Musically, Congo is the mothership
The documentary, Rumba Kings, offers a commendable and tireless argument for both an intangible cultural heritage case and a centering of the Congolese way.
documentary
Lagos street boys
Filmmaker Tolulope Itegboje humanizes the maligned area boys of Nigeria's commercial capital; presenting them with an opportunity to share their stories.
Fractured dreams: The life of a Libyan exile
Muammar Gaddafi occupies a contested space in the histories of postcolonial Africa. What about his Libyan opponents?
The house of migrants
An interview with the filmmakers, Ousmane Samassekou and Aïcha Macky, about their films: two stunning documentaries creating new narratives about migration.
If you want to get the West’s attention, talk about the Holocaust
The intimate connection between the horror unleashed on Europe's Jews and the preceding centuries of atrocities perpetrated by the "Enlightened" West on those they colonized and enslaved.
In search of Ethiopia’s past and present
The film "Finding Sally" grapples with Ethiopia's past, but may romanticize its present.
Promises and discontents
A new documentary focuses on using the soil’s carbon absorbent properties to solve the climate change problem.
Is the future of African auteur cinema streaming?
Imagine if African films could enjoy shooting and editing on the continent, uninhibited by national and international politics.
When discussing war is taboo
Dieudo Hamadi’s film 'Downstream to Kinshasa' is a powerful antidote to the DRC's collective amnesia around the Six-Day War and its aftermath.
Restaging global history
The performative documentary 'Sun of the Soil' restores the historical record of the 'great king' of Mali, Mansa Musa.
Commerce is cannibalism
How economic disparities, inequities, and opportunities occur side by side in Lesotho.
The weaponization of memory in Burundi
Prince Louis Rwagasore, also known as “Burundi’s Lumumba," has been reduced to a political tool by the country's elite, but artists are doing his legacy justice.
The exiled writer from Equatorial Guinea
A new documentary about Equatorial Guinea and the exiled writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel provides an honest, critical examination of the country's political, social, and cultural issues.
Buddha in Africa
A new documentary about China's colonization of Malawi reveals how one colonial hand opens the door for another.
A politics of nuisance
Political activist and award winning photojournalist Boniface Mwangi wants to remake Kenyan politics. A new film charts his journey.
How to steal a country
Rehad Desai's film celebrates the investigative journalists who expose the corruption of Zuma's regime in South Africa, comes with a depressing note: To date, no one has gone to jail.
Mandela and the Others
What can we learn from the 256 hours of audio recordings of the 1964 Rivonia Trial's proceedings?
‘Planet of the Humans’ is a mess
The new documentary on the future of our planet, executive produced by Michael Moore, fails on a number of fronts. But believers in green growth could still learn from it.
Decolonizing the Lens
Because of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda occupies a complicated place in the world’s imagination. A new film, about the preceding 1973 pogrom, wants to demystify that view. Does it succeed?
Mama Africa
A documentary film reclaims precolonial histories and spiritualities between Nigeria and Venezuela.