Best Films from Africa?

[Qrazy]

What are the best films from the continent of Africa? I feel like I've seen maybe ten at the most.

[Boner M]

I don't think I've seen one.

[Qrazy]

I don't think I've seen one.

By ten I meant three.

[Benny Profane]

Moolaade.

Um. I can't think of another one.

[Qrazy]

Yeelen I saw and thought it was alright. It was worth watching but not amazing. I wonder if Tsotsi counts as African... the director isn't.

[Mysterious Dude]

My personal favorite is Adanggaman, which is about how African people were enslaved by African leaders.

A while back, I went on a bit of an African binge, and the same actor, Rasmane Ouedraogo, turned up in a lot of the films I watched, including Adanggaman, Moolaadé, Tilai and Yaaba. I recommend Yaaba, too.


I wonder if Tsotsi counts as African... the director isn't.He is South African. I've seen several South African films: Tsotsi, Stander, Beat the Drum, Space Mutiny (lol). They were all directed by white people and tend to have more of a Western aesthetic than other African films.

[Raiders]

Stander

I've seen this. It wasn't very good but Hughes, the director, is Canadian, so I'm not sure this is what he is looking for.

[Qrazy]

Ali Zaoua was from Morocco I think. That was pretty good.

Oh and The Gods Must Be Crazy (Jamie Uys)... South African.

[dreamdead]

My sole contribution to this thread is Sembene's Xala, which was a bit slow and static visually. Thematically, though, it was vibrant and a marvel of humane understanding.

It's the one national cinema that I'm still basically unknowledgeable of.

[Mysterious Dude]

I've seen this. It wasn't very good but Hughes, the director, is Canadian, so I'm not sure this is what he is looking for.Please don't take the list of South African films I've seen to be a list of recommendations. My purpose was not to recommend them, but to compare them to other African films, and how they don't seem very African by comparison.

[Qrazy]

After some research these names seem worth looking into...

Ousmane Sembène
Djibril Diop Mambéty
Med Hondo
Souleymane Cissé
Cheick Oumar Sissoko
Ferid Boughedir

[Mysterious Dude]

Black Girl (1966) ***
Touki Bouki (1973) *½
Xala (1975) ***
Yeelen (1987) **½
Space Mutiny (1988) [zero stars]
Yaaba (1989) ****
Tilai (1990) ***½
Adanggaman (2000) ****
Ali Zaoua (2000) ***
Beat the Drum (2003) **½
Moolaadé (2004) ***½
Tsotsi (2005) **½

[Amnesiac]

Black Girl (1966) ***

This is the only one I've seen. It was pretty good. If I remember correctly, it raises questions about the cyclical nature of colonialism and the deceptive (and damaging) allure of other countries and cultures.

[Qrazy]

Black Girl (1966) ***
Touki Bouki (1973) *½
Xala (1975) ***
Yeelen (1987) **½
Space Mutiny (1988) [zero stars]
Yaaba (1989) ****
Tilai (1990) ***½
Adanggaman (2000) ****
Ali Zaoua (2000) ***
Beat the Drum (2003) **½
Moolaadé (2004) ***½
Tsotsi (2005) **½

That's a shame, I was excited for Touki Bouki. Something tells me Adanggaman will be a hard film to find.

[Ezee E]

I like Tsotsi.

[Mysterious Dude]

That's a shame, I was excited for Touki Bouki. Something tells me Adanggaman will be a hard film to find.
I can't remember it all that well. I might find it easier now that I'm more familiar with the African style, but I do remember it was kind of a chore to get through at the time.

Adanggaman is available through Netflix.

[Stay Puft]

Moolaade is great. I don't think I've seen any others...

[Watashi]

Does Kirikou and the Sorceress count?

[Qrazy]

Does Kirikou and the Sorceress count?

No, the director is French and the production is franco-belgian.

[MadMan]

Ali Zaoua was from Morocco I think. That was pretty good.

Oh and The Gods Must Be Crazy (Jamie Uys)... South African.I've seen The Gods Must Be Crazy, which I liked quite a bit and was sort of funny. But I think that's the only film from Africa I have actually seen.

[Qrazy]

Antoine you were right about Yaaba, quality film. I'm almost done Ceddo and it's not very good at all. Sort of disappointing as I was expecting more from Sembene. Given my appreciation for Yaaba perhaps I should check out Tilai next.

[Eleven]

Mandabi is my favorite Sembene. Then Moolaade, Xala, and Black Girl. When I took Film Theory, Xala was included as a postcolonialist film, and sad to say that nobody else could get into it.

Abderrahmane Sissako is from Mauritania, and Bamako and Waiting for Happiness has some good stuff in them.

[Beau]

I hated The Gods Must be Crazy. Wend Kuuni is more interesting. Unpolished, but it has a curious observing eye and a willingness to stare at the local culture in quasi-documentary mode. And there's an interesting, overarching theme in there about the continent and its plight. Good stuff. Other than that, I've seen nothing from Africa.

[Qrazy]

I hated The Gods Must be Crazy. Wend Kuuni is more interesting. Unpolished, but it has a curious observing eye and a willingness to stare at the local culture in quasi-documentary mode. And there's an interesting, overarching theme in there about the continent and its plight. Good stuff. Other than that, I've seen nothing from Africa.

What did you hate about it? It's one of those childhood favorites I'm deathly afraid is going to be sullied by an adult viewing.

[Beau]

What did you hate about it?

I found it horribly unfunny and a complete bore.

I've only seen the awful dubbed copy they released in the United States. Maybe without the dubbing... I should have turned it off right after I heard the first dubbed line of dialogue, but I didn't know any better back then.

[NickGlass]

I'm sorry, but Tsotsi is dreadful.

[Qrazy]

I'm sorry, but Tsotsi is dreadful.

I'd say thoroughly mediocre rather than dreadful. But I can see where you're coming from.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I saw Ceddo (Sembene). It was alright.

[balmakboor]

Dang. I was hoping to be the first to mention The Gods Must Be Crazy. I know that comedy is ridiculously subjective, but I've never laughed harder in my life than during it. Okay, one other movie that had me rolling was The Naked Gun and that was before it was fashionable to watch O.J. get injured and maimed.

Can you tell I've seen almost nothing from Africa, unless Munyurangabo counts. That one is a masterpiece.

[balmakboor]

I guess I've also seen Moolaade. It was decent.

[Beau]

Dang. I was hoping to be the first to mention The Gods Must Be Crazy. I know that comedy is ridiculously subjective, but I've never laughed harder in my life than during it. Okay, one other movie that had me rolling was The Naked Gun and that was before it was fashionable to watch O.J. get injured and maimed.

I like The Naked Gun. "Bingo!"

We're not so different.

[Pathétique]

I've seen a handful of African films as part of my ongoing quest to see a movie from every country. Here are the ones I've seen so far, excluding those that aren't clearly African:

1. Waiting for Happiness
2. Moolaade
3. Yeelen
4. Bamako
5. Touki Bouki

6. Tsotsi

Waiting for Happiness is the definite favorite, but I recommend all of the top 5. Sissako is a director to keep an eye on.