Resolution on the Pan-African Film Festival of Ougadougou (FESPACO)

Black Camera ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 455

Subject Jihadi threats in Burkina Faso. Significance After excessive delays in responding forcefully to jihadi militants, the Burkinabe government is strengthening its military presence in the most vulnerable provinces along the northern border with Mali and Niger. The decision in early 2017 to adopt a more offensive posture was prompted in part by the emergence of Burkina Faso’s first domestic extremist group, Ansarul Islam. However, local communities’ fear of the jihadists and skepticism towards the authorities will make it imperative for the government to win both their confidence and active collaboration. Impacts The terrorism threat will hasten specialist army training and armaments to operate against small, mobile opponents. Demands for an emergency development programme for the north will gain momentum across the political spectrum. The recent successful hosting of the FESPACO pan-African film festival could prompt a boost in tourism numbers, if attacks are contained.


2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Aboubakar Sanogo

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Pan African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), Aboubakar Sanogo presents a sweeping survey of the festival's history, influence, and future directions. He notes the festival's function as a home for African filmmakers and cinema, as a space for cultural encounters, as a library and archive of debates on African cinema, and as a barometer of health or lack thereof of the various national film industries on the continent. After reviewing this year's selection of films, which reflect ever-present concerns over memory, the geopolitical, and the effects of powerful external forces, Sanogo concludes that FESPACO faces formidable challenges to its self-renewal, including its mandate to define the values of African cinema and present them to the world.


Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha

INTRODUCTIONThe name, Manie van Rensburg, is virtually unknown in Europe and the United States of America. Recently, some of his work was screened at a South African film festival in Amsterdam at the Kriterion cinema and I had the honour to present a lecture there on 7 October 1995 regarding Van Rensburg and his presence in the cinema. His film work was also highlighted in a small retrospective during October 1996 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. IT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME a Van Rensburg film was screened outside the borders of South Africa. During the 1980s Van Rensburg received an International Film Festival of New York award for his historical TV drama series, Heroes, and a Merit Award from the London Film Festival was given to him for his filmed play, The Native who Caused all the Trouble. His mammoth production, The Fourth...


Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha

The following is an excerpt from a larger manuscript HOMOSEXUALITY AND AFRICAN CINEMA, a co-operative effort of Dr Botha (CityVarsity, Film & Television and Multimedia School in Cape Town, South Africa) and Professor Dethier and Dr. Willemse at the Free University of Brussels. IN A GLITTERING ceremony at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival a full-length South African film, The Man Who Drove With Mandela won the Documentary Teddy Prize. It was rewarded for its unique contribution to gay and lesbian history and for bringing forward a challenging and politically engaging subject. The Man Who Drove With Mandela was directed by Greta Schiller and researched by the co-writer of the outstanding compilation on South African lesbian and gay lives, Defiant Desire, namely Mark Gevisser. No other film in South African history chronicled the lives of lesbian and gays in the way Gevisser's documentary has done(1). It is a...


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