Sinners and ancestors
Ryan Coogler’s latest film is more than a vampire fable — it’s a bridge between Black American history and African audiences hungry for connection, investment, and storytelling rooted in shared struggle.
Hollywood
Writing while black
The film adaptation of Percival Everett's novel ‘Erasure’ leaves little room to explore Black middle-class complicity in commodifying the traumas of Black working-class lives.
Where is African cinema in Hollywood?
It would seem that Hollywood has discovered Africa again. But how does all the new American content about Africa’s past compare to a previous generation of African-made movies on the same topic?
The revenge of the subalterns
The second 'Black Panther' film is a fierce critique of the West's (neo)colonial adventures in Africa and the Americas.
A kingdom’s ransom
Although films like 'The Woman King' offer us a small glimpse into the past, they cannot give us the full story.
We wear the masks
The TV series "Watchmen" deserves credit for how it put unsung elements of black history into mainstream culture.
The legend of flying Africans
The film Uncut Gems, Black American identity politics, and the narrative appeal of Ethiopian beginnings.
Hollywood’s 419 Scam
Africa is apparently hot in Hollywood, but can Hollywood be trusted with African stories?
O problema com ‘Black Panther’
No primer aniversario do estreno do filme 'Black Panther,' re-publicamos o ensaio de Russell Rickford traducido em Português.
Ghana’s royal visitors
The contrasting receptions for high profile visitors to Ghana — first Prince Charles and Camilla from the UK, then a group of African-American celebrities from the United States — says a lot.
Wakanda’s feminist scorecard
How the celebrated film Black Panther stacks up in its depiction of decolonized African feminism.
Black Film, White Masks
Namibian filmmaker, Perivi John Katjavivi: The black voice in cinema occurs on the margins and is filtered, distorted, watered-down, negotiated, corrupted.
Three separate films
'Virunga' is an important film, even if it lacks perspectives from local stakeholders.
Mohamed so-and-so from such-and-such
Ridley Scott's "Exodus" and deeply rooted issues of bigotry and racism in Hollywood.
The problem with the Hollywood Mandelas
Hollywood films about Nelson Mandela separates him from the movement that produced him. The fact is, movements made Mandelas, not the other way around.
Ghanaian film posters and viewing cultures
The posters are tied to the Ghanaian and Nollywood film industries that emerged in the late 1980s.
Introducing our new series: Africa on Film
Over the next few months, Allison Swank will commence a new weekly series on popular (and not-so-popular) films in the United States 'about' Africa.