Description:
- Describes how the first decade of the 21st century has seen a proliferation of North American and European films that focus on African politics and society
- Explains how this new wave of films portrays a continent blighted by transnational corruption, genocide, 'failed states', illicit transnational commerce and the unfulfilled promises of decolonization
- Describes how once Apartheid South Africa was a brutal foil for the romance of East Africa it now serves as a redeemed contrast to the rest of the continent
- Anthropologists and historians reflect on these films and assess the contemporary place Africa holds in the North American and European cinematic imagination.
Brief description:
Nigel Eltringham is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sussex. He has published extensively on the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, conducting research in Rwanda, among the Rwandan diaspora in Europe and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Arusha Tanzania).
Review Quotes:
"These compelling and nuanced essays critically assess the new wave of film on Africa. From Black Hawk Down to Red Dust, all the blockbusters are here - dissected and examined by writers with an intimate knowledge of the countries and their political and cultural settings. This is essential and entertaining reading for anyone who wants to understand what it is we learn about Africa, and about the world's relationship with Africa, in 21st century film." - David M. Anderson, University of Oxford
"This accessibly written book forms a welcome addition to media studies, approaches to the history of Africa, and anthropology, and demonstrates that academic specialists have pertinent things to say about the mass media to an audience outside of, as well as within, academia. Through an exploration of myth and metaphor, the volume shows how, despite the laudable intentions of film directors, mythical histories of Africa continue to serve the needs of Westerners." - Pat Caplan, Goldsmiths College