21F 853 African Cinemas
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Spring semester 1996
Tues 7-9:30/14N-225 (class)
Thur 7-9:00/14E-310 (screenings)
Professor Martin Roberts
Office hrs: Tues 4-6/14N-421
This course focuses on the cinemas of sub-Saharan Africa from the 1930s
to the present, with emphasis on West-African Francophone countries and the
post-independence period (1960-present). Topics discussed include: political
economy of film production and distribution in Africa; history of African film
institutions (FEPACI, FESPACO); aesthetic politics and the question of whether
there is (or should be) a distinctly African film language; oral narrative and
literature; major themes (tradition/modernity, colonial encounters, the return
to sources); relationship of African cinemas to the notion of "Third Cinema,"
and to other Black (British, African-American) cinemas; African film today.
mroberts@mit.edu
Last modified 16 February 1996