“And the world weeps with them…”, narrates the solemn 70s commentator over images of children in Biafra, bloated by kwashiorkor. These are the opening shots of the documentary film, The Trouble With Aid, which screened on the BBC last week, a documentary by Ricardo Pollack problematising the growth of humanitarian aid through an episodic look […]
My first thought was wow; some anthropologists went to Tanzania to make a documentary about the politics of translation and made something a lot more fun. This is the inside story of Lufufu and DJ Mark, the best of the best of the charismatic men who have broken into the entertainment industry dubbing international blockbusters […]
At the recent Film Africa film festival in London, the new Ethiopian feature film “Atletu” (The Athlete) was screened to a sold-out audience. Directed by Rasselas Lakew and Davey Frankel, it is a portrayal of Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian runner who won two Olympic marathons in a row, and broke the world record in Rome […]
When the documentary film, “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” first made the rounds of festivals earlier this year and went on limited release this summer, the reaction of mainstream critics and film blogs (example here) were overwhelmingly positive. I haven’t yet seen the film which is directed by the Swede Goran Hugo Olsson and produced […]
Film Review by Elliot Ross* Making a film about an artist whose work is as beautiful as El Anatsui’s must be a daunting thing. But Susan Vogel, in her new documentary, ‘Fold, Crumple, Crush: The Art of El Anatsui’ (trailer above), has achieved a sensitive and sophisticated portrait that will intrigue Anatsui devotees even as […]
Apart from his role in American racial and class struggles from the 1950s onwards, Harry Belafonte (now 83) played a central role in popularizing struggles for justice on the African continent, especially against white racism in South Africa. Not just by hosting and advancing the careers of South African artists (Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela), making […]
Kathryn Mathers Soap operas, soccer, social change – could it get better than that? “The Team,” a documentary by Patrick Reed and White Pine Productions, about the making of a soap opera featuring a ‘mixed’ football team in Nairobi focuses on a group of young Kenyans who auditioned to take part in the soap opera […]
