Africa Is a Country

5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°27

5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°27

By
Tom Devriendt

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty is the creative debut feature of director Terence Nance who we got to know through the work he did together with Blitz the Ambassador. His new film is sold as a take on “young love” in the city of New York. First reviews praise, among other things, the mesh of visual styles: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZabqZmA9lE

Below’s the pilot video for King Khama: The African Abe Lincoln (assuming the second part of the tile is provisional), a proposed animated movie about Botswana’s King Khama III. Know your history. The project’s website has more details (including excerpts of the script).

The Forgotten Kingdom is a long feature written and directed by Andrew Mudge. The Examiner has an interview with him about the genesis of the film — we learn the production crew was small, “made up mostly of interns from within the country with no film experience”, starring a cast of Basotho and South African actors — and a first favorable review. Predictably, debates broke out on the film’s Facebook wall after the release of the trailer over whether this is “the first film to come out of Lesotho” (the line they’re promoting it with), “a Lesotho film,” or “a South African film”. We won’t wade in. No news yet on when it will be showing in Maseru’s cinemas:



Tik & the Turkey is a one-hour documentary, currently in post-production, depicting the heroin and methamphetamine (also known as “tik”) problem in Cape Town, South Africa and the devastating effects it has on the people and the communities. Some perspective of the story’s urgency: a recent report suggested “1 in 5” (stats depend on who you ask) of school-going youth in the Cape flats are actively using tik.



Ali Blue Eyes is a film by Claudio Giovannesi about an Italian teen of Egyptian heritage (lead role for Nader Sarhan) caught between his conflicting identities. Variety‘s review is onto something when the author remarks that while “(a) young man trying to balance his roots with his environment has long been a familiar figure in cinema, the subject is of more recent vintage in Italy, which has only recently begun coming to grips with an immigrant population.”

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.