"African women in the cinema" is not a monolithic entity. Ngozi Onwurah even asserts that there needs to be mo
505 19 58MB
English Pages 400 [418] Year 2000
isters
Women on
Film. Video
of Africa
and Television
Beti Ellerson
£
Sisters of the Screen
Sisters of the Screen
Women of Africa on Film, Video, and Television
Beti Ellerson
Africa World Press, Inc. P.O. Box 1892 I
renton,
N) 08607
P.O. Box 48
Asmara, ERITREA
Africa World Press, Inc. P.O. Box 48
P.O. Box 1892 Trenton, NJ
Asmara, ERITREA
08607
Copyright
©
2000 Bed Ellerson
First printing
2000
All rights reserved.
No
part of this publication
may be reproduced,
stored in a
system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechaniphotocopying, recording or odierwise widiout the prior written permission ot
retrieval cal,
die publisher.
Book
design:
Wanjiku Ngugi
Cover design: Jonadian Gullery
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sisters
of die screen
linterviewed] by p.
women
Bed
Ellerson
p.
0-86.543-712-2.
- ISBN 0-86543-713-0
Women in die modon
1.
3.
and directors— Africa— Interviews. and directors- Africa-Interviews. 1
995.9. W6S47
791 ,4’082’-096~dc21
(pbk.)
picture industry-Africa.
television broadcasting-- Africa.
BN
& television
of Alrica on film, video,
cm.
Filmography:
ISBN
:
2.
Women
in
Women motion picutre producers 4. Women television producers I.
Ellerson, Bed.
1998
98-44144
CIP
CONTENTS Acknowledgements Foreword Preface and Methodology Introduction
Aissatou
Adamou
Niger -Director Shirikiana Aina
USA -Di recto r/Producer Chantal Bagilishya
Rwanda -Producer Marie-Clenience Blanc-Paes
...
Madagascar -Producer Mahen Sophia
Bonetti
Sierra Leone-Festival Organizer
Maiinouna Helene Diarra Mali -Actor M’Bissine Therese Diop Senega l-Actor
Alexandra Duah
Ghana -Actor Anne-Laure holly Togo-Director
Lucy Gebre-Egziabher
E th wpia -Direct o r Valerie Kabore
Burkina Faso-Director
1
25
Wajuhi Kaniau
133
Kenya-Director
Ai Keita-Yara Burkina Faso -A dor
14,3
Wanjiru Kinyanjui
14
Kenya-Diredor
Amssatou Maiga
159
Burkina Faso-Ador
Sarah Maldoror Guadeloupe /A ngo la -Di red 0 r
Oumema Mamadali
l
1
g5
'
1
Co mo ros-Di redo r
Salem Mekuria
1~ 7
E th wp a -Di recto r 1
Zanele
Mthembu
183
South Africa -Direct or
Thembi Mtshali
193
South Africa-A dor
Catherine
Wangui Muigai
205
Kenya -Prod ucer
Fanta Regina Nacro
21
Bu rkina Faso-Di redo r Ngozi Onwurah
22
Nigeria -Di recto r
Franceline
Oubda
231
Burkina Faso -1 director
Aminata Ouedraogo Burkina Faso-I director
239
25
Fran^oise PfafT
1
Guadeloupe/France-Film Scholar
26 7
Monique Phoba Democratic Republic of the Congo -Director
275
Gloria Rolando
Cuba -Direct or 29
Naky Sy Savane
1
Ivory Coast-Actor
Cilia
295
Sawadogo
B u rkin a
Faso -D? rector
Masepeke Sekhukhuni South Africa-Diredor
Wabei Siyolwe Zambia-L )? rector/Producer
Najwa
529
Tlili
7 'u nisia-Di recto r
Prudence Urin
Zim ba Irwe-D red o r ?
Zara Mahainat Yacoub Chad-Director
Florentine
Yameogo
...
Burkina Faso-Diredor
Summary
559
Filmography
56
1
58
1
Bibliography
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I
would
screen
who
voices but
my
express
like to
sincere appreciation first to those sisters of the
are included in the collection, as well as those
whom
from
conversations
in this
I
was not able
volume; those
but for various reasons
their
to secure permission to use their
who
we were not
who gave
agreed to be
able to
make
it
a part of the project,
happen, as well as the
other sisters of the screen everywhere who have, by the act of making, thinking about, writing about images, contributed to my in-
many
many,
would also like to and evolution m this project. note the true sense of commitment and sisterhood that so many of the women showed as they spread the word about this project and made conterests, ideas, thoughts,
tacts
1
with other women.
would like to acknowledge the Center for the Study of ( ulture and Development in Africa (1994-1997), housed m the African Studies Department at Howard University, and its Program Director, Mbye Cham. I would also like to thank Mbye for his support and also for believing in I
this project.
As
a recipient of
ministered by the Center,
I
a Rockefeller
was able
Humanities fellowship, ad-
to realize a significant part of
this
project during the 1996-97 fellowship year.
Grateful acknowledgement tions that gave
me
information: the
is
hereby tendered to the
access to their collections or provided
many
me
institu-
with helpful
Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard
l
niver-
(Washington, DC); Audecam (Paris); Atria (Pans) with a very special thanks to Andree Davanture, Annabel 1 homas and C laude le Gallou; Amina Magazine (Paris) especially acknowledging Assiatou Bah Diallo; FEPACI (Ouagadougou), a special thanks to Gaston Kabore; Ecrans d’Afnque, a thank you to Clement Tapsoba (Ouagadougou) and Alessandra
sity
Speciale (Milan);
FESPACO
(Ouagadougou) thanks
to
Regine Yoda; and
Zimmedia (Zimbabwe).
A sincere thanks goes
to
my
friends and colleagues
who
assisted
me
in
editing and proofreading the text: Lisa Fanning-Diene, Glenda Johnson,
Ruth Rhone and Maria Roof I would also like to acknowledge the many people, too numerous to mention all by name, who as-
Yvonne sisted
Poser,
me
in
contacting the “sisters”
who
I
needed to get
secure permission to use their conversations
in
in
touch with to
the book. Although
I
was
Sisters of the Screen
not able to contact or secure permission from some,
I
sincerely appreciate
many who assisted me m the search; would like particular, Isaac Mabhikwa of the Southern African F dm
the tireless effort of so to mention, in
I
Festival.
Special thanks to Robert R. Edgar, Professor in the African Studies
Department at Howard University, and a friend and colleague. I thank Bob for his inspiration, patience, and thoughtfulness as well as his inv aluable experience, which he offered throughout. Other friends and colleagues who have been supportive and encouraging are Mtembezi Inniss,
Mueni Muiu, Guy Martin, and Susan Andrade would also like to thank Africa World Press I
Checole,
who
believed in this project and
who was
publisher,
Kassahun
the catalyst to
its
be-
ing conceived as a written work.
must mention the Ellerson family, my mother Vera, my all of whom watched excerpts sister Audrey, and my brother Anthony of the filmed version of this project and gave lively and enthusiastic comments and who are now anxiously waiting to read the book. I must also I
definitely
—
my niece, Tracey, who has been an avid cheerleader. am indebted to my partner Christophe Poulenc, without whom this project would not have been possible. He has been a constant companion add
I
throughout
this effort.
Initially
conceived as a documentary project,
in
most of the conversations were filmed by Christophe, in Ouagadougou, Montreal, Washington, DC, and Paris. As took on the task of translating the conversations from the capacity of director of photography
(etc.),
I
French, which constituted more than tience, listened to the audiotapes
half,
Christophe, with infinite pa-
and proofread the translated copy.
FOREWORD most welcome development in the short lo date, scholhistory of studies on African cinema and screen practices, cinema and video arship, criticism and general commentaries on African
The publication
of this
book
is
a
and, among have focussed disproportionately on the films made by men women in these other topics, the various roles, images and portraitures of lament about works. Reasons advanced for this slant include the perennial women in Afnca, the general absence of women filmmakers and films by Bella, few, with the exception of pioneers like Safi faye and herese Sita absence to however, have bothered to probe beneath the surface of this factors which explore, explain and interrogate the complex of reasons and task and a account for this absence. Even fewer have actually made it a as well as priority to lookfor these female filmmakers and videographers, African cinother modes of female presence and practice in the arena of seminal ema and visual media. Sisters of the Screen accomplishes these two tasks. Enough of the cry and whining about absence. absence 01 disapPresence, albeit emergent, however, does not spell 1
responsible pearance of the structures, practices and factors that are screen practitioners the continuing imbalance between male and female that Beti hllerson s questions in Africa. The responses and commentaries actresses, and queries elicit from the female filmmakers, videographers, foi
out and followed producers, writers, and film scholars whom she sought over time, testify to the staying in numerous places in three continents reveal power of these structures and practices. More significantly, they challenges and need African female will and agency, for they speak to the that want to inhibit or retaid to dismantle those structures and practices women in all aspects of African a more forceful and equitable presence of
cinema, media and society, in general. creative process for women Sisters of the Screen is a statement about the How and why African screen artists in Africa, as well as the Diaspora. tradiwomen screen artists create and work, their challenges, difficulties, background, their aspirations and numerous other tional restrictions, their
experiences in domains— factors covering a wide spectrum of women’s these constitute the usually figured as male artistic as well as social
—
assembles thread that runs through the conversations Ellerson
in this
Sisters of the Screen
ground-breaking anthology. Equally pronounced in this anthology is the range of subject matter and concerns of the work of African female screen artists
and practitioners, their conflation of the personal and the
and the place of their work Fhe
women
presented
in
public,
African cinema and media, in general.
in Sisters
of
the Screen illustrate the
range and
variety of female involvement and practices in African cinema and visual
media.
The anthology
is
a bold assertion of
presence and significance
in
the midst of laments of absence. Sisters of the Screen is a significant contribution to more wholesome and better descriptions and understandings of
African screen practices.
— Mbye Cham Washington, June
xn
2,
DC
1999
Preface and Methodology emerged out of my research on African women m visual culture, my desire to find a paradigm for reading images of and by Af rican women, and my own work in videography and as a performance Sisters of the Screen
undertook this project on a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship during the 1996-97 academic year at the Center for the Study of C ulture and Development in Africa administered by the African Studies Depart-
artist.
ment
I
at
Howard
As
University.
my
a fellow,
objective
was
to
make
a
inventory of the works, thoughts, and practices of African women the various areas of the cinema and present it m the form of a documen-
critical in
tary.
Nineteen ninety-seven proved to be an exceptional year for encounhree events took place where tering African women in the cinema. 1
thirty-four of forty-one interviews were conducted.
FESPACO
'\
he 15 th edition of
(Pan-African Festival of Cinema and Television of
Ouagadougou) presented the highest entry ever of films of all categories by women. There was the rare appearance of Safi faye (Senegal), who hough Isitsi Dangarembga (Zimpresented her feature film Mossane. babwe) was not present, her debut film Everyone’s Child, was screened. A week after the closing of FESPACO, a film screening of works by women, 1
developpement/Women’s f ilms for Development, was held in Ouagadougou on March 8th and 9th in commemoration of the International Day of the Woman. (A commemorative event is held every year.) This event provided another occasion to meet women
Films de femmes pour
whom
I
had not encountered during the actual
films that to
le
were not part of the
meet some
of
FESPACO
the filmmakers
festival, as well as view'
screenings.
who were
still in
It
also allowed
me
Ouagadougou within
another context. Less than tw o months later, the 1997 African Literature Association Conference, hosted by Michigan State University at East Lansing, Michigan, devoted its entire platform to African cinema. Dangarembga was the keynote speaker of the Women s C aucus Luncheon. Also
at the
(Ethiopia)
conference were Ngozi
who spoke on
the
ALA
Onwurah (Nigeria) and Salem Mekuria panel
“Women and Cinema” which was
M’mbugu-Schelling (Tanzania) w ho was not present. Another highlight of the conference was the screening of Assia Djebar’s also to include Flora
Sisters of the Screen
1978
La Nouba des Femmes dn Mont Chenoua and her passionate disof how the film was made and the response to it at that time.
film,
cussion
,
Diasporan filmmaker Gloria Rolando (C uba), who had previously toured the United States with her films in 1996 talked about her film Oggun ,
during the discussion after the screening. While many of the women who attended the 1997 Vues d’Afrique were also present at FESPACO, there were several that only attended the Montreal festival. The same year, the Paris-based cinema house Images d’Ailleurs organized a film forum titled “Cri du coeur des femmes” at which many of the films that were viewed at other festivals throughout the year were also screened. Also, during 1997 the book With Open Eyes: ,
Women and African
Cinema edited by Kenneth Harrow, was published. In addition, in 1998 the Festival international de film de femmes/International Women s Film Festival at Creteil had an impressive platform devoted to women of Africa. These various events give evidence of the growing interest and ,
,
of African
visibility
women
in
the cinema.
During the fellowship year 1996 - 97 while talking with Kassahun was working on a Checole, I mentioned that as my fellowship project documentary on African women in the cinema and that I had already filmed conversations with more than twenty women and was hoping to have as many as forty. Kassahun suggested that it would be a great idea ,
I
to publish these conversations, since a collection of voices of African in
about the project and he told
of
We
the cinema was in itself an original idea.
me
in
depth
The book
Sisters
talked
send him a proposal.
to
more
women
was conceived.
the Screen
As the material for the documentary became larger, and the footage grew into hours and hours, began to worry about how would be able to I
I
present
all
the wonderful and important information that the
revealing.
thought that perhaps
I
120 minutes,
somehow
I
in
addition to an
include the
more than 20 hours of
conversations.
possibility of having the conversations
lection,
I
of
90
to
to have their say, to
When
there
compiled as a written col-
would be an ideal way of allowing allow them to speak for themselves and
realized immediately that
women
work
could later do several volumes presented thematically to
was the the
initial
women were
it
elaborate their experiences. I
feel
very important to present the conversations
it is
format so that the reader may follow the context made. In some cases, the thoughts;
other cases
in
xiv
While
I
an interview
which the points were
women wanted specific questions to guide their the women took the lead and revealed things would never have dared to wanted to ask in order to get
about themselves and their experiences that ask.
in
in
had certain questions that
I
I
Preface and Methodologt
—
from as many women as possible regarding, for instance, and the notion of a women’s sensibility, attitudes about African women was careful not to impose a femithe image, women organizing, etc. nist agenda,” but rather to elicit an African woman’s perspective.
certain views
—
I
Methodologically, there have been certain adjustments that ha\e had wntten to be made since the project was not originally conceived as a collection of conversations. Since the original goal
was
to edit the
women
s
documentary, questions were posed differently than they would have been during a face-to-face, audiotaped he piesence of a conversation or other non-visual interview methods. was both camera and cameraperson, or in the few instances when hile a cameraperson and interviewer, presented a different dynamic.
voices together as a conversation
in a
1
I
W
the absence of a camera could take place in an isolated, auexclusive setting, the filmed interview required special lighting and filming. dio, as well as specific locations conducive to the requirements for
conversation
When
in
the possibility of a written collection emerged,
views from
women
with
whom
sation: by telephone, e-mail, in to obtain the
I
was not
I
solicited inter-
able to arrange a filmed convei-
person by audiotape, or by
letter.
In order
level of conversational spontaneity in all the voices,
same
I
( s I exercised a certain degree of editorial license. Also, in some instant was in touch with women after our initial conversation and was able to
more get current information about the status of their projects oi even In in-depth information that had not come out during the interview. several instances,
I
was able
to have pre-interviews or a series of
inter-
views over a period of time. Thus, some conversations are more evolved, while in others women expressed their thoughts, feelings, and reflections m the spirit and energy of a film festival or conference. This often pro-
duced more screened
specific information, usually about the film that
was being
at the festival.
Conversations that took place off-camera outside of the context of an to organized event tended to be longer and the women had more time questions deliberate on what they wanted to say, since I often gave them
beforehand or when we had switched off the tape recorder. In addition, before the there was not the pressure of having to have a visual presence words, camera, or the concern about saying all the right things. In other during an the errrs and umins or the search for words was not a concern instances, audiotaped interview since they would be edited out. In many asked to review a transcript of the interview, which allowed them
women to
add or delete information and make corrections as they saw
also in these instances that
I
lost several of the participants,
fit.
It
was
who perhaps
permission to got too busy to return the revised interview along with the xv
Sisters of the Screen
had one entire conversation by telephone and another by that he had to my delight electronic mail. Mbye Cham announced conducted two interviews for this collection in Zimbabwe at the Southinclude
it.
I
—
—
ern African Film Festival in October 1998. Since the project from the beginning, he was aware of
Cham has been close to my objectives and asked
questions that related the spirit of the project.
One significant adjustment
that had to be
made
in
preparing the filmed
conversations for written publication was the need to obtain the permission of the women to allow their conversations to be transcribed and
published in a book collection, a requirement of international copyright laws. I must note that it was because of the three events during 1997 that
meet so many women in the cinema in such a short time. (In the time span of three months I interviewed thirty-one women). 1 he book permission requirement meant that I had to get in touch with thirty I
was able
to
women
spread across the world. Unfortunately, due to an assortment of reasons, I was not able to secure the permission of all the women involved to
have their voices included
much
in this collection.
These women had so
many important ideas to express and share: Safi Faye Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), Anne Mungai (Kenya),
to say, so
(Senegal),
Zeinabu irene Davis (LISA), Gyasiwa Ansah (Ghana), Horria Saihi (Alge-
Their inclusion would have contributed much
ria).
to the conversation.
Dangarembga who as a writer has added filmmaking to her list of talents; Anne Mungai, who gave an overview of filmmaking and organizing as an African woman; Gyasiwa Ansah as the Safi
Faye as
a pioneer; Tsitsi
daughter of a filmmaker takes the baton; Zeinabu irene Davis talked about African/African diasporan connections, problems, and experiences
in film-
making; and Horria Saihi, journalist/ filmmaker, spoke of the perils of being an artist and documenting artists at a time rorists are prohibiting cultural I
life in
when
integrationist ter-
Algeria.
had made arrangements to interview other women, but, due schedules, inability to
flicts in
to con-
make mutual arrangements, or being down-
right too busy, since often times these interviews had to take place at
organized events where time was a
factor,
some other wonderful women
are not present in this collection: Nadia El Fani (Morocco), Bridget
Pickering (Namibia), Werewere Liking (Cameroon/Cote d’Ivoire), Flora
M’mbugu-Schelling (Tanzania), Assia Djebar (Algeria). Of course, there are the many, many other women who were not in attendance at the events that attended or with whom, for various reasons, was not able to make I
1
contact. I
felt
the reality of the dilemma that
conversation with
xvi
me
as
I
Anne Mungai brought out
attempted to re-connect with
women
in
her
by e-
Preface and Methodologt
mail, lax, telephone, post, or by
“tam-tam
She
throughout the world.
challenge talked about the problems around organizing and the awesome the houndai les of communication, follow-up, and networking outside of
and conferences, when women go back to their respect i\ e ounperhaps attending a tries. Women are scattered throughout the world, workshop, shooting a film, in the editing room, visiting a potential finan(
of festivals
mother, spouse, partner, friend. It becomes a formidable task to make connections and follow-up contacts.
cier,
or simply attending to the roles
of
south of the Sahara,
women in the collection are from Afiica the scope of my project extended to women through-
out the continent.
While only one North African woman, Najwa
While the majority
of
the
1
lili
interviewed Horria Saihi and had had also onattempted to interview two other North African women. North African women who resided in Pans, but was not
(Tunisia),
is
included in the book,
I
I
(
tacted several
schedule to connect with them during my \ lsit. choices and their conseIt is important to detail these methodological that quences because there is not a clear delineation marking the space
my own
able to arrange
North Africa holds within African cinema. In other words, in some conand in texts North Africa is included within African cinema discourse still other instances it is defined within the sphere of Arab cinema. In Arab cinother instances it is simultaneously presented as African and ema.
Another theoretical discussion in defining who is African in African raises the cinema is the question of Africans of European descent. W hich choice not to interview Ingrid Sinclair of Zimbabwe foi participants this collection although she was among the FESPACO 1997 from Senegal, the same list of feature films in competition as Safi b aye
question of
my
on
Tsitsi
Dangarembga
also
from Zimbabwe, and Nadia Fares Anliker from
Tunisia.
another theoretical discussion relates to my choice of was also interincluding four African diasporans (Zeinabu irene Davis African diasporan. viewed), which has to do w ith my own positionality as an point of departure like to revisit Keyan Tomaselli’s question as a Perhaps
I
still
would
for the above “debate”: cin(Questions not easily resolved on the issue of what is African ema concern, for example, what constitutes Africa. Is Arab film ‘Black’ and South African production part of African cinema? Is as cinema necessarily ‘African in origin? Is there such an identity be African personality ? Should African cinema necessarily ‘the
linked to
its
Black diasporic equivalents in the United States, France
and England?
1
xv 11
Sisters of the Screen
Have
denied Ingrid Sinclair an identity as African, yet defined Arab
I
women
within an African identity as well as linked African diasporans to
African cinema as Tomaselli states in his essay?
My to the
interest in including African diasporan
FESPACO
1991
women
is
directly related
Women’s Workshop during which time women
the African Diaspora were excluded.
of
My interest in bringing up the event women
during the conversations with diasporan
as well as the African
organizers of the workshop was to resurface a dialogue, or rather to bring
about a dialogue between the two that never took place.
While
the cinema, voice.
I
am
not suggesting that there
is
a synthesis, that there
Although many of the women know each
at conferences, festivals,
concerted dialogue
in
and workshops,
it is
extremely
is
my own
are not sisters, really,
She did not
would not use in essence,
that
we
like the title,
better in English, and
On
difficult to
have a
title
I
title.
I
many
if it is
I
had
suggested to me,
ecran”),
own
making works much
isolation
assured her that
promised her that In
1
of the book (which
are each in our
though
the cinema
in
projection of a sisterhood. Sarah
translated literally in French “Les soeurs de
films.”
know about each each other’s company
and attitudes regarding the diversity of issues
Maldoror (Guadeloupe), when she read the
we
one
order to share the complexities of experiences, ideas,
arena. Perhaps, in a way, this
“But
is
in
other,
other, have seen each other’s work, or have been in
interests,
among women
have attempted to present a “conversation”
I
it
published
in
French
I
ways, Sarah Maldoror was stating that,
there was not a sisterhood in African cinema, at least not yet.
the other hand, the phrase “sisters of the screen,” to me, elicits a
kindred spirit
among women where
convergence.
It is
there,
where
the screen
is
their ultimate point of
their images are read,
whether
it is
on a
movie screen, television screen, or video screen. As directors, producers, film festival organizers, actors, and critics those who have constructed
—
these images, played the characters in these images, interpreted these images, found money so these images could be made, or organized so that these images
may be
projected
—
that space, the screen,
is
the ultimate
from which the moving image is viewed, interpreted, understood. here is a growing body of work on the image of African women in cinema as well as an emergence of theoretical studies on “African women site
1
filmmaking. voices, in
However, the purpose of this project was to document the experiences, and thoughts of African women as a collective body
order to hear their voices, to allow them to speak about
interpret their image and African cinema in general.
tends the
work
that
profiling African
xvi n
Amina magazine 2 has been doing
women
in
the cinema.
Some
how they
This project exfor over a decade:
of the distinct differences
Preface and Methodology
arc that the text
is in
English, the
women
are from
all
regions of Africa
attempt to vw*a\e rather than mainly francophone areas, and there is an and pi oc esses. the voices together and make an analysis of trends, themes, am indebted to Amina which in many ways exposed me to the world of nine-yeai -old African women in the cinema as far back as 1983, when was featured in the June issue for the role she played in I
,
Rosine Yanogo
Gaston Kabore’s JVendKuuni.
I
in
Aissatou Bali
1
hallo,
had a long conversation about this great deal of encouragement and some assistant
editor-in chief of Amina, with
project and received a
commend the work of
whom
I
c
developing contacts.
9 source on Ecrans d’Afrique/ African Screen has also been an important which covAfrican women in the cinema, from the first issue in 1992,
ered the 1991
FESPACO, and profiled certain been a high visibility of women and an impressive efalso voices heard, f aces of women in the cinema have
Women’s Workshop
women, there has fort to make their
at
annual African been well represented on the covers. Vues d’Afrique, the of women and Creole film festival of Montreal, has been on the landscape colloquium on women in the cinema since 1989, when it held an important (Agencc established by AC C in the cinema. The prize Images de femmes, presented at Vues de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique), was first Femmes d Images d’Afrique in 1992. An index of women filmmakers, titled (Tunisia), was born from de rAfnque francophone, compiled by Najwa Tlili helpful guide to names, conthis 1989 colloquium. For me it has been a regions of Africa. tacts, and films by women in francophone document the n deliberately sought out film students in order to I 1
filmmaking process. feelings and experiences at the beginning of their (South such as Wabei Siyolwe (Zambia) and Zanele Mthembu aspect of cinema, Lucy Africa), had returned to school to learn another (Ethiopia) entered film school after a decision to change
While
a few,
Gebre-Egziabher careers and realize
a
dream she had had
since childhood.
with Lucy Gebre-Egziabher in the and summer of 1996 and had the occasion to document on video her third the shooting of fourth student film productions. In an interview during cinematically, she had her most recent film, Wefts Poem, she stated that, film has given he reached a higher level. And indeed she had, for this I
began
a series of conversations
i
film circles beyond high visibility locally and has launched her name in awards and has been the Washington, DC region as she has won several she felt that while her invited to festivals. When I talked to her recently,
her thoughts, at the same tune, during the past three she has seen a great deal of growth and evolution who, while also a film years. Then, there is Gyasiwa Ansah (Ghana),
words presented
in this
collection are
still
xix
Sisters of the Screen
student,
lias
She grew up
a special experience.
the daughter of
Kwaw
in the
world
Ansah. Her choice of a career
cinema, as
of
in film
came
as a
natural process.
African
women filmmaking
practices
are beginning as makers to those
cinema
itself.
who
A young woman who
come
full circle,
entered
acted
in
her
from those who
at the start
of African
first film talks
about the
fascination of that experience while a veteran actor talks about her expeIn addition to
rience acting in a film by the elder of African cinema.
conversations with those behind the camera and those
range of discussions with other representatives a film festival organizer, a film scholar
and
in
critic,
in front,
there
is
a
the domain of cinema:
and film producers.
I
have also included a bibliography of relevant literature as well as a
filmography of
How
is
films, videos,
women who
diverse areas of this world?
woman’s
references?
What
television.
African cinema visualized, described, experienced, theorized,
and interpreted by the nary, a
and programs for
Is
circulate, navigate, negotiate in the
there a
woman’s
visual text, a female gaze?
What
sensibility, a
Who
are their models, their
are the specificities of their experiences in cinema?
are their struggles, accomplishments, goals, and objectives?
whose answers
I
What
These are the ques-
are African representations of female subjectivity? tions
female imagi-
set out to find.
Notes 1
.
Keyan G. Tomaselli, l
Cinema: Theoretical Perspectives on Some
“‘African’
Unresolved Questions,” African Experiences of Cinema
Mbye Cham (London:
British
2.
Amina is women.
magazine published
3
Ecrans d’Afnque/African Screen
c
.
a Paris-based
can cinema.
Film
is
Institute, in
1996 ),
,
ed.,
p.
Imruh Bakari and
165
.
French that focuses on black
an international bilingual review of Afri-
Introduction
The Evolution of “African
women
African
in the
Women of
cinema”
is
a
the
Image
concept that must be analyzed within
the context of social, political, and cultural structures in Africa. It must be discussed within the specific conventions of cinematic practices that
what has come to be called African cinema. The concept “African women in cinema” encompasses the diverse mediums of television, video, and film, which include the narrative, short, documentary, and tele-film. Whatever the genre or format, have emerged
in Africa since the inception of
the films often focus on the social, political, and cultural realities of African society. As more African women work and live outside of the continent, they also deal with issues relating to immigration and the specific situations that they encounter in their host countries. As in African films in general,
it is
rare to find a film for the sake of entertainment.
The dominant
idea of
cinema
as the feature film projected
on
a large
cinema houses does not portray the reality of African cinema in general, and even less the cinema of African women. Perhaps more appropriately, African women in the cinema have
screen viewed by large audiences
chosen the concept “African
in
women
of
the image,’ which, as a concept,
encompasses the diverse means and processes that comprehend then film practices.
While one may now speak of the development of an African women in the cinema movement,” in fact, the emergence of African women as film/ video practitioners has been gradual and sporadic. The visibility of African women as “makers’ may be described as an evolving process. 1 he
beginning coincides with the emergence of African cinema in the 1.960s and 1.970s as a body of African films was forming and an African filmmaking practice was taking shape. Safi 19712.
Faye
Faye (Senegal) as a film student made her short film La passante in to make a film, It was because she was the first African woman
believes, that her film
became
a curiosity in the film circuit of Paris
There were, however, other African women who arrived in the world of cinema even before most of the filmmakers that are recog-
at that time.
Sisters of the Screen
nized today as pioneers. Journalist Therese Sita-Bella (Cameroon) made 1 he film a 30-minute documentary in 1963, entitled Tam Tam a Parrs.
documented the National Dance Company of Cameroon during its tour in Paris. Tam Tam a Parrs was featured at the first FESPACO (at the time called the Week of African Cinema) in February 1969, along with the films of
Mustapha Alassane
(Niger),
Ousmane Sembene
(Senegal),
Ababacar Samb (Senegal), Urbain N’Dia (Cameroon), Paulin Vieyra (Senegal), and Momar Thiam (Senegal). Therese Sita-Bella has had a long, productive career in the area of radio and print journalism. During a 1989 interview she indicated that she has many scripts that she would 1
like to
put to film and, “since cineastes are ageless,” upon her retirement
she hopes to be able to do
so.
2
In 1967, Efua Sutherland (Ghana) produced Arabia:
The Vrllage Story,
a
major documentary film made by ABC, a national LIS. television network. The documentary records the success of one of her most impor-
Atwia Experimental Community Theatre Project. It has been internationally recognized as a “pioneering model for the now popular theater for development.” 3 Her career focus was as a dramatist and writer, for which she is well known and admired. Guadeloupian Sarah Maldoror of the African Diaspora is often accorded Angolan nationality* and, “because of her work and dedication to the cause of Africa,” she is “commonly given a privileged place in comprehensive analysis of Black African cinema.” 5 Her presence as a filmmaker in Africa dates from as early as the 1960s. While her important contributions to African cinema cannot be denied, her positionality continues to be debated. This unresolved status was brought out during a meeting among African women in the cinema in 1991. Nonetheless, she holds an tant projects, the
important place as a filmmaker of the African world. Sarah Maldoror’s Monangambee was included in the second in
FESPACO
1970 under the country Angola. Her film Sambizanga was included
the Carthage Film Festival (Tunisia) in 1972, prize, the
Tanit d’Or. Both events,
among a
where
long
list
it
was awarded
in
first
of other accomplish-
ments and experiences in Africa and filmmaking in Africa, demonstrate that Maldoror s place in African cinema has been firmly recognized and visible since its inception.
The filmmaking experiences of these four women are indicative of the filmmaking practices of African women who have come later. The entry Faye and Sarah Maldoror into filmmaking was the beginning of a sustained career, with the intention of evolving in the area of cinema. On of Safe
the other hand, Therese Sita-Bella and Efua Sutherland continued in their
chosen
2
fields of
journalism and drama, having never made a second film,
Introduction
although Sita-Bella
still
has plans to do
so.
have entered filmmaking as an intended career, careers
man
in
communication, journalism,
some women while others have wedded
In other words,
literature,
information work, hu-
rights advocacy, and education with filmmaking and use
dium of expression
in their
term filmmaker and
in
work. Thus, there
the definition of ‘African cinema’
program
women
deal of visibility to
as a
films
is
medium
that
television
from
me-
fluidity in the use of the
is
the boundaries of filmmaking practices.
portant sector of the audio-visual African films also
it
is
An
im-
generally included
Film
this category,
in
festivals that include
which gives
a
great
television directors.
Only a handful of films was made during tin* beginning period of the 1960s and 1970s. lowever, film/video/ television productions more than quadrupled in the 1980s and continued to increase in the 1990s. 6 While the few film productions in the early period were represented in only a few countries, by the 1980s most regions of the continent were represented, and by the 1990s production had doubled from the preceding decade. While the beginning period of an African woman filmmaking practice was sporadic, during the last two decades there has been a steady increase and proliferation of film production. Thus, African women now I
have
a visible
presence on the landscape
African
Women
“African
women
in
in
the
of
cinema.
Cinema Movement
the cinema” as an organized
movement emerged
at
the
women
in
the
end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s visual
media began
force in order to
to concretize their desire to
make
as African
come together as
their interests and needs
a larger
known. 25-2 7 February
moment for African women in the visual media. an organized movement of African women in the image was later named, may be traced to the 12th edition of
1991 marked a historical
The
genesis of
industry, as
FESPACO the
title
it
in
1991.
A
part of the festival platform was organized under
“Women, Cinema,
The meeting brought
Television and Video
together
fifty
in Africa.”
women from more
than fifteen
was chaired by Annette M’Baye d’Erneville (Senegal), a veteran in the field of communications in Africa, founder of RECIDAK (Rencontres Cinematographiques de Dakar) and director of Consortium de communications audiovisuelles en Afrique (CCA) in Senegal. Annette M’Baye d’Erneville opened the meeting, laying down the objectives of the workshop: l) to provide a forum for women to exchange and share countries.
It
their experiences; 2) to adopt propositions that will help ensure
women
their rightful place, particularly in the areas of training and production;
3
Sisters of the Screen
3) to devise a follow-up structure for dialogue
consciously reflect women’s
and
5) to
common
action; 4) to
women professionals and produce
identify the frustrations of
ries;
and
realities, social
images that
contexts, cultures, and histo-
disseminate that perspective. 7
During the workshop, women filmmakers, producers, actors, technicians, and others in visual media production put forth the fundamentals of a solid organization to defend their interests. Five of the main goals that resulted from the meeting were as follows: l) to develop an index of African women visual media producers and their films; 2) to promote their work across a wide range of networks internationally; 3 ) to establish an itinerant training workshop composed of a group of trainers who circuthroughout Africa;
late
visual
4) to train instructors in the various spheres of
media production;
and participate regularly
The
5) to seek
funding so that
at Film festivals.
women may
attend
8
motion the groundwork for what would become the visual media network called L’ Association des femmes events of this meeting set
in
video/The Association of Professional African Women in Cinema, Television and Video (AFAPTV). It was reorganized in 1995 under the name, The PanAfrican Union of Women in the Image Industry /L’ Union panafricaine des femmes de image (UPAFI). In April 1989, two years before the FESPACO workshop, the Montrealafricaines professionnelles
du cinema, de
la
television et de
la
1’
based Film festival Vues d’Afrique organized a special section devoted to African
women
in the visual
media.
The program consisted of:
l)
a screen-
ing of short and feature length Films, television shows, and video pro-
grams produced and
directed by African
women;
2) a discussion of the
women and the influence of the media; 3 a colloquium on African women in the audiovisual media which included a sur-
screen image of the role of
on-
)
vey of the participants’ assessment of the current situation and their rec-
ommendations. he colloquium addressed needs and interests similar to those expressed at the FESPACO workshop. The objectives of the colloquium 1
were:
l)
to plan speciFic projects for exchanges, training
professional cooperation with African
women
to
develop
programs, and
in
the Film, tele-
and audio-visual sectors; 2) to have an ongoing discussion between anadian officials at the Office of Canadian Film and Television and Afri-
vision, C
can
women
Film directors, technicians, and actors regarding the
ways
that
women’s professional needs; 3 ) to discuss with representatives of governmental and non-governmental international cooperation agencies the ways that women’s level of participation in the the Office can meet the
audio-visual production sectors
4
in
Africa
may
be raised.
Introduction
Femmes damages de l Afrique francophone, compiled by Najwa Tlili (1 unisia), was one of tin* direct results of this 1989 meeting. The index brings together the biography and filmography of women in the cinema from “francophone” Africa, as well as a listing of other relevant contacts. Another initiative that came from the meeting was the creation of the “Images de femmes” (Images of Women) project, from which emerged the prize “Images cle femmes” offered by ACCT and presented during the annual Vues d’Afrique.
Women
Since the African
in
Cinema Movement began
the
in
1991,
regional bureaus and national associations have sprung up throughout the continent. African in
November
Women
in
Film and Video (AWIFAV) was created
1992, of which African
Section, created
in
1993,
is
an
Women
affiliate.
in
Film and Video
A Gabonese national
—Kenya
bureau of the
Women in the Image Industry was created in 1995, while the Association of Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe was formed in Pan-African
l
Jnion of
September 1996. of
One of
the results of the restructuring of the pan-African organization
women
in
the cinema was the creation of regional bureaus, including
Diaspora sections
in
London and
There
Paris.
a
is
general coordinator
and there are coordinators for the various regions in and Africa: Northern Africa Region, Western Africa Region, South-
for the continent
outside of
ern Africa Region, Central Africa Region, Eastern Africa Region, Diaspora France, and Diaspora Great Britain.
Anne Mungai
(Kenya)' brought out
with trying to organize within such
and traveling. Even
riers
Eastern Africa, has been
to a
some of
the problems that
notably language bar-
a large scope,
come together
formidable task.
related to allotting limited funding for hold,
and keeping contact with other
latter
is
come
regionally,
Some
among women
in
of the obstacles are
making films, maintaining a house-
women
in
the region.
Often the
the lowest priority. Despite the problems and difficulties of orga-
among women in the cinema, the emergence of the movement has allowed women of the image to better know each other and attain higher nizing
visibility.
Towards Is
a
Woman-Defined Criticism
there an African woman-defined critique of the image, of filmmaking
practices, of
cinema
in
general?
What are
the tenets, what are the canons?
While there is no formal infrastructure in terms of a specialized group of women w ho name their work or discourse as film criticism, each woman in this collection, as well as the
many other women
in the diverse areas
the visual media in Africa, has distinctive impressions about
of
women and 5
Sisters of the Screen
the image and their role as maker, interpreter, cultural producer and reader in
general, so that critiquing the image
is
integrated
in their
filmmaking
practices or in their interpretation of a character as an actor.
the other hand, there have been other instances where the broad issues of African women in the media as well as the visual representation of African women have been addressed. As early as 1978, research was
On
media during a study visit by journalists Elma Lititia Anani (Sierra Leone), Alkaly Miriama Keita (Niger), and Awatef Abdel Rahman (Egypt), held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 24-30 September 1978.'° conducted on African
The purpose and
women
in the
goals of the study were as follows:
women and the mass media in Africa; this study is the first to analyze women s image in the media. It also documents the small number of women
To
in
date, virtually
no research has been carried out on
policy-making positions
ily affects
in the
African media, which necessar-
the media’s portrayal of
in Africa are in their infancy,
it is
women. Since hoped
the
mass media
that the implications of
women’s current media image will be carefully considered by media policy makers, with a view to establishing future media policies which will foster women’s participation in the development of Africa.
While women
in
the visual media have
made great
strides in the 1980s
and 1990s, the issues brought out in the 1978 study continue to be relevant. They echo the sentiments of a majority of women in the cinema regarding their role as image-makers and visual journalists and the contributions that they
want
to
make:
Women
have an especially important role to play
ment of
Africa.
either
By
its
portrayal of
women,
impede or foster women’s integration
process.
If
women
the in
in
the develop-
mass media can the development
are portrayed only in traditional roles in the
media, society’s attitudes and women’s expectations for themselves will necessarily
be confined to these roles.
the media’s image of
women
On
reflects the full
the other hand,
range of contribu-
women are capable of making to society, societal towards women will be correspondingly broadened."
tions
In
many ways
tremendous power that visual media has had and continhave on African societies, rather than the lack of progress towards
reaching the objectives set forth. 6
attitudes
these past reflections, which often mirror the present, are
indicative of the
ues to
if
Introduction
On
the other hand, while there
lias
been improvement
women, there continues
representation of
women
the visual
in
to be stereotypical, negative,
worsened in some cases. Sarah Maldoror, veteran filmmaker, who came to cinema in the late sixties, laments t lie gratuitous portrayal of nude African women in today’s films. At the same time, African actresses addressing this issue almost a decade ago questioned t lie use of nudity, specifically in the film Usages de femmes and harmful portrayals
of
that have
by Desire Ecare. 12 In contrast to those
male filmmakers who have used the woman’s body and nudity for the sake of nudity, Safi Faye (Senegal)
mere objectification and Fanta Nacro (Burkina Faso) are, they insist, presenting a realistic image of women’s sensuality and sexual expression. Safi Faye states that her portrayal of women’s sensuality in Mossane echoes her own experi-
for
ences:
I
more or
less
Senegal and is
for
me,
a
told.
my
childhood girlfriends
in
wanted to tell it as such. This film that have made, song to women. The things that find so beautiful, I
I
I
the things that
been
experienced that with
have
I
And
lived, that
then,
I
made
I
have experienced or that
have
I
my
these images according to
was more or less like that. We always had an older girlfriend who was married before us and it was she who explained to the others what went on. One does not go into marriage naive and unaware. No, one knows, but without vision. ..My sexual education
having actually experienced
13
it
.
PukNini would be hypocritical to herself and her audience. Zara Mahamat Yacoub was condemned by the Islamic Council of Chad for having shown the genitals of a young girl during an excision operation in her film Dilemme au jeminine. Her response was. Fanta Nacro
If
felt that
not to show the sensually explicit scene
would not have shown this part of did not show the female body for the pleasure of show-
excision had not existed,
the body.
ing
it,
I
I
but within a specific context. T here
tinction.
in
is
an important dis-
,+
These experiences of makers and actors reveal that they are fully aware the implications of the presentation of certain images and will perceive
them.
how
of
the viewer
In certain instances they take risks and experience
the consequences of their choice to reveal the reality and gravity of a situation.
In the varying and diverse experiences that
women
have had
7
Sisters of the Screen
with the image, there
is
a consensus, that
women’s experiences and
their
perceptions of reality are essential. African
women
in all
areas of the visual media are addressing the issue
of the visual representation of
women and
are asking themselves
role they play in the projection of positive images. Like
leagues istic
in
Anne Mungai women:
the cinema,
images of
When sion
I
finally started
programs
in
going
her role
feels that
to the
most
is
woman
televi-
appeared
she played a very weak character. She was always a cook,
vant to somebody,
but
were always of an African
how does
I’ve
I
saw on the screen and on
woman
in trouble.
is
what motivated me.
seen her in trouble, I’ve watched
We
my
I
said yes,
That was never
she overcome these problems?
shown... I think that
a ser-
mistress to somebody, a slave, she’s crying,
So the images that
she’s pregnant.
television
a
her col-
of
to present real-
cinemas and watching
Kenya, each time an African
what
I’ve
my
seen
father die, there
mother,
was
my
grown up and admire the way she did it. then started wishing that saw more films with strong African women characters; and that is the role want to want to fill play. And that is why I say that there is that gap, and mother with
six children.
are
all
I
I
I
I
I
it
in
my
films.
15
Wanjiru Kinyanjui (Kenya) feels that in taking part in film criticism, African women “can correct images of themselves and even their surroundings.” She likes to see an African woman portrayed as a person of independent mind, not passive and submissive. As a filmmaker, she is interested in giving her the chance to define her
Actresses are also taking the lead
own
in insisting
place.
on
positive, interesting,
and strong characters to interpret. Ai Keita-Yara (Burkina Faso) expressed a special affinity with her character, the legendary Queen Sarraounia. While M’Bissine Therese Diop (Senegal) has been generally
pleased with her roles, she also suggests that male filmmakers present
important characters for black insignificant ones. feel like
“G liana’s
women
to play
Alexandra Duah (Ghana)
international actress
who
and not always the small,
a veteran actor, has
come
to
has found herself redundant.”
Despite her disappointments, she emphasizes
how important
to accept scripts that are educative
it is
for her
and not demeaning or demoralizing to women. Naky Sy Savane (Ivory Coast) asserts that actresses should even go to the point that they actually suggest certain roles to filmmakers, perhaps even roles that they themselves create.
8
Introductioh
Masepeke Sekhukhuni (South cess of filmmaking
learn
how
women must adequately this medium. One impor-
has been defined by men,
itself
womanhood
to express their
tant step in this process
Africa) suggests that because the pro-
is
within
to demystify filmmaking,
which she thinks has
As director of the Newtown Film and TeleSchool, Sekhukhuni encounters many women who are intimidated
also been mystified by men.
vision
by the filmmaking environment, including heavy cameras and other equip-
ment.
Her response
and other objects
women is to remember those heavy buckets women carry on their heads and are able to man-
to the
that
age. In applying this idea to the
filmmaking environment, they
women
as makers, interpreters,
in their
know
Applying their
specific
filmmaking, and as actors, African
women
that “they have the energy, they have the power!
experiences as
will
and readers of the image are also shaping a woman-
defined criticism.
Women of The
A Meeting
Africa and the Diaspora:
events of the
FESPACO
women
ited by several
as
it
which has yet
It
to be resolved.
was an emotionally charged experience
16 ,
In other words, there has never been an
attempt to work out the differences that vealed nor has there been an
women are reviswomen who attended
1991 meeting of African
relates to the diasporan
but were later asked to leave.
Place
official
this
meeting so apparently
meeting between
re-
women makers
of
Africa and the Diaspora.
While Sarah Maldoror (Guadeloupe) and
Shirikiana Aina
(USA) ex-
pressed severe disappointment about the events that took place, Zeinabu irene Davis
(USA
17 )
said that
though
it
was
a painful experience, in retro-
spect she understood the importance of African
themselves. She brought out
some important
ences and similarities between in
women
women meeting among
points regarding the differ-
of Africa and the African Diaspora
cinema.
On
the other hand, while Aina agrees that there are differences that
distinguish the needs of diasporan and African unification of
that
women
women, she
feels that the
of African descent should have been a priority at
moment: yes,
it is
Hut what
important for continental is
women
to meet, very critical.
the urgency that requires the de-unification of what
we have here?
Aminata Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso) and Chantal Bagilishya (Rwanda)
dis-
cuss the events leading to the misunderstanding and attempt to explain 9
Sisters of the Screen
women to leave. hey both describe the women meet together among themselves
the decision to ask the diasporan
importance of having African
I
met before inviting others, since this was the first time they had ever Africans and as a group. They felt that because of the difference between
first
diasporans
it
was necessary
women on the continent. Some of the differences
to
work through
their
own agenda as
Afi ican
Zeinabu irene Davis pointed out were the obvious issues around access to equipment and training. She stated the most possibility of going to film schools, which is rare or non-existent in that
African countries. She also suggested the availability of low-cost equipment use and training at public access stations in the L hiited States. On the other hand, Davis finds that African
women
have more power
in the
area of television broadcasting than do diasporans in the United States. Women from the United States as producers and directors in television are rare, while there
is
an increasing number of
women
in
those positions
in Africa.
Aminata Ouedraogo focuses the
differences
between
women
of Africa
and the Diaspora on issues and themes. She felt that while diasporan women may focus on issues of aesthetics, body image and corporeality, African women in the cinema must deal with issues around education, health, housing,
and nutrition. In general, Aminata Ouedraogo empha-
sized the importance of African
women coming
together to get to
know
each other and express their interests and needs. Mahen Bonetti, executive director of African Film Festival, Inc. based in New "\ork ( ity, notes distinctions as well:
I
find that the subjects that the African
women
deal with are dif-
from those of African-American women’s films, much less Hollywood. Here in the States, one doesn’t expect to see things
ferent
like
polygamy, female genital mutilation, or about
women
in
1
an-
zania crushing stones.
Shirikiana Aina agrees with Davis that African Americans do not have an organized film body within the African festival circuit where they can
and voice their interests and concerns. Aina notes that while there is a prize for the African Diaspora at FESPACO, the Paul Robeson Prize, it is not Diaspora groups that pay for it, which points to the lack of real power. Davis voiced the need for a film advocacy body
promote
their films
within the filmmaking arena that acts as a support network for indepen-
dent African and Diaspora cinema. Aina,
who works
with her filmmaker/
husband Haile Gerima from Ethiopia, corroborates Davis emphasis on the importance of a film advocacy network. 10
INTRODUCTION
The filmmaking experiences of African diasporan Gloria Rolando from Cuba are much closer to those of women on the continent than to those of While she shares the common
diasporans from the United States.
diasporan desire to reflect African roots
filmmaking
many of
m Cuba make
of the
in
her work, the conditions for
her task particularly formidable. She expresses
same obstacles
funding and equipment,
that African
women
such as the lack
indicate,
among others.
Diasporan Fran^oise Pfaff (Guadeloupe/France)
is
well
known among
anglophone readers of African cinema history and criticism especially. However, in the collection she presents perhaps a less known aspect of herself.
Of mixed-raced
roots in the black
heritage, she
community
in
came
to the
United States to find
emerged as an place where she also went in search
the United States and
important scholar of African cinema,
a
of her roots.
As Africans from
the continent traverse frontiers and migrate to ex-
tra-African locations, issues of the “Diaspora” have
Bonetti (Sierra Leone) brings out this point
in
become
larger.
Mahen
her discussion about
first-
While there has been much more focus on Africans migrating to European metropoles in order to work and function as filmmakers, they are also migrating to North America, both to Canada and the United States. In this collection, there is a number of women who are based in North America, particularly in the United States: Mahen Bonetti (Sierra Leone), Lucy Gebre-Egziabher (Ethiopia), Salem Mekuria (Ethiopia), Thembi Mtshali (South Africa), Zanele Mthembu (South Africa), and Wabei Siyolwe (Zambia); and in Canada: C ilia Sawadogo (Burkina Faso) and Najwa Tlili (Tunisia). Gyasiwa Ansah (Ghana) was generation-born “hybrids.”
also a Film student in
New
York.
Some
other
women who
studied in the
United States are Bridget Pickering (Namibia) and Palesa Letlaka-Ngozi (South Africa). based
the United States, as
in
Onwurah
recently spent time at
in-residence. ited the
They
M’mbugu-Schelling (Tanzania) is also well as Assia Djebar (Algeria). Ngozi a US. university as a visiting filmmaker-
Presently, Flora
Fhe conversations
will reveal other
women who
have vis-
United States or have had other contacts with U.S. diasporans.
realize that the
communities of people of African descent
in
the
United States are eager to embrace Africa and connect. Mahen Bonetti was aware of this as she created the African Film Festival based in New' York.
Cornelius
Moore of
California Newsreel realized this as the Li-
brary of African Cinema was added to the collection.
Gerima and
Certainly, Haile
Shirikiana Aina realized this as they began the successful
commercial run of Sankofa.
Sisters of the Screen
Diasporan Sarah Maldoror, an exemplary model interconnecting
of African /Diaspo ran
filmmaking, started the tradition
in
at the
inception of
African cinema. Others are continuing the process: Safi Faye, Elsie Haas, femme peintre et cineas ted’ Haiti, 985 a portrait of Haitian filmmaker Elsie 1 .
,
Salem Mekuria, As I Remember It: A Portrait oj Dorothy West 1985 a portrait of Harlem Renaissance writer; Euzhan Palcy (Martinique), A Dry White Season, 1989 set in Zimbabwe; Shirikiana Aina, Through the Door of No Return, 1997 set in Ghana. Coming full circle while continuing the tradition, more than thirty years after Sarah Maldoror began her filmmaking journey in Africa, Anne-Laure Folly (Togo) saw the importance I
laas;
,
,
,
,
of tracing the footsteps of her delutopie, 1998
life
and work,
in
Sarah Maldoror ou
la nostalgie
.
—
Boundaries are blurring, borders are extending, and as Ngozi Onwurah asserts there must be differences made between African women working in and out of Africa. While there was a great deal of focus on African/Diasporan differences in 1991 perhaps now, almost a decade later,
—
,
the conversation extends
and practices of
spaces,
its
frontiers to
women
comprehend the many
places,
of Africa and the image.
Through African Women’s Eyes Twenty-one years after writing her first novel, Assia Djebar (Algeria) made her first film, La Nouba desfemmes du mont Chenoua in 1978 and four ,
years later her second film
asked
why she made I
realized that
age:
La Zerda Djebar
films,
woman was
is
cided then, that
she I
is
Djebar
.
When
forbidden any relationship to the im-
veiled,
taken, she does not
own
and then, only with one
would make of
it
either.
my camera
eye.
I
de-
this eye of the veiled
18 .
Visualizing through the lens of ries,
chants de I’oubli, in 1982
shut away, she looks on the inside. She can only look
at the outside if
woman
les
said:
While her image cannot be
Since she
ou
lifted
women’s experiences,
feelings,
and histo-
the veil that obscured their vision, also allowing others
through women’s
At the beginning of Anne-Laure Eolly’s ogo) film, journalist Monique Ilboudo cites a poem by a Burkinabe ( woman that says: A respectable woman should learn from her husband. She should not read. She should not have her eyes open. Eolly titles her to see
eyes.
l
film
Women -with Open Eyes,
women
in
thus opening to view the diverse conditions of
various African societies.
While some women remain blinded
by the traditions that oppress them, other 12
women move
forward with
Introduction
open eyes to improve their lives and that of their societies. Fanta Nacro’s film, lhik Nini, which means «open your eyes, be vigilant» in More, attempts to encourage women to go forward and move ahead toward finding a solution to their problem rather than stand immobilized and be pessimistic.
What,
then,
is
an African woman’s vision, her gaze, her way of seeing
becomes the vehicle for expressing wonian/women’s experiences and showing her vision of the world, many African women transcend geographies and locations, boundaries are blurred, their positionality goes beyond nationality
and visualizing? As the camera becomes her
and country. The themes and subjects of periences, the search for identity, the
eye, as the lens
their films reflect personal ex-
demands
of financiers, as well as the
self-imposed duty to teach, to reveal injustices, and to construct positive
women and
images of
African society
in
The voices in this colmany issues of cinema in
general.
lection provide an “alternative discourse” to the
general as well as African filmmaking practices that have been discussed
and theorized. In multiple
voices, Sisters
of
the Screen begins the
conversa-
tion.
Notes 1.
It is
also significant to note that one of the founding
members of FTSPACO
and the president of the organizing committee of the first festival in 1 969 was Burkinabe Alimata Salembere, who at the time was a television director at the
Burkinabe television. Radiodiffusion Television Voltaique (RTV). She
also served as General Secretary of
overseeing the 8th 2.
FTSPACO
Andre-Marie Pouya, “ Therese Amina September 1989, p. 44.
in
FTSPACO
from 1982
to 1984, thus
1983.
Sita-Bella parle de la presse et de felegance,”
,
3.
4.
5.
ALA
Bulletin (African Literature Association),
Summer
1996,
p. 10.
Her companion of many years was Angolan writer Mario de Andrade, one of the leaders of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Frangoise Pfaff, Twenty-five Black African Filmmakers. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988), p. 205.
6.
While my
statistics are
may be used
to
based on
a
filmography that
is
not exhaustive, they
suggest tendencies and the evolution of African
women
filmmaking practice. 7.
Claire Andrade-Watkins, “African
emas of
the.
Black Diaspora,
versity Press, 1995), 8.
p.
ed.,
Women
Directors at Fespaco,”
Michael T. Martin (Detroit:
Wayne
in
Cin-
State Uni-
150.
Assiatou Bah Diallo, “Les femmes
a la
recherche d’un nouveau souffle,” Amina
,
13
Sisters of the Screen
May
1991.
9.
Interview by author not included
10.
If Omen
in collection.
and the Mass Media in Africa
:
Cases Studies of Sierra Leone, the Niger and
Egypt by Elma Lititia Anani, Alkaly Miriama Keita, Awatef Abdel Rahman. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, 1981. Research Series, African tary
Fund
I
raining and Research Centre for
Women. Other
United Nations Decade for
for the
Women/ Volun-
clude: Association des professionnelles africaines de la
studies in-
communication
(APAC), Femmes, developpement, communication: quelles perspectives pour Nairobi 1985 ? (Proceedings from the seminar organized by BREDA, Dakar, Senegal), 1-10 October 1984; and Association of African
Women
Development (AAWORD), Women and the Media
in Africa,
Series,
No.
for Research
and
Occasional Paper
Dakar, 1992.
6,
omen and the Mass Media in Africa: Cases Studies of Sierra Leone, the Niger and Egypt by Elma Lititia Anani, Alkaly Miriama Keita, Awatef Abdel Rahman.
11.
J!
The United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa,
Addis Ababa, 1981.
Research Series, African 1 raining and Research Centre for Women/Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women. See Quand la nudite chasse le beau” (When nudity chases away beauty),
12.
Amina.
May
1991.
13.
Interview by author not included
14.
Amina September
in collection.
1996. Interview with Zara
,
Mahamat Yacoub,
p. 49.
Interview by author not included in collection. 16. See Claire Andrade- Watkins, “African Women Directors at Fespaco,” Cinemas of the Black Diaspora ed. Mark T. Martin, 1995 and Assiatou Bah Diallo, 15.
Les femmes
17.
recherche d un nouveau souffle,” Amina Interview by author not included in collection.
18.
Je
me
suis dit
image, rnais regarde
l
que
elle
la
femme
nen
est
tie
etait interdite d’image:
pas proprietaire non
inteneur, mais elle
voilee et quelle
tie
regarde que d’un
tie
1991
oeil.
Je
.
peut pas lui prendre son
Du fait
quelle
est cloitree, elle si elle est
me suis done dit quefallaisfaire de. ma
C ited in Litterature et
cinema
eti
Afrique
Ousmane Sembene et Assia Djebar, edited by Sada Niang (Paris: Iarmattan, 1996), from Ghila Benesty-Sroka, “La Langue et Fexil”, La Pa-
francophone,
role meteque, 2
14
plus.
on
,
pent pas regarder Vexterieur, ou seulement