African Film and Video in the Arts and Humanities Curriculum Workshop

Michigan State University, November 6 to 8, 1997

 

Description

Of all the arts produced in or about Africa, cinema is the least known.  This is due in large part to economic forces that control the distribution of film worldwide, especially in the United States.  As a result, very few African films reach American audiences, leaving the spectators of film and television exposed to images that often distort Africa realities.

 

Despite the odds, a vibrant and creative film industry has been created by Africans working in Africa and abroad.  We want to introduce teachers to African media and help them use it in their classrooms.

 

Program

Thursday, November 6, 1997

3 pm       Registration

 

5-6 pm       Welcome Reception

 

7-11 pm              Film Showings

Ouaga by Kwate Nee-Owoo & Kwesu Owusu (Burkina Faso, 1988, 52 min.)

In Darkest Hollywood: Cinema & Apartheid, Part I by Peter Davis & Daniel               Riesenfeld (South Africa, 1993, 57 min.)

Finzan by Cheik Oumar Sissoko (Mali, 1980, 107 min.)

 

Friday, November 7, 1997

9:15 am          Review of African Media Program

David Wiley, Director, African Studies Center, Michigan State U.

 

9:15 am       Film Showing

Wend Kuuni by Gaston Kabore (Burkina Faso, 1982, 70 min.)

 

10:45 am       African Cinema in the Classroom

                             N. Frank Ukadike, Dept. of Communication, U. of  Michigan

 

1:30                 African Tradition  in Film

                             Phil Rosen, Dept of Modern Culture & Media, Brown U.

 

3:30 Folklore & Music in African Film                                

Ruth Stone, Folklore Institute, Indiana U.

 

8-11 pm            Film Showings

Aristotle=s Plot by Jean-Pierre Bekelo (Zimbabwe, 1996, 71 min.)

Quartier Mozart by Jean-Pierre Bekelo (Cameroon, 1992, 80 min.)

Le Franc by Djibril Diop Mambety (Senegal, 1994, 45 min.)


Saturday, November 8,1997

9:00              Film Showing

Monday=s Girls by Ngozi Onwurah (Nigeria, 1993, 49 min.)

 

10:00 am         Women in African Cinema

                             Maureen Eke, Dept of English, Central Michigan U

 

1:30-3                  African Cinema & Politics

                             Ken Harrow, Dept of English, Michigan State U

 

3-4:30                  New Directions in African Cinema                             

Awam Amkpa, Mt. Holyoke College

 

7:30 pm               Film Showings

Guelwaar by Ousmane Sembane (Senegal, 1993, 115 min.)

Yaaba by Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso, 1989, 90 min.)