Togo - West Africa - page 877

Cinema
West Africa rarely makes an appearance in cinemas beyond the region - Blood Diamond,
set (but not filmed) in 1990s Sierra Leone, is a rare exception - and most West African
films can be difficult for travellers to track down. But, despite limited resources, West
African film is high quality, a regular presence at the world's best film festivals and has, for
decades, been quietly gathering plaudits from critics. West Africa also has a respected film
festival of its own, Fespaco, which takes place biannually in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso
and has placed quality film-making at the centre of modern West African cultural life.
The 1970s was the zenith of African filmmaking, and many films from this era still in-
spire the new generation of directors working today. From the 1980s onwards, however,
directors have found it increasingly difficult to find the necessary finance, production facil-
ities and - most crucially - distribution that would give West African directors the wider
recognition they deserve.
A handful of themes resonate through postcolonial West African cinema: the exploitation
of the masses by colonialists; corrupt and inefficient independent governments; the clash
between tradition and modernity; and traditional African values (usually in a rural setting)
portrayed as suffering from Western cultural influence. As such, the region's films act as a
mirror to West African society and history.
Other West African films to look out for include Dakan , by Mohamed Camara of
Guinea, which uses homosexuality to challenge prevailing social and religious taboos;
Clando , by Cameroonian director Jean-Marie Teno, which depicts Africans choosing
between fighting corrupt regimes at home and seeking a better life in Europe; and The Blue
Eyes of Yonta , by Flora Gomes, one of few feature films ever made in Guinea-Bissau - it
captures the disillusionment of young Africans who've grown up in the post-independence
era.
The international availability of works by African novelists owes much to the Heinemann African Writers
Series, which publishes 273 novels that would otherwise be out of print or hard to find.
Senegal, Mali & Burkina Faso
West African film is dominated by Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007) from Senegal was arguably West Africa's best-known
director. His body of work includes Borom Sarret (1963), the first commercial film to be
made in post-independence Africa, Xala , Camp Thiaroye and the critically acclaimed
Moolade .