClatOr
because or :heir :nvolvement ln hlstory 2nd social
realisr movement draws tram exisling pooular torms :Juch as song nd
dance, the oral :radirion (bath literar;; and rumars), anci popular
rh<::::lrer (Yoruba the::1ter in Nigena and [he Koba in -L\tfali d!J.d Ivory
Coast). Such papulaI music stars as Salif Keira, Papa \vemba, and
Alpha Blondv have in the social realist Ousmane
Sembne IS known ror thiS [ype or cinema from hlS ground-ore3king Le
mandat iThe Money Order) (1968) tO ){," '1974\, bath ai which
descnbe the plght at the margmalized ln pasrindependDce era.
Souleymane Ciss aiso made hls repurotlon or FESPACO by winning
rwa Grand Prix with Bclata (1978) and Fiilye (1982), both of which are
sOGal re3.list films, There are orher notable direcrors or (he movemenr,
sueh as Mousrapha Alassane \Virh f, v-.V.A.-Femmes, villa, VOiture,
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l-L:
19--:2 i, \\"hich parodies the postcolonial bOUf:61..)isie: \bl-:J.ma
Johnson TrJor with 197 -+'1) \dllch de:l!s \',[(h the role oi
ISlam ::md Koranie schools in L--\rrlcJ: DJnid f(JffiW3
with POlisse POlisse 19-:5:, the problem or dowry; Ben Diog:'lye
Beye \Yith Se)' Seye!i AL7il, Some \Vomen) 1980). about polyg3.my;
:lnd L:lllcine Kr:J.TI10 Fadiga \vith Dje!i :: 193 WllLCh eXJ.mines m3.f-
nage b[\'v-een pople or diffrent C3stes.
FESPACO '37, the social re:1!ist mQVemDi: arnrmed Ils Jomi-
I1anCe \vlth films such as Ule est beIfe (NgJngura ;\hveze Jnd Benoit
L1nly, 1986/) "0[yamantoil ,:Cheick OUlTIJr Si:isoko\ 1930:': Visdges de
F.7::C5 a/Yi:':I)::;!?,'7.
1
'))sire :1nd D'?S!Jczg1TO nu le
dernier saLIire (53.nou K. EmmJDUeL 1986:" of whicn ::lfe Jnchored
in one popular iorm or anorher. SimJiariv, FESPACO \\"as the me ot
J. social re:J.lisr cinema chat seemed to bave won :::he ne:lfCS of the
SpCtatOrs. Duparc's pOUSSire, ;} social comedy 3.bour polygalny
with ::iubplots of money ClS J sign nt corruption, and rradirion
as a burden, was rhe masr discussed film in Ouagadougou. The spec-
tarors olso [ushed ta see Les gelilTisseurs iSijiri Bakaba, 1988), rhe
main JnracnOn of which lTIvolves performances by Salif Keira, _-"lpha
Blondy, Nayanka Bell, and Georges Tai Benson, stars of popular music
and television;'S"",.abo (_-"maclou Saalum Seck, 1988), Koionl1osk (Sao
Gamba, 1986), and Test,/meut (John Akomirah, 1988), Jll dealing in a
differenr manner \Vith the question of returning haIne after years of
exile in Europe; BOllka, which looks like wirh a modern eye at su eh
traditional issues as inhritance or wives. polygamy, anci fetishisITI;"Zmz
Eoko I.,Gaston Kabor, 1988,J, about che expansion of ciries, which
forces some villagers to abandon their land and, therelore, lose their
idemit)'; and Sissoko's"Fin::ml, mueh Jwaid Jr FESPACO '89 because
or che direcror's reputation witn Nyamanton.
3
Let's DOW examine SOrne examples of the social realist moveme:1t as a
or showing the manner in which its films position the spectator. In
1987, La vie est belle and other social realise films broke' the intellec
tuilise nadirion of African cinema and adopted populise chemes that
are dear ta the working class and the ;mempioved. Ihe _J1Jl1_oi the
filmmakers was ta [ransform the potemics ag:.1inst the elite into jokes
made ar films chat appeai c!re
.-\frican masses -because they can identify widl-rne cnaracters i; -rherrU.
To capture the masses' des ire on film, the filmmakers have drawn from
popular musicians, the latest fashions, and the new ways ai talking in
the capital ciries. L1 vie est belle, for insrance, tells the swry of a village
mLlsician, Kourou (Papa Wemba), who loses his audience ra the radio,
'.:vhich popular music. He cec:ides ta go ta the big ciry, Kinshasa.
[-Il
ra 5li""cg JI1,j r'L1:' Jn decuie guirar. In the ciry, Kourou \\'orb. as
shoeshine bo:./. J. dishw:lsher1 and mess('nger bdore reailzing his
dre,11n JS cl 1l111siciJ.n. The film ::tlso '\yirh (he themes of pol:,gJ.m}",
';Ylrchcr:l, business\vomen in Kin:-,has:l, Kourou',; love afiair with Ka-
bibi ibi Krubwa), and rhe liiesvfle of the nouveaux riches.
The hrsr reJson why Ld est bellc anracts Afrcan spectators lS the
sening of the story in KinshJ.sd, reg:uded JS che cJ.pnl of
music \vith more (han ('XO hundred bands. Ir is J city or high
tashiOI1, or 3.mbiance, wheft: the lasr steps in clane: :lre creared, and or
contradicLion, where rhe rich and poor, rhe modern and trodirional
live siJe b\- sicle. Kinsh3sa, as reHected on the screen, mirrors what
many Arrican I11aSses desre when the)- leave the villages ror the pursuit
or their areams in the cines. Kourou's Experiences demonstf.Jte chat the
specrator (:..ln enUU$t: the city \Vith the power ro translorrn his/her
village looks inco gbmour and ra provide himiher with more leisure
time. Tne ride La vie est belle (Lile is Rosy) indicates that even rhe poor
are happy in the heared nighrs of Kinshasa, the modern ciry wirh
magical powers to make one forger one's prablems.
Buc this populat myrh ai Kinshasa is noc without criricism in rhe
film. Kinshasa is also the ciry where appearance (rhe way people dress
and speak) CQums more rh an substance. Kourou puts on a suit and
passes for the director of a big company; Amoro (Tumba Ayila), the
dwarr who goes around laughing and saying that '"iite IS rosYl" 1S in
realitv a londy and unhappy person. The elite, such as l'ivouandu
(KanKu Kasongoj, flaum their Mercedes cars and show no sympathy
fat che pOOL Ir is also in rhe same Kinshasa where the charlaran wirch
docrors control rhe lives oi rhe rich and poor, the educad and the
iilitera, the Christian and rhe Moslem. Finally, the experience of
Mamou (Landu NZLlnzimbu), a clever businesswoman in the film,
shows thar Kinshasas mademiry does not include rhe end of polygamy
tor women.
The other reason rhar LJ vie est belle appeals [Q African spectarors
concerns the casng of Papa Wemba as Kourou. Popular music stars
such as Franco, Tabu Ley, Salif Keita, and Papa Wemba have an
enormous inHuence on lifesryle in Africa. Papa Wemba, known as tne
number one "Sapeur"4 in Latre, has many bns who imitate the way he
ra;ks dnd dresses. In La vie est belle, it is Papa Wemba as Kourou wno
imiras rhe ordinary man. Idemificaon works borh ways: the spec-
taror identifying wirh the image of hislher desire, and Papa Wemba
(Kourou) identifying with the working class in his raies as shoeshine
boy, dishwasher, messenger, and the poor man whose girlfriend has
been srolen by a rien man. The leirmocif Jourou repears in his sangs is
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Cinc:llJ
--uJ'laillez, prcnz de Ll peine, L:'csr k ronJs qui t1Llnqu les morDS"
(\Xfod:. hJ.rd, whar \V neecl mosr of an is good \;,illl. Br popularizing
this verse from the; poetry of Ld FOl1Uinc. Kourou implies thar \';.-ork
atone can provde the solution CO peoplt::s prob!ems.
ln faer, Lourou :dso mentions ln his sangs the bmous "Article 15,"
which meJ.ns dbrouillez-vOlis (help vourseli) ior people who can no
longer depend on the government for education, heahb care
in Zaire. Perhaps speCWtors used :0 the social realist films oi Sembne
and Ciss are disappoinred thJI the film neither criricizes the system
that oppresses che working class nor I11Jkes Jny eHort ta make it re:llize
its condition as an exploited group. This t"lTIforced bv the leitmorif
which seems ta empower the \vorking clo.sss image of itself dS heroic
and whieh pre'fc:nrs ir from reJ.cring ag:.linsr the Incompetence of rhe
A.friean governlnentS ta make things better. But the invaluable lesson
that La vie st belle teaches us is that the social realisr movement can
use popular Eorms as a vehicle tor messages and images. The resort to
popular fonns is a1so a 'Nay to (reare dn African audience for the films.
The social realist cinema also positions the spectator by addressing
the issues of women 's liberation in contemporary African society. The
films show that while Atrican men have accepred progress in certain
areas of modernism, they are regressive \vhen it cornes to giving up
male privileges. The filmmakers oten rhemmize these issues by eOIl-
suucting social comedies involving a man with more women rhan he
can satisfy sexually (Finye, Xal
J
and Bdf poussire); by watching a
man make a iool of himself bv clinging tG old-iashioned parriarchal
means of rrearing women as objects (Visages de lemmes, Finzan
J
and
BOlika); and by giving the woman "the right to speak om, and the
right tO be heard-\vhether this righr was \von or granred) exercised
sponraneously or in organized ways"5 (Nyanwnton, Visages de
femmes, an Finzan).
"luch of the popuiarity of Bal poussire in Ouagadougou derives
trom its positioning or the spectaror to laugh at the excesses or polyg-
amy. The protagonist, Demi-Dieu (Bamba Bakary), IS the richest man
in town, so he can buy anything he wanrs, includng a 51XIh wite, Binta
(Hanny Tchelley). Bm Binta, the modern woman, inrroduces concepts
into his househoid that not onlv compromise Demi-Dieu 's raditional
image but also push the other wives to ask him ior more sexual
telations. The consequences are terrible ror Demi-Dieu: "Each one oi
his wives made him swallow dishes with aphrodisiac ingredients in
order to have him ail tG herself, and the pleasure of the 'happy
band' soon turned into exhaustion. "6 Bal poussire is simultaneously
entertaining and didactic. It entertains by making the spectatots ide;-
145
t!t: \i/!rh BinCl she mJKeS fun or d regressiye. !l1J.n.
'5 .l(tions 2ft ta 'somen spectators lib: lhe re\'enge or wornen on
men. Tbe men bugh beGmse the:.' think ::hey supenor
to Demi-Dieu and thar the" \\"ill n';er Eail inro the sa me trap. The
instruction the spectJJ::or unconsciously Jppropriates rror11 Bd! pous-
sire concerns the impracclcal aspects or polygalny. The specra[or ieels
char he is \viser than Deml-Dieu unlike him, prders love wirh one
woan to sex "vith sever;}!. To\\;ard [he end ot lhe film, BinI3. is reunlted
\vIth the mdn she loves.
Sissoko's Fin::::m 3.so tJ.kS aavlnclge or rhe spect3.rors willingness
ta bugh d[ characte!"s \vho :ue mr3.11y, intellectually. or physcally
lower than himseWherseli. The film tells the StOrv oi i'ianpma, who
was marned J.[ fiiteen J.gainsr her wilL Fin:::,an begins \vich the de:1th or
Nanyuma's husband Jnd the tradirional custom of mheric:mce or \vives
by the brOthers ot the deceased. Baia, who already has twO wives,
wants ta take :\iJ.nyuma as his third. defies the village
CUSIoms dnd [uns away to the big ciry, But she finds chat when it cornes
[Q sexism, men in che Clr,/ are no different trom those iD the village. The
speCIator is first sutured into this tragicomedy by the way Ln which
BaIa is constiruted as a regressive, phallocentric characICL For spec-
tators in WTesr Arrica, Bala '5 role is recognizable from the traditional
Koteba theatet: he is a buiioorl whose trademarks embody cowardice,
jealousy, and greed. In folktales, the hyena oiten oecupies [he saffie
role. Furthermore, rhe name Baia signifies srupidity, crudeness, and
greed in Bambara (the language spoken in the SIm). The J.cting oi BaIa
iplaved bv Oumar i'iamor:r Keita, an acror irom the Koreba in .'vlall 1S
exaggerated in the film lO underscore its link WIth :hearer. Bala cannor
sleep until he gets (Diarrah Sanogo), who keeps ::-eJecring
him, He dis ru ptS everyrhing in the village ta talk about her, induding J
meeting between the village chief dn thr: district commissoner. In one
scene, he is seen singing praise songs to himseif, describing ho\v lucky
he is ( inherit Nanyuilla; in another scene he is crying as he accuses
[he who le village oi chearing him out or his righes.
On the Snous sicle, the iilm thematlzes che probiems of ."XciSlon dnd
po!ygamy, and ir posits \vomen 's emancipation as the condirion 01
progress. Sissoko models airer women characrers 5uch as
Sogolon in L'pope de SOllndiara (DJibril Tamsir Niane, 1965\ K3ni
in Salis l'orange (Seydou Badian, 195'7), and Salimara in Les soleils ,les
indpendances (Ahmadou Kourouma, 1969). Like Sagolon and Sali-
mata, she IS forced to marry men against her will and is iorcecl [Q
surrender by men holding knives. Like Kani, she seizes her right co
speak and De heard. The film follows the African feminisr discourse
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Borom SLliTet
resy of Fnd
direcred by Ousmane Sembne. Phowgraph cour-
TOllki Bouk1 (19"73), directed by Djibril Diop .\iambery. Phorograph
courtesy of Christine Delorme.
Ousmane Sembne. Photograph
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W'end K1l1mi \ 1981), direcred DV Gaston Kabor. Photograph courtes)' or
Christine Deiorme. .
La vie est belle (1986), directed by Ngangura .0i1weze and Benoir L'."\my,
Phorograph courtesy of California NeLusreel,
CWlp ,1t Thi,troye (1989), direcred b ~ ' Ousmane Sembne .lTId Thiernu
SO\\'. PhOrogLlph COUHeSy or Chrisrine Delorme.
Photograph courresy
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Fnz.w. Phowgraph courresy ot Cliifornia
NewsreeI.
Saaraba, directed by Amadou Seck. Photograph courresy of
C.:difornia Newsreef.
Z.ln Boko, direcred by Gaston KJ.bor. Phorograph courtes)' of Caiifonzia
Neu/sreel.
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152
that links soci::d 3.nd economic progn:ss \\'lth \\Cmen 's liberarion. As
Fatou SO\\" 3tJ.teS, "The marginaliz3.tion oi women has contribure [0
the btlurc of. man:; de\'dopment projecrs."- positi'JI1s rhe
tator tO idennfy wich chis poinr of vie\," ::md to accept \vomen as equ:J.l
parmers in the development of Africa.
Colonial Confrontation
The second cinematic movement in Atrica concerns films of historieal
confrontation that put inta conflict Africans and their European colo
nizers. These films have so far generated more controversy. The majot
iry ai Afrcan spectators vevif them wirh a sense oi pride and
satisfaction with a rustory finally written from an African point of view.
Sorne European spectators, on the other hand, characterize them as
polemical, poody constructed, and belonging ta the 1960s rhetoric of
violence. Between 1987 and 1989, both rhe french and the British used
the above adjectives ta shun Sarrao1lllia (lI,led Hondo, 1987), Heritage
Africa (Kwaw Ansah, 1988), and Camp de Thiaro)'e. Yet these films
were among the most popular at FESPACO '87 and fESPACO '89. The
festival's international jury awarded the 1987 Grand Prix ta Sarrao/mia
and the 1989 prize ta Heritage Alrica. With regard to Sarraotlili" and
Camp de Thiaroye, it is remarkable that the French government has
deviated from its commitment ta the production and promotion of
Airican cinema; neither film was selected for the Cannes Film festivaL
Commenting on the popular teception of Sarraa/mia in
Ouagadougou, Serge Daney stares rhat this "antcolonialisr fresco,
with a nice production budget, remains the falsely rebelled dinosaur
that was sulked by us in Paris. "8
./' These films posirion the specrators to idemify with the African
people's resistance against European colonialism and imperialisric
drives. The stories are about colonial encounters, and they oftell pit
heroes and heroines against European villai,J,s. Tht.:}' are con
.,) ditioned by the desire ta show African heroism where European his
tary only mentioned the actions of the conquerars, resistance where
the colonial version of historY silenced oppositional voices, -and the
roie of women m the armed struggle.For the filmmaker, snch historical
narratives are justified by the need to bring Ollt of.the shadows the role
played by the African people in shaping their own history. It is also the
case that (hey wam ta film a liberation struggle ta keep ir Eorever in
people's minds.
The hlstoricai narratives certainly remind the viewer of such war
L53
tpic::; as C!non:qu2s des
Hamma, 19(5) and L'opium et le baton Rachedi, 1970),
which dre baseo on J) ::,trugglt ut the A\gerldo Liberation
Fronr Bur the precursors of the genre in Atrica ,H
Elllit.,i (Ousmone Sembne, 19:'1), which deals \Vith the Diola people's
refusaI ta surrender their rice ta the French Arm\' during \V'orld War II,
and SaJilbtzanga (Sarah 1972\ which IS based on the strug-
gle of the Popular Liberation ivlovemem of .Angola (:VlPLA). Further-
more, unlike the Algerian IVar tpics that deal exclusively wirh the fNL,
the sub-Saharan historcal narratives, while they are cenrered on the
encounter between Africans and their foreign in\'aders. are nOt limited
ta contemporary wars of independence and resistance. As Ceddo
i, Ousmane Sembne, 1976) and S"rraollilia show, they also include the
represenr3.tion of resistance [0 colonialism in the nineteenth century.
AIl these films depcr \vomen coming ta a revolutionary consciousness;
chev also creare Idealized heroes for che spectatars ta model chemselves
atrer. While chey are similar ta ail war movies wich their heroes and
villains, they are unique in thar chey push the war itself into the
background and examine African cultures and their incorporation in
the characters' quesr for freedom. ln other words, they valocize Afriean
cultures in order to emphasize the dehumanizing eHect of colonization,
\vhich is intent on destroying [hem. Oral literature, religious riruals,
the African systems of thoughc, and the performance of griOts are
invoked and translormed 1ll the service of liberation struggles.
To illustrate ml' point, 1 will next examine rhe way in which the
historical encounters are narrativized in specifie films. Sarraounia cen-
ters on the historieal encoumer in ,he nineteenth century between the
French colonial troops and the .-'cznas of Niger. Based on the novel by
Abdoulaye 'vlamani trom Niger. the film depicts Sarraounia, a proud
and skillful warrior and queen of the Aznas, in conflicr with Captain
Vouler of the French colonial forces. Sarraouna 's entourage inciudes
advisors, warriors, a lover, and a griot who sings her praise and
describes her actions in war. She is an expert sorceress and a judicious
queen who crushes her enemies and remains loyal to her friends.
Sarraounia's goal is to keep her kingdom independem trom barh
European colonialism and the rvlos1em conquest that is threatening
from the East. The narrative reveais her strategies in war as she am-
bushes rhe colonial army or retreats when the situation calls for it. She
is also ct good orator who can use words ta rally her men in rhe most
difiicult momenrs and deploy slogans against slavery and shame ta
tease them inta nghting. Men and women from neighboring kingdoms
join Sarraounia atrer their own armies have surrendered to the French
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15-+
..L1d cheir people l-u_':e been nussaCLeJ. SJ.rrJoLmia has J li[E
tbat is momen(Jnly complicJd by hr dtermll1JtlOr1 to be equal LO
men.
othr films Jbou( the hsrorc::ll bt\yeel1
Europe Jnd .-\fric:l, themmizes Lhe role or ""vomen in precolonial
the existence or d dynamic African culture, :tud Lt1 import:lnce or
resistance Jgainst EOfeign inyaders. Filmed Ln CinemaScope, S(.n-
raowlid grves JeSthtic pLasure b:" showing ln WOillal1 laking
the hro position oi \;0'eStrn nlms and becommg larger i:nan lire. ln one
scene, Sdrr:J.ounia i5 shml,,':1 in confront:ltion \vith ner lover, \vho is also
one of the best w.1rriors in dIe army. Saroounia chdilen:es his ac1vice
ta lead the 3.tt3ck in one \vay and not the ' . .vay she W;lrHS. She cakes Lhat
as an opponuniry [0 remind him th;]t Sh lS the queen chJrge or the
3.rmy. ln al10ther scene, sne 15 sho\\'n 111 the middle or her Jr!ny, wnlch
has jusr rerrcatea .from (he r3.ch or cannon ire; it seems futile ta go on
fighting such J.n ul1equal battIe, and her -1rmy :s losing heart. Ir is tben
that the queen stands up and fills the screen with her height as she
speaks co her people about the importance of resistanee, the shame of
slavery, and the need ra fight for auranomy. It adds ra the aestherie of
the film [Q see this scene and many others with _"'frican spectators in
Ouagadougou or Dakar. They al'plaud Sarraounia for speaking for
them. The scene re-ereares ror them oIher resistance scenes fram the
past, sueh as the one led by Samory Tour, and in the presem. such as
the liberarion srruggles in Souchern Atrio. Toward the end, Sarraounia
is also immortalized by the song of rhe griot. As she is shown walking
ahead of long hnes of her people, [he grioI stares thar Sarraounia has
taught the Mrican people that dearh is preferable ra shame and rhat the
srruggle will continue until e'/eryone IS free.
In other scenes, rhe specrarar is told abolit Saroounia's power and
prestige by- orller characters n Ihe story. Sorne Ivloslems haIe ber
because she :eruses ta submit (0 [heir taith; others admire her because
she defies the French. The film depiers Caprain Vouler as possessed
with the ide3. of conquering Sarraounia. He is therefore characrerized
as an evil man who regresses into irrationalty 3S So.rraounia eludes him
trom barrie CO bartie. Casting Sarraounia 1I1 a brger-than-life role is
important because it shows that Afric:111 women were active in the war
againsr colonialism and rhar they are capable ot leading rhe present
struggle againsr imperialism, neocolonialism, and apanhld. In Sar-
raouni, ),tien Hondo goes beyond paying 1ip service to African
wornen's liberation [Q a radical conception of Atrican wamen as larger
rhan life, Iike male heroes such as Samor; Tour, Shaka, and Soundiara
Keita.
:1.rricm
155
\X/hile ScTlT.70lfW,i. 15 concerned r'csisunc to ;..:olorzL1ol1) Flora
Gomes's l\,Ioni! Nt!gd, winner ot the prestiglOus OUD1J.rou GJ.nda Prize:
dt '89, deJ.Is \\-ith che libeLltion strugglt in
The film i< ser be['xeen 19
7
] and 19
7
7 ,md depicrs Guinea-Bissau
durng and aIrer the \var. The Story centers around the lives of Diminga
(Bia Gomes) and her husband, Sako (Tunu Eugenio Almada). Ir opens
\vith Diminga gtting read:' to join Sako dt the \Var front. As she gOS
from barde zone ta batde zone, the camera reveals Guinea-Bissau in a
srare of ruin and desobrion. The only hope in rhe mlddle of rhis despair
cornes trom rumors that the liberation struggle will soon triumph.
Diming2's JrrivClI at rhe camp where her husband is stationed eoincides
\Vi rh the news or the assassinarion of Amilcar Cabral. This leaves
Diminga and her husband only J few minutes tO talk ro each orher
beore he has ta resume fighting ta finish off the enemy. The war ends,
bUI Sako has to remain \vith the :1rmy for a fe\\' more months. He asks
Diminga co rerum home and \Vair for him there. On her \Vay home, she
discovers a new country [hat IS learning ta live in peJee. Sako cornes
home, and now chey have (0 cope with new problems su ch as the
drought and development issues. The struggle must rherefore continue,
cven though rhe war has ended. Everything seems ta be ar a standstill
around Diminga; Sako is siek, and his sickness stems co symbolize the
counrry's morale. Ir is then [bat Diminga and other women organize a
funeral ceremony in order co question the gods and themselves abolit
the signifieance of death co the living_ The nexr moming, the magic
5eems co have worked, the sky looks like it is going co rain, and rhere is
a smile on Diminga's face.
lv[ortu nega works on one level as a love scoty. The title means "the
negation or dearh," life in detiance of dearh. Thus, Diminga's love for
Sako is paraileled in the film by the people's love for their country and
their determination ra defv dearh co free ir from the Ponuguese colo-
I11zers. The love affair with the country is shown in the \Vay in whieh the
ornera tluidly lingers on every corner of the landscape through whieh
Diminga traverses, as if ir were the most ptecious place. This affection
for the landscape is also linked to the rheme of the liberation srruggle,
whieh engages the soldiers in zones occupied by the enemy. The
soldiers are happy ever! time tbey hear on the radio or [hrough rumor
thar an atea has been liberated. Airer the war, people's love tor the
COUntry is also seen by the way rhey treat ir like a new baby in need of
care. The film takes us to hospitals and offices during Sako's illness, in
arder [Q eriticize [he complacency of people who forger rhar indepen-
dence means continuing the war on other fronts as weil: illiteracy,
drought, and corruption. Ir is in this sense that lvlortu nega, also
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156
considered by che pople oi J. E.lm OI hope. br3ks
v/iIh che rradltion Of filrns celebnte the iiberJr10n srruggle .lnd
makes ;] movemeTIr rov/3rd s,:,li-cru:ici::.rn.
On Jnocher levd. l\lon:u ik:gL1 is film abou( \\'011111 '5 li1 the
liberation suuggle, Likt the main character in Sambl'.::.anga, "\xho lem-es
her village in search oi her husodnd in the city and in the process gains
consciousness ur the liberJtion suuggle; DimingJ. ;llso learns the im-
portJnce oi solidarty "vith the rreedom nghrers rhrough her journey to
join 5ako, She kno\vs [hat Ihere hJ.s to be complete trust berween men
and \vomen if thcir hiding pbces arE ta remain from the enerny.
The l,your:d-::d) for -:x:J.illple, 1re !eft behind \Vith wnmen, and most or
the messages ::lr cransmitted br them. The story unfolds tram
Diminga's point of vie\\". It is through ner eyes char the postindepen-
dence bureaucratie stagnation dnd the complacency of the officiaIs are
revealed. She criricizes Sako's \var cornrades, who are no\v important
personalides in the government dnd proillming their own self-interesr
while people are suffering from famine, i!lireracy, and lack of health
care. Finally, in the most magical moment in the film, she organizes 3
funeral rirual with the other women to question the gods, norably
Dion Gago, who represems life and death, about the meaning of
independence now that the enemy is gone. Normally the funeral dance
is perrormed in West Africa by men, with \vomen singing and clapping
their hands or acting as spectators. In the film, however, Flora Gomes
draws on Cabra!'s notiorl of national culture, which transTorms tradi
tional rituals imo revolutionary praxis, ta bring women out of rhe
shadow. After performirlg the funeral dance, Diminga and rhe other
women come, one by one, ro demand the right ta a better life, given a!l
the lives that have been sacrificed for independence. The closeup shots
oi Diminga, as she asks the gods ta bring rain and prosperiry, make her
look defiant and radiam with power. The magic of the scene is such
thar it leaves no doubt that the gods will comply \Vith Diminga's
request. At FESPACO '89, Bia Gomes won honotable mentlon for her
pottroyal of Diminga.
. Camp de Thiaroye is another film about [he histo[ie11 contromation
berween Europe and Afriea that was popular at FESPACO '89. Set in
1944 during World War Il, the film is about Atrican iniantrfmen in the
French army who were called "les tirailleurs senegalais." These were
enlisted men from the colonies throughout Francophone Atrica who,
airer fighting the IVar against the Germans and !talians in Europe and
Atrica, \Vere massacred in Thiaroye, near Dakar, by orders of high
officiais in the French army. The viewer learns through Hashbacks,
personal narratives, and dream sequences that the war experience has
Ln.:: Atric::m niist,.=ci E1t::::1 J different or 100 king at
\yhite men. Aer sec:ing the German occupation or FrJl1ce. \vhich i5
dS;:: co rb:ir \)\\'0 .1;:, "'-:1)!onizcG subjecrs, lod J.tter nghting
Eerociu:dy to free rhey no longer see themSkes J.S second-class
citizens. -'X/hile st:u:iond :lt the soldiers begin to aSK for such
rights as compensation for their wdrtime efions, equal salary Yl/iIh
Ftench soldiers, and equal (reatment for ail soldiers. These hiscorical
eveo[:- led co the bOll1oing or Thi;l[oye 3.t the end of the film.
E',en though based on real EventS, C.7J"np de Thi"7roye 15 d careiul1y
crafred stor;.: that uses convenriol1al narrative devices such as suspense,
allusion to other historieal e,'cms, and,l()qL sounds to creare the
impression of realirv. The film won ,he Jury Specl .-"ward at the Venice
Filn1 FesIv:ll ror its masterly use or (hese cinematlc "Cechniques. The
suspense in Camp de Thiaroye concerns the fate of ,he soldiers. From
historical knowledge. ,he spectJtor alreadv knows that they 'Nill be
massacred; the question IS \vhen and how they \vi11 oic: in the stary. Ir is
here rhat Sembne's long experience as J stot;1teller pays off. He suc
ceeds in making the audience forget temporatily that the characters
will die at the end by making them idemify \Vith the historical,
cultural, and social developmem of the characrers. The soldiers' memo
ries of their villages, or marriage and death, and the cultural differences
bet\yeen the Bambara and the Bamu are depicted in arder to anchor
the characters as avetage human beings \Vith a specifie history and
culture. The use of sound is important here because it accemuates the
spectaror '5- the --cn,tr3cters-.
On one level, the use of broken French by the soldiers provides a
comic navor ta the film. This kind of French, first common among
veterans oi World War II and now in use in such capital cines as
Abidjan, makes the spectators laugh \Vith a sense of recognition every
time the speakers mtleCI the Parisian symax in arder to exp fess an
African idea. The spectators laugh at the soldiers' speech because of its
transgressive nature. Srudems in Francophone Atriea are taught [Q use
fr,mte (a rerm coined by Lopold Sdar Senghor ro mean the use oi
French logic in expressing oneself) as the means oi address. Respect Eor
French grammar is necessary in such a dimate of assimilation. Clearly
these mies, which remforce the conditions of speaking French in
Dakar, Bamako, and Ouagadougou, also restnct the number of speak
ers. By letting the soldiers violace the grammar or fr,meite, Camp de
Thiaroye cakes the French language away trom the el ire and gives it [Q
the people. As he did with Le M'lIIdat (1968), where [he actors spak
Wolof tor the first Lime in an Afrcan film, Sembne sets [he tune in
Camp de Thiaroye with the use of an Afrieanized French. The result is
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15x
a popubr film \1 ith actors <,\'ho pb) rheir \\'h J.S .1nd express
rheI11selves with darity. Sembne commits [his taboo clgJinsr Francite
more ta valorize the .'-\tricanized French) as English has been in Ango-
phone counuies, and less [0 indicate rh:.1[ Africans .lfe or
speaking the Parisian French. ln ber, speetarars or FESP.\CO '89
<lpplauded the Afrcan se:rgeanr (Ibrahim.} S;:lOe\ who is shawn in one
scene tO possess a beHeT comm::md or bmh French Jnd Englisb than the:
French eapcain.
Camp de Thim'oye Jlso appeals to audiences !TI Aitica because or the
allusions it makes ra che Black Diaspora and the similarities it cIraws
bct'xccn the condition of the Af:-ic.::m soldie::-s in the
Nazis' treJtmenr of Jews in the concentration camps. Diaspora
narrative h35 for its rheme the encounter in Dakar bet\veen J black
.\merican soldier and che .\frican sergeant. First thev fighc, the Amer-
ican accusing the Airican of stealing a U.S. army uniform. The contlict
1S reso!ved brer, as the narratIve emphasizes \vhar the [\\'0 men have in
common and wh"t chev can contribute tO each other's lives. The
Airican enlisted men, for example, are impressed co see a black soldler
treaced equally with white soldiers in the L1.S. army, and they wonder
why chey are not treated the same way in the French army. The black
American, on the other hand, is impressed by the sergeant's knowledge
of jazz, black American literature, and culture. The allusions ta the
concentration camps are narrated tram the point of view or a mute
enlisted man !.5ijiri Bakabe), who keeps having tlashbacks tO his experi-
ence in Getmany to draw an analogy between the suffering of people at
Thiaroye and chat of Jews at the hands of the Nazis. Toward the end,
wh en the tanks are coming under the French general to destroy
Thiaroye, the mute enlsred man walees everybody up, screaming and
gesturing that the Bosch are coming. But his comrades think he ls
hallucinating as usual, untl it is tao lare to t1ee.
Kwaw Ansalo"s Heritage Ati'ica is the last film to dace abour the
histOrical conftomation between Afrlca and Europe. Like Camp de
Thiaroy'e, it uses the claSSlC Hollywood narrative (0 convev ilS message.
The film is full of tbshbacks, dream sequences, and aIl' the
that are necessary ta wrn the denouement inro a climactic moment of
resolution and illumination. The stOry revolves around the life of Kwesi
Arra Bosomefi (Kofi Bucknor), whose Elevation co che post oi district
commissioner in the colonial administration causes him to repress his
African identity. Kwesi's tragedy begins in school, where he changes his
n"me to Quincy Arthur Bosomfield where he is rorced co deny or
rejeet part of his culture ror everv British value he learns. He is later
shown hicIing his mother from his friends because he is embarrassed by
\'dbgc \Yhlppmg hlS ')Ol for panicipating in a tr:J.ditional
dancc, J.nd gi\"ing ,W;3.y] "50-year-old bronze casket. the orice-
Icss :Jnd conrJiner of the spirit of his en tire lincage,"'9 ['0 the
:,-:olonial gO\"fnor, Guggiswood 1:.Per \Y,/hitbre3.dl.
L1nlike che films discussed abm'e which are tepresEmatioIlS of hisTor-
ical encountt"TS b:12>eG on rezd EVentS, Heritage Africc1 puts in ra pby the
psychologiedl history o encounters bt\Veen Arrica Jnd Europe. ln
orher \\'ords, K\\3.\'/ An5ah 15 inrerested in the hislory of the repressed
idenrty dnd (he ways in \vhich the repressed returns v,rith a vengeance.
ln Loue Brewed in the Atl'i71l Pot (1980), Ansah cririczeci a par-
cicular breed or Ghan;lian elites (judges, lawyers, and Jccountants) for
rejecting their origins.
10
In Heritage he describes how the
structures o[ alienation led the elices ta push their _\frican idemity into
the background. The Elites' pracce of denying the contribution of
African traditions in their socioeeonomic development is put into
question in one scene thar drew tears from the spectarots in FESPACO
'89. Kwesi's mother r.Aiexandra Oua) cornes tram the village ta pay
him a visit. She arrives aT his home while he IS entenalning his city
colleagues. He meecs her at the door and pushes her behind the ho use,
where he gives her a stool and tells her ta wait untiI his friends leave.
She sits down and, while waiting for him, falls asleep. This scene is
empowered bv its use of irony. The speetator knows thm K wesi is
ashamed of his mother and wants ro make her pass as one of the
servants, while she sees him as the worthy son from the village who
will carry on the family tradition. She thinks chat the ancestral casket
will be safe with him, but no sooner do es he receive iT than he delivers
ir co the colonial governor.
The narrative or Heritage A(rica equares K wess betrayal of his
mother ta the betrayal of "Mother Africa." As Franoise Kabor putS
it, "The mother represents the symbol of love and ptmection (in
Africa). Perhaps this is whv Kwesi's betrayal of the mocher country [or
the colonial power turns against him. The mother country is che
incarnarion of tradition and nmonalism."ll Thus, in a series or en-
coumers \Vith Kwame Adroma (Tommy Ebow Ansah), the freedom
fighter, Kwesi sicles with the colonizers' poinr or Vlew.
The Return to the Source
To tum now to the films dealing lVirh the theme of returning to the
source, it is first imporrant to put such a movement into perspective.
Souleymane Ciss, whose fum Yeelen is considered the oest example in
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the genre, argues thJ[ he: had to look for .1 different sc:,'le alcer m:lking
Bam'y1 and Finye, \vhicn \vere avertly polcal 3.nd didactc. As he
hin1self put it, "There \\"35 Jlso cension building J.round me because of
m:; prevous films) :lOC lr Isas dear that li l ',vanred to ln my
country and enjoy :1 degree or freedom or .XpreS:3loD) l had to lighten
things a bit, or [Q mab: a dierent type of cinema." 12
There are ::lt leasr three reasons why filmmJ.kers turn to this genre:
(1) to be less overt with ,he poEtical message in order to avoid cen-
sorship, :2i ta search for precolonial Alrican traditions thar can con-
tribute to the solution of conremporarv problems, and (3) to search for
J. nEN film langu.gc. _\0 underlying desrc behiod the making of these
types or films is ta prave the existence of adynamie African history and
culture beore the European colonization. Gaston Kabor's Wend
KHI/ni (1982), for (;.'{ample, shows the Mossi Empire in its splendor
wiIh trading centers. The film aIs a shows rhar Afriean women did not
wair for the arrivai or Europeans ta start fighring ior rheir rights. U In
L'exile (1930), Oumarou Ganda desenbes the sanctiry of the given
1 ward and the regime of truth in precolonial Africa. H Ali or these films
\ define their sryle by reexamining ancienr African tradirions, their
.I:modes of existence, and their magic.
Unlike rhe films ab our historieal conrromation rhat are conventional
on the level of form, these films are characrerized by the way the
director looks at tradirion. Ir is a look thar is intent on posiring religion
where anthropologists only see idolatry, history where they see primi-
rivism, and humanism where They see savage acts. The films are ehanl.c-
rerized by long takes with
O
naturaI sounds. Unlike convemional film 0
language, which uses close-ups co dramatize a narrative moment, the
close-ups in these llms serve ra inscribe the beauty of the charaer"rs
and their tradition. Poiming ta rheir aestherie appeal, some filmmakers
and crirics have acclaimed the remm [Q rhe source movement as the end
of amiserabilism" in Arrican CInema and che beginning or a cinema
wirh perieet images, periecr sound, and perlect editing.
15
Others, on
rhe contrary, have criticized the films for being nosulgie and extic in
their representarion of Airica. They argue thar the teturn ta the source
films are int1uenced bv rhe vision oi the European amhropologists,
whieh they seem [Q pm inta quesrion. In her excellem review or
FESPACO '39, Thrse-Marie Deifomaines deseribes Idrissa Ouedra-
ogo's Yaaba as a "simple village star;. A posteard which is magnifi-
cendv photographed. Everv shot is an aesrheric success. Yaaba provides
rhe specrator wirh an idyllic image of an Africa whien is devoid of every
material conringency."16
Ler's now look ar some of the themes in Yeelen and Yaaba as a way of
161
iiiust["J.ting the re[Urn ro [h SOUrCe' filIn:::;. ln YeeJeH Clss themacizes'
the c!assic conf1ict bel\\:een the old .Ind the l1t\V pitting Soma Diarn
(.:\'J.manro SJ.nogo). :J. member or the fe:J.ftd Bamban secret socicrr,
the homo, :J.gainst his son, (lssiaka KJ.ne), 'I\/ho must u;e
the wing of the Kore (a secret [;lblC rh<lt ta the Bambara embodies the
lTIany levels of knmv!edge) to destroy the [(omo. "{eelen's structure is
intluenced by the: oral tradition or the l\bnlk population of \Vest
'.vhich includes the Bambara, Like thar tradition's classics
L'epoPe de L dispersion des KUS(.l, and iClmb;!i, Yeeler; !
depicrs a stagnating and oppressiye system (the f.:.omo cult) 3S unac-
cep [able, and calls for a new, prosperous era. Heroes in these narratives.:
undergo J voyage of initiation where they 3.cquire the knowledge and
weapons nece5sary for important social transformation.
Thus in Yee/en, Ninankoro sojourns in Fuiadougou '. the land of rhe;
Fulah) where he leams ta fighr and, most imporrant, he hnds a wiie'
who will bear a son who symbolizes the fmure. A crucial ditference '.
between Yeelen and i,S predecessors in [he oral rradition is in Ciss's .
conception of the hero. Whereas Soundiata, vIaren Jagu, and Kambili,
represent the future as well as rhe present in their narrarives,
Ninankoro is part of [he present only in Yeelen; his son is the future:
Thus it is rhe son, not Ninankoro, who is named Nankama (desrined'.
for), a tide also used in the praise songs of Soundiata and Kambili. \
Yee/en is also concemed with the manner in whieh the camera looks
ar Afrieans and their customs. Bambara dialeerics are revealed rhrough '
vital oppositions, such as the pestle of Kamo and the wing oi Kare,
milk and water, farher and son, life and dearh, etc. Ciss also shows rhe
manner in whicn the Bambara manipulare nme. [n the film, the Kamo'
leaders have the power ta freeze time in order ta make rhe origin and ,
the end eoincide. A11 Ciss's films end as they begin, bm in 'lee/en we ,
are provided wirh a derailed description of rime in :Viande societies.
The Komo ritual, for example, is filmed from beginning to end in long
cakes wirh minimal editing. The uninterrupred shors remind the viewer
of Sembne's filming of the long sequence in the King's coun in Ceddo.
Ciss's camera, used more in an atrempt ta deseribe the "righr image"
[han to reveal a psychologieal point oi view, reeasrs the fnndamental
narrative issues of show and tell. Whar brings emotional feeling ta the
speerator in Yee/el1 is the way in whicn the film transiorms Wesrern
cinema's stereotypes inco human and complex subjeets. Ir valorizes and
humanizes Afrieans and their past systems. ln orher words, ir eievates,
rhe Komo, which is just anorher barbarie ritual in anchropological
films, ta the leve! of science. Simiiarly, an old woman (50umba Traor)
who plays Ninankoro's mother is beauriiul, rhoughrful, and resource-
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162
In \\':srn films
1
sucn 3 \voman \\"ould h..l\ looked '.\'1ch
b;ue bre8.srs and ugiy \\'\rh holes ;n 11er nose ,lnd
Like Yee!en, Ouedro.ogo's is be,-1Ucifull;: nlrncd. te b
the rriendshlP between Blla
1
;1 t\velve-Y'ar-old bo:', '..lnd Sana, :.1n OUtCJS[
old woman. Although the whole village considers Sana a wltch and
blames her tor every accident or iIlness, Bib cails her '{<.L1ua, grand-
morner En the ,\Iore 'language, which IS al 50 a Lerm of endearment. Sdna
is thus humanized through the eyes of the young bo:' who dents the:
village: tradition of st3.;.ring away fram QUtC1S[S. Ouedraogo \\Janced ta
construer a sinlple story .1r a11 levels of the film: hhn was shor on
loc3[lon nJ "from ,-1 cincmaIc ?erspec6ye; ir \ .... 35 rhis vl1LJ.ge, with al!
its peacerulness, and ever/thing around, that 1 was interesred in. All
cinema is about rhvthm. 1 could not make this film with a rhythm that
was tao fast, nor shots that were tao 50phisricared. 1 v\i;]nred the
characters, on the one hand, and the sound and the image, on the
orher, to blend harmoniously together." 1 C
The concern with simpliciry is transbted in Ouedraogo's cinema as a
necd to let images speak for (hemselves, and to deemphasize the role or
sound in narrative. Ouedraogo tested this hyporhesis in his shorter
films, Poko (1978) and Issa le Tisserand (1985), and won praise from
criti;s in Africa and Europe. But the style loses some of its strength
when appiied to his feature films. Ouedraogo has only been able to
deal with simple surface stories in borh Le choix (1987) and Ya"ba,
leaving oside complex social, political, and historical issues. In Le
choix, ror example, the ciry and modernization are constructed as evil,
while nature is benevolent. Thus people can easily solve their problems
wlth famine and the humiliation of international aid by uprooring
themsdves and moving co a region or th country where there is wateL
There are no villains in Y,,,,ba, unlike Yee/en, which puts into
morion rhe conBicI farher and son that threatens relations
established by kinship rules. The overriding philosophy in the film is
"'Ne jugez-p3s les autres, ils ont leur raison '1 (Let':) not judge others,
thV have their Qwn reasonsj. With this bourgeois humanist conception
of ;olerance, which is imporred from the big ciry, the film asks the
spectarar's sympathy not only for Sana who is an ourcast but also ror a
drunbrd and for adulrerers within the tight social relations of the
village.
Ouedraogo 's films are popular in Ouagadougou, where he is rrom,
and with critics, which forces one ta respect him as an artist and ta
think thar his simple style reveals more than is discussed here. Yaaba
won the People's Award of Ouagadougou and was selected tor screen-
163
In: .lnG --Quinz:l.lne dS realisJreurs" CJ.Jl.Dt'$. P::rhaps l.:h Giries
toda;: preter Ouedraogo 's potrr}', his construction ot Cl wodd v":iLhou[
cDnflct: films that put into question EUrOpl:dll fic\.)-
.and the AfriC:H1 dictatorial regimes. Ouedraogo :woids
senous contltcts in his construction of the srory or Sana, \vho resembles
the mother in Kabor's \'/end Klllmi. But while Kabor only devotes _
che nrst five minuces of his film ta il and uses the rest co the :'
rlared issues or sexisffi, \\"omen 's liberation, and ocher social
.Ouedraogo spends the en tire film trying ta humanize SJna. Hr phys- :'
!cal appearance also brings to mind the mother in Yee!el1, and she dies i
at the end without alerring the spectator ro rhe plighr of other outcast .
women like her. Her history as a particular type of ,\frican woman is
made transparent while ,he spectator thinks of her as Bila '5 triend.
Ouedraogo's laSt film, Tilai (1990), is in ml' opinion his best film to
date. The direcrar's poetic style is supported here with a complex story
that concems the foundarions of kinship systems in the More tradition.
The moment of change, whieh is themarized in most African films as
the transition trom [raditlon to moderniry, becomes in Tilai the driving
iorce of the narrative. At rhe beginning of the film, Saga returns from a
journey onll' rD find out that his own rather has married Nogma, his
fiance. When Saga retums to his village, he blows rhree rimes inro a
horn. This ritual is supposed to restore him in the village tradition.
lronically, his remrn to the village is not the tradition al remm of a hero
who gets the princess as reward; the arder of things has changed; his
old fiance is now his stepmocher, and any acternpt On his part co reruse
this realiry would amount to breaking the rules oi kinship. Tradition
thus sides with the father, who LeHs Saga rhat he will forgive him for
what took place between him and his tormer fiance if Saga makes the
first move in that direction.
Saga decides instead to leave the village and see Nogma in secret.
Wh en the village finds our, the punishmenr is death for Saga, and his
O\vn brocher, Kougri, must carry it out. The viewer of the film realizes
ae chis moment that for this lv[ore village, adultery is a worse crime
than fratricide. Kougri lets his brother escape with the promise that he
will never return agan. Nogma also escapes and joins Saga in anmher
village, where they get married. Unfortunarely for them, Saga hears the
news thar his mother is dying and he comes back to See her. Ar the edge
of the village he sounds his horn three rimes, and the people in (he
village, ta king him at first for a ghost, run away. When rhev find our
that he is alive, his racher bans Kougri trom the village. Frustrad,
Kougri picks up a ritle and kills Saga.
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Ti/,li, iik;.:: 'lee/en and CedLlo, des"::::-lOe.3 :he ITiOmlr ot chdng by
siding \\'ith che: youngr genermion tr2.diLion .. --\[ the nd of the:
film, when Kougri \va.lks :w,:ay irom the l:dlag) il is dear rn:.:U che
t:radltional regime or rrurh been candemnc:J. lt hJ::, ben aceused of
abusing cb: praGiee of polygamy and of being tao dogmatic to\V3rd the
yourh. Ouedraogo 's philosophic.d \i"\,5, JS seen in Le choix Jnd
Yaava, 2re apparent here, (00. The norion in Yc7..1ba or '0ie juger pas
les J.utres, ils onE leurs raisons," a sart or French liberalism, is deployed
in Tilai as a philosopnv oi rolerating orhers \Vith their desires lnd
\veaknesses. Saga, for xample, knows th,lr Nagma has had an 3.ffair
with an Othe!" rn2n. But ht' is n0t consumed with the dt"sire for total
loye. For Ouedroogo, sueh an essemialism, \Vith its need to completelv
possess rhe abjects oi desire, is at the root of the destruction ai
tradition,
ln the wav he suspends any type of strang Judgmem in his films,
Ouedraogo 15 parr or a young generation or writers .1od tlmmakers in
Airica who take a postmodem attitude toward calonialism and na-
tionalism. He is against the "srrong thought" and che assigning ai the
blame on one side. Tilai is like a western with an antihero in search ai a
utopian society. Saga is happy in his aum's village, where he and
Nogma can love each other fteely. Thus the aum's village is
Ouedraogo's ideal community and one that he tries tO delineate in his
films.
Tilai is a150 postmodern in its nostalgie gesture toward "primitive
cinema" and the Oedipus drama. At the end ai the film, the poetic way
in which Kougri picks up the rifle and shoots Saga brings tOgelher film
history and the Airican oral traditions. Because the camera is statie and
the acting looks clumsy, the shot reminds us of carly CInema. But the
distance between the charaeters and the spectator, the refusaI to let the
spectaror into the characters' minds, is also a [rait of the oral cr;J.di-
tions. We know that we are being tOld a stoty by a third person ',the
griot or the filmmaker), and every shot must be negotiared through that
narrator. The end of Ti/ai, like the king's court in Ceddo and the Komo
scene in Yee!en, lifts Airican cinema to a new dimension of cinematle
pleasure and magic. The camera, in each ai these scenes, obeys the
mise-en-scne of the oral tradition.
In conclusion, what can one say about these typologies in Airican
cinema) Taken as a whole it is dear that they teHect Airiea in its que st
fot social and economic justice (social realist), identity (retum to [he
source), and histoty (confrontation). Given the importance of eaeh oi
the:.,e c3regO[leS, ir counrerproducci
'
.: c(; l/;ok Je [otm 2:1d L'OSE
it as the CLilrion tor Jeveloped cinema. Thus it s simplistic single
:)Ul" '{c2ie:: TiL::', for eXJ.mple, J.S che ne\\' dircon in AfricHl ..::incr;u.
,1nd tO jUdg (J[her f-ilm:'1 by their Jffiniries L chis film. To
con"'ince specr;ltors of the probabiliry of his 5torY1 Ciss finds ir neces-
(0 use: beautiful images tO COunrc[ the )[reot;.'picJ.! LtT1:lges of .
_--\tn(3. consuucteu by Hollyvvood and \Vesrn hlsrory. One important
task tor a return [Q the source hInl IS therefore to chJlleEge \''"esrern
l:nema 0n the leve1 ot form. Yeelen derines irs own by deem-
phaslzing the psychologicaily based shot/reverse shot and close-uDs or i
\X'esrern cinem:l, and by v2.lorizlng long shots lnd long takes, \v:hich
through chelt "nacur31" teel are desrined to describe characrers'
relarionships ta each other dnd L time and space. In comparison tO
films like Yeeien and Ceddo, Wesrern cinema seems CO make verY little ,
use oi space and time to dehne its choracters. The long viev,:s that;
rerurn-to-the-surce films use enable them co reveal the rituals under i
the Baobab the secret sp<-lces in the roams, man and woman's .
relation ta tlme, land, \varer, dnd sky. ln most Western films, this "long:
perspective" ai things disappears, and in its place are establishing shors
and close-ups taken Out of comext. Anorhet challenge iacing retum-to-
the-source filmmakers is to be able to construet narratives that do not
fall imo the [rap oi primitivism and simplemindedness as projected
omo _-\tneans by Eurocentric historians.
Unlike the return-to-the-source tendeney, the other two types of
narratves define their Atricanness within dominant cinematic torms.
They borrow Just as much from Hollywood as they do from auteurist
European and Third v?orJd cinema. For e.xamp!e, rhe SOCi3] re2Iist
movement, opting [or a populist cinema, exposes contemporary prob-
lems through dominant narrative iorms, as weil as through popular
Afncan narrative forms, and urilizes stars [yom music 3.od thearer.
Bec3use chey 3re under less ,:onstraint to invent a film bnguage Ihat ls
unique t the filmmakers use whatever form thev nd suit30le
to che comems. ln Yoruba (Nigeria) popular tiims. ta; the
camera is always fixed on the papular reminding rhe film srucient
or che e3rly beginnings or cinema. Bur che static camera do es not make
the rearures, with popubr stars sucll as Baba Sala and Chier Ogunde,
less popular with spectators who are nonetheless sophisticated ad.
mirers of the latest James Bond film, Close Euca/mlers ol the Third
Kind, and lndian melodramas.
JUSt as ir is misleading ta ietishize farm ior the purpose ai debunking
sorne films, it is also dangerous to impute quality ta a parricular
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16h
bClUse il lS more re::llisr,: thJ.11 otb:rs or because it is c11e only dvanI-
garde: film in cinem:l. Thj,') book has tned to evaluare t-ilms by
dssssing cbeir ,:oherenc lD the particulac- discours the:: choose tO
deploy. Ir is hoped rhor bv delineming difierenc cendencies rhe reader
has been re:1sed to engage in a dialogue about the dversity of move-
ments in (inem;}.
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...L
Th/rd Cinema .md the
UlvE Research Press, 1982'1.
."\.'0 tes 132-160
or Thlfcl Cmema, j'e G:lbriel Teshorne,
The Aesthetic5 0/ LiberJ!ion (Ann :\rbor:
5. EI.Houdja!J!d '',:-\lgiers\ 16, 19S5.
6. Quored ln 5Idway.7, no. 217.
X, African Cinema Toda;:
1. See Laurence Gavron, et sa 'grand-mre'
Liberation i2, 1989): 35: "\Vhen \':ith the problems
tion and one must take nro aCCOUrIt the Experiences of other
couDrries and mher film indU5tries, Rur the tendency here i5 to proceed as if \ve
\ve still in the sixties; r.:o (oorinue to magnify thmgs that no longer need to be
magmned; :md we forger that the struggle is hard and that W have manr
shortcomings, 'i'f/e ghettoze ourselves in a miserable position of inierioriry. Ir Is
a sign or marunry thar, this l'ear, a look at the films at FESPACO, good or bad,
reveals :1 diversity or styles and J. sense or professionalism in the production"
(my translatIon).
2. Unpublished interviews with :vied Hondo (l\larch 1989, in Dakar), and
Cheick Oumar Sissoko Civlarch 1989, in Ouagadougou) by the aurhor,
3. See ivianthia Diawara and Elizabeth Robinson, "New Perspectives in
A.frican Cinema: An Interview \virh Cheick Oumar Sissoko," in Film Quar ...
rer/y 41, no_ 2 (1987188): 43-48_
4. Sapeur reters to a new generaton or fashion conscious yourh in Zaire,
Cdmeroon, and Gabon. They take pride in wearng the ma St expensive clothes
and shoes, and para ding on the sidewalks of the capital cities.
5. Fatou Sow, "Senegal: The Decade and Irs Consequences," rrans, Anne
C. Rennick and Catherine Boone, in Issue: A. Journal o( Opinion 1 i, no. 2
(Summer 1989): 32-
6. Ldji Bellow, "Cinma: Le srail en folie," in Jeune A(rique, no. 1-473
(lvfarch 29, 1989): 57 (ml" translation),
i. FatOu 50w, "Senegal: The Decade and Irs Consequences," 35.
S. Serge Daney, Ouaglais," in Libration (}Vlarch 8/9) 1987):
30 (my translation).
9, Kati Anyidoho, "Heritage Africa," in Uhuru (Feb. 1989): 6.
10. See my essay "Film in Anglophone Arrica: A Brier Survey," in Black
(rames: Criticai Perspectives on Black 11ldependent Cinema, d. ?vibye B.
Cham and Claire Andr3.de-\X1atkins (Cambridge: Celebr:uion of Black Cinema/
MIT Press, 1988),37-49_
11. Franoise Kabor, "Heritage Africa: Rupture avec la parrie," in Sid-
waya, no. 1223 (l'vIarch 1, 1989): 4 i)ny translation).
12. lvbmhia Dawara, "Souleymane Ciss's Lrght on Africa," in Black Film
Review 4, no,'; (1988): 13_
13, See my essay "Oral Lirerature and A.frican Film: Narratology in \vend
Kuuni," in Prsence Africaine, no. 142 (1987): 36-49; reprinted in Questions
of Third Cinem", ed, Jim Pines and Paul Willemen (London: British Film
Institute, 1989),
14_ See Franoise Pfaf!, "Oumarou Ganda," in her Twellty-Five Black Af-
ric,:m Filmn-takers 1:\'V'esrport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1988), 131,
177
15. Sec Lmrtnce Gavron, e,: 5c1 'grJnd ... merc' L-I':\[nque, , 35,
See aLo Serge 'Cin ... bdaD
16, Thse ... ll,'brie DdiontJ.ines, lIe [estival de Ouagadougou: Toutes
tes de t'Afrique,'" in Le monde! (l\lJrch 16, 1989j: 22 lm'; traTIsbtioo',.
GaHon, '"Ouedraogo et sa 'grand ... me' 35.
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