Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips and the “True Story” of Somali Piracy
The complexity surrounding the social and economic drivers of piracy off the Horn of Africa was lost in the media-friendly version of the story.
Film
The scope of the problem
Egyptian director Mohamed Diab's film "Cairo 678" documents the lives of 3 women, all victims of sexual harassment and assault and who organize collectively against it.
No wonder Winnie Mandela objected to this
The film "Winnie Mandela" is what happens when you combine bad history and bad filmmaking.
The last day on earth
The U.S. premiere of Alain Gomis' new film "Tey (Aujourd'hui)," starring Saul Williams.
What are the “unintended consequences of Dutch colonialism”?
In their documentary installation piece “Empire: The unintended consequences of colonialism,” filmmaker team Eline Jongsma and
The Algerian Ministry of Culture
Why is the great director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) making a state-sponsored biopic?
When Ken Norton played Mandingo
Ken Norton, the champion professional boxer who died this week, also had a long, though not
The Black Atlantis
The negative effects of tourism, globalization, and commercialization in Zanzibar.
Deadline Congo
Harry Belafonte and Martin Scorsese are planning a TV series on King Leopold II of Belgium's brutal rule in the Congo.
Great Literature and the Screen
Film adaption of an epic novel is a fine and difficult art; one that the creators of "Half of a Yellow Sun" did not pull off.
Visual Intimacy
Andrew Dosunmu's film "Mother of George" is a film about love and tradition set amongst Nigerian immigrants in New York City.
The New Black Films
There is something to be said about the sheer volume of highly-anticipated films made by black filmmakers or about communities of color.
Long Walk to Toronto
This boi pic of Nelson Mandela feels like it was picked at random from the Wikipedia version of Mandela's autobiography.
5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°30
From the director and singer-actors of the 2005 film U-Carmen eKhayelitsha comes a new “opera” film.
South Africa’s new youth underground?
"We've got Ferraris in Africa. What they gon' say now?", says one of the young people in a new video. Is that the ethics of South Africa's young?
South African Low-Fi Freedom
A group of artists attempt to democratized the image of the country's past through ripping clips off Youtube to re-author what South Africans once knew.
The discourse about a film
What are the politics of the briefly banned film "Of Good Report"?
Michael Caine on the Cape Flats
The film "Zulu" - starring Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom - are getting lukewarm reviews. Is the novel, it's based on, any good?
5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°29
Nègre Blanc (“White Negro”), director Cheikh N’diaye’s new film about albinism, in which he tackles rumors,
Everyone has their own Paul Biya
What would happen if the president goes missing? The people wouldn't care. They've learned to live without him.