An invaluable work on black African cinema has at last appeared in English. Francoise Pfaff's volume synthesizes relevant information, devoid of hagiography, about twenty-five sub-Saharan African filmmakers, according a separate chapter--consisting of a biography, filmography, and thematic analyses of individual films--to each. Varying critical viewpoints are brought to bear from both African and non-African perspectives. The author has gone beyond translation and compilation to explore the decades of black African cinema within the historical context of the continent's problematic emancipation. . . . Twenty-Five Black African Filmmakers offers enormous insight along with valuable data heretofore unavailable in English. Cineaste
Black African motion pictures emerged in the 1960s, at the height of the sociopolitical upheavals experienced by many nations in the transition from colonialism to independence. Working mostly with minimal budgets and limited distribution opportunities, African filmmakers nevertheless have been consistent prizewinners at international film festivals. Francoise Pfaff introduces this developing artistic tradition to American readers with her informative and highly readable guide to the work of twenty-five Black African directors.