AFRICA

Andy Amenechi is a filmmaker from Nigeria, who has over 30 years of experience in television, film and radio production

 

Below is a clip from “Passionate Appeal” a Nigeriana film released in 2006, directed by Andy Amenechi.  Passionate Appeal was my first time viewing an African movie.  What an awakening!!!

 

Seeing Africans living in fancy homes, with servants and enjoying the comforts of modern living was eye opening for me.  This movie destroyed many of the deeply planted myths regarding Africa.

 

 

Conversely, this clip is from “Jungle Jitters”  This is an example of the cartoons that I watched as a child  These cartoons Introduced me to Africa and African people.

 

 

Now as an adult, I realize these racist cartoon stereotypes of Africans were not very different from the ones I watched. which featured African Americans (i.e., facial featured especially lips and eyes were extraordinarily large and exaggerated, singing and dancing were many times tied to every aspect of life and living). In this clip Africans from the continent are the main characters, their ancestral clothing and their way of life were made fun of and were modified to be a source of amusement.  Most significantly Africans ancestral clothing and ways of living were used to demean Africans and create a negative “uncivilized” narrative of the African way of life. 

 

This brief  clip from “Tarzan The Ape Man“ is another example of the kind of images of Africa I was exposed to through film as a child.

 

Looking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember watching Johnny Weissmuller, who was the actor who
played Tarzan and seeing him subdue large groups of Africans, single handedly. My innocent mind did not
understand all of the implications of what I was seeing on film.  I had no idea that these negative images were affecting my mind and my worldview, especially my impressions of Africa and the ancient and diverse people of the African continent. 

 

It is so inspiring to see how the African movie industry is thriving.  This clip from “Blood Sisters” really demonstrates how movie making on the continent is keeping pace with the filmmaking worldwide.