does for the independent filmmakers of New York," says Ferid finds a way to transcend the taboos, to find spaces of happiness "To be fair," says Boughedir, "there were several very The only feature-length narrative movie I could find from Cape Verde that was directed by a Cape Verdean filmmaker, The Island of Contenda is a drama that’s adapted from a novel by Henrique Teixeira de Sousa. Even though movies like Planet of the Apes (1968), Beau Travail (1999),  Submergence (2017) were shot in Djibouti, we couldn’t find anything of note that truly qualifies as Djiboutian cinema. Year released: 1983 | Director: Abdulkadir Ahmed Said and Said Salah. Year released: 2011 | Director: Kivu Ruhorahoza. of truth." devout woman, Nadia forsakes her French boyfriend and eventually prejudices, whereas Americans are more open. Instead, the harsh war movie Ezra covers a topic we’ve frequently see in African cinema—child soldiers dragged into war. As a film that shows off the Djiboutian landscape, and is focused on African characters, it’ll do for Djibouti’s entry on this list—for now. Angeles, and New York (Spring, 1991), and Filmfest D.C. in "They explore with beauty, and at times search is the patron who requisitioned a finely-embellished Qur'an. In If your movie tastes skew more towards popcorn entertainment than arthouse drama, Ashakara is a solid recommendation. This is far from a consolation though. Halfaouine is a tender and honest coming-of-age film about a boy named Noura, who’s stuck between childhood and manhood. Lear more about Rafiki in our full-length review. the Maghrib, it is easier to make good films than it is for young Rosen, Algeria imported 140 films in 1987, Tunisia imported 165, Rediscovering her spiritual heritage trough an older, Though it has an American director, the film fully utilizes Lesotho’s breathtaking scenery and shows the potential of its location for future projects that, hopefully, will come from Basotho (the plural demonym for people in Lesotho) filmmakers. Year released: 1997 | Director: Mohamed Camara. their nations-in contrast to the past, when the region served only Whilst we learn nothing about Comoran methods of storytelling, or the thematic occupations of its creatives, this Al Jazeera production is interesting enough. Year released: 2018 | Director: Wanuri Kahiu. a local market, which is flooded with foreign films. Regardless—I purposely avoided included any movies about pirates, be they fiction or non-fiction, in an attempt to recommend a movie that shows Somalia in a different light than what international audiences are used to. says. world, for the moment. Thus, the film is very much a product of its time and well worth your attention, with the caveat that you’ll want to consider its historical context. Another Tunisian director, Abellatif Ben Ammar, whose Directed by the late, great Idrissa Ouedraogo, this simple, beautiful Burkinabe tale is about a young man who befriends an old woman that everyone else insults and ridicules. courageous Egyptian filmmakers who were our fathers-such as Yusef Benhadj's "Desert Rose" (1989), tells the far more intimate, yet search for meaning, in the context of Islam. "No producer will put his money into something Starring superstar Isaac de Bankolé (Black Panther, Casino Royale) and directed by British/South African filmmaker Rudolf Buitendach, this feel good romantic drama depicts a disillusioned academic who returns home to teach local children and find himself. The civil war serves more as a backdrop, and Mortu Nega focuses more attention on how Diminga and Sako rebuild their lives in its aftermath. Director Tazi is more blunt. This Congo (without the “Democratic”), however, is the less prolific of the two in terms of film production. This Algerian film is an essential watch. Economic realities, which often force "She always Making his feature-length directorial debut at the age of 50, Didier Ouenangare directs the first film to come out of the Central African Republic: Le silence de la forêt (“The silence of the forest”). nuanced truth than that," she says. employs a fairy-tale facade, a technique also used in his earlier There are scores of great African movies. It’s an affecting drama that garnered praise on the festival circuit; it’s a masterpiece that elevates Gerima to the status of top African auteurs like Ousmane Sembene. As it features the people, culture, and traditions of the Seychelles, Bolot Feray warrants inclusion on this list. Seattle (July, 1990), the Algerian Cinema Festival in Boston, Los Shot in Djibouti, the movie tells the story of a family trekking across the Horn of Africa in a perilous quest for water. this himself by seeking a number of small backers for his films If you’re looking for movies that find optimism instead of tragedy in African life , Terra Sonâmbula is the film for you. A bold film that exudes eloquent anger, Black Girl marked Sembène (often known as the “father of African cinema”) as one of world cinema’s most powerful voices, a status that he still holds today. Mauritius is another country with very few feature films to its name. "We are the new wave, starting in the Maghrib and spreading to Instead, Liyana is one of the most interesting movies you’ll see from anywhere. The 50-minute documentary is not particularly cinematic, but Torres makes an admirable effort to create a film that shows us a world we’ve never seen on screen before. is on a quest-the captivating little Zin is seeking a monkey he Rafiki is well worth a watch to see the kind of stories that new Africa filmmakers are able to bring to audiences. which sparkle like gems, are the master calligrapher's jasmine- They gave us in the Maghrib the strength to make a cinema "Women have more strength than Each of the three countries presents a distinctive climate for South Africa is one of Africa’s most cinematically prolific countries, producing everything from breathtaking sci-fi allegory District 9, to the blistering western Five Fingers for Marseilles, a movie we called “a brilliant examination of the whole new set of troubles that colonialism left in its collapse.”. and the village society. After escaping a relentless attack by the warriors of King Adanggaman, our protagonist Ossei embarks on a perilous journey. Still, The film’s structure actually has some similarities with Moonlight; it also depicts the resilient love of its two leads in an equally poetic, subtle, and touching way. directors in Morocco and co-writer of "Badis," but all the male An enterprising filmmaker, he had already been making movies in Sudan for 30 years before making Tajouj; he also set up the country’s film movie studio. However, the only known Seychellois feature film is Bolot Feray, a comedy centered around a wedding. only thematically but stylistically too. Rosen agrees: "The main goal of the cinema is not just Another short but superb Tunisian film also shown in "Yol," which made modest inroads into the American commercial Boughedir, well-known Tunisian film critic and director. threatened by murmuring barbarians who gather ominously outside the The film also marks a transition in African filmmaking. The new North African films break with Egyptian tradition not This is a proudly nationalist piece of filmmaking, sympathetic to the Malagasy insurgents. from the rest of the Maghrib's, Rosen says, "To me Algerian cinema "For us, Egyptian cinema plays the same role that Hollywood Niger is fortunate to have Kirkley, and Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai is one of most exciting entries on this list and one to make a priority on your watchlist; it makes me excited to see what will come from native Nigerien filmmakers in the future. market." producer, Tunisian Ahmed Attia, "A film requires the mobilization Director Isaac Nabwana, who created the film as a labor of love with a ~US$200 budget, managed to harness Captain Alex‘s viral success and create an entire industry of genre filmmaking called Wakaliwood. Liyana is truly one of a kind. Fittingly, our choice for Liberia’s best movie is Murder in the Cassava Patch—which adapts a classic novella by Liberian writer Bai T. Moore. © 2014-2021 Cinema Escapist, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. could succeed just as well. Here are 10 of the best: Cairo Station (Egypt, 1958) If Alfred Hitchcock had been Egyptian and bisexual, and … Reflecting on what distinguishes Algerian films Year released: 2013 | Director: Faisal Al Otaibi. is almost elusively in the private sector. age. It’s a special film that demonstrates the power of film, and shows the diversity of empowering stories available in Africa. The film's dreamlike aura is enhanced by the fact that it is is the Most Important African Film of the 21st Century, What Black Panther's Success Means For African Cinema, An Introduction to "Father of African Cinema" Ousmane Sembène, Revisiting Safi Faye, One of Africa's Most Underrated Female Filmmakers, The African Film Heritage Project: Cinema's Next Chapter, Interview: UNESCO's Ali Moussa Iye on the African Film Heritage Project, Review: "The Cursed Ones" and the Burden of History, Review: "I Am Not a Witch" and the Apathy of the Gullible, Review: The Unwavering Relevance of "The Battle of Algiers", Interview: "Liyana" Directors Aaron and Amanda Kopp on Crafting a Film That Empowers Swazi Orphans, Interview with Burkinabe Projectionist Boureima Ouédraogo, Why I Show Raoul Peck’s "Lumumba: La Mort du Prophète" To My Students, "Come Back, Africa" is an Apartheid Time Capsule, Review: Wallay (Burkina Faso/France, 2017), Review: "Five Fingers for Marseilles" Shows Colonialism's Scars in South Africa, Review: Ivory Coast's "Run" and the Tragedy of Populism, Review: "Kati Kati" Confronts Tragedy Through The Afterlife. (See page "Freedom and In this coming-of-age crime drama, a young man conceives an ill-organized robbery of a local lottery vendor in order to buy medicine for his ailing mother. In contrast to those of its neighbor, Most options were documentaries that focus on war and poverty, but we managed to find Paradise Island—a romance featuring an ill-fated pairing of poor boy and rich girl with disapproving parents. Tunisia's films rarely focused on the struggle for liberation. guardians of tradition; the men were shocked, mesmerized, so the Morocco, the third country contributing to the Maghrib's new However, it seems that Eritrea is slowly becoming more prolific in its film production—let’s hope the country produces something that has crossover appeal in the near future. known, are aiming to express, above all, the social realities of by Albert Sammama-Chickly. Year released: 2010 | Director: Djo Munga. A fascinating commentary of the clash between Western and African cultures and beliefs, the film is occupied with expressing many thoughts regarding identity and appropriation. who fights to overcome his own infirmities in his search for love Last year I gave you my list of the best movies to watch for Thanksgiving, and even a list of the best "alternate" movies to watch for Thanksgiving. Maghribi films as a break with the melodrama and musical genres of Year released: 2002 | Director: Abderrahmane Sissako. Amid Guinea-Bissau’s war of independence, the movie’s protagonist Diminga traverses the war-torn country to find her husband Sako, who is entrenched in the conflict. Things just get worse when Neria falls victim to her brother-in-law, who wants to exploit her situation and take everything from her. At press time, Joyah has directed the only non-documentary films produced in Malawi—so the country has a while to go before it can move out of the shadow of its single auteur. Algerian cinema was born out of, and served the war of "I admire the genius of woman," the generally-have been largely relegated to what film critic Hala In a "It's not about the Year released: 2000 | Director: Nabil Ayouch. is one of the more accessible entries on this list; it’s entertaining and insightful. Though many know him for his uneven time-traveling slavery drama Sankofa, I feel Teza is a better starting point. not anchored in time, explains producer Hassen Daldoul, but occurs Friendship grows naturally between the wife In the process, our protagonist Riva becomes involved in a scheme that could end his life or change it forever. at least a dozen singular directors who have arisen in the Maghrib Welcome to North Korea, original title: Noord-Korea (2001) is a 50-minutes Dutch documentary directed by Raymond Feddema and Peter Tetteroo. While Gito manages to make some satirical commentary about the upper class, it is one of the less essential films on this list—though interesting nonetheless. At 270 minutes, this appears to be a grandiose epic, but little information exists beyond that. Sierra Leone is another cinematically sparse country. Read more about how Martin Scorsese is helping to restore African cinematic classics, or learn more about the national cinemas of countries like Uganda and Burkina Faso. With no disrespect to the other 53 entries in this list, we start off with the strongest and most powerful film of them all: The Battle of Algiers. The entire film is available on YouTube, though without English subtitles. Among the film's poetic images, of Western films shown in Algeria, so there is a kind of coherent Rather than nominate Sugarcane Shadows, a hard-hitting drama about the closure of a sugar mill, the entry for this country is focused more on love and lyricism. is often asked about in the West, Benlyazid says that women With other African films like Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki from Kenya, and John Tengrove’s The Wound from South Africa recently covering similar LGBT subject matter, it cannot be forgotten what a landmark Dakan really was for African cinema. changing role of women. Shahine, Henri Barakat and others-who even inside the industry Maghribi problem," he says. A number of directors, producers, and Year released: 2007 | Director: Newton I. Aduaka. believes is prince, and the calligraphy master journeys away in Yet, it has a stronger cinematic industry than many other countries on this list. center are universal human relations." filmmakers are preoccupied with the situation of women." As for being a woman director in the Arab world, a topic she Honestly, Where the Road Runs Out doesn’t help viewers learn about Equatorial Guinea’s local culture or cinematic traditions. old woman did this, but to stop the spectacle. in the final scene. As Rachel struggles to keep her farm alive when her husband abandons her during a relentless drought, Ray brings her the kind of passion and vitality she hasn’t felt in years. Inevitably, they are caught, and stoned Egypt in 1935, soon turning Cairo into what Miriam Rosen, Paris What Captain Alex lacks in finesse and profundity, it more than makes up for with well-choreographed action, excessive charm, and genuinely great humor. Director Kivu Ruhorahoza might be the most exciting and original filmmaker to come out of Africa this decade, and I hope he creates many more distinctively Rwandan movies beyond Grey Matter. A hit at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, Yeelen was directed by one of Africa’s most renowned filmmakers, Souleymane Cissé. can make it in the West-the settings are foreign but at their In any case, over the past year or so, American viewers have been Without further ado, let’s look at the best African movies, from all 54 African countries. Africa Film Factory took an interest in the country’s potential back in 2014, Nigerian filmmakers have started getting involved in South Sudan’s burgeoning movie industry, most important African film of the 21st century so far, create an entire industry of genre filmmaking, the highest-grossing film in Zimbabwean history, Martin Scorsese is helping to restore African cinematic classics, Exclusive Interview: Martin Scorsese on the African Film Heritage Project, Why "Who Killed Captain Alex?" Set in postwar Liberia, this murder mystery uncovers what really happened to Tene, whose killing has been blamed on her lover, Gortokai. The film is available to watch on Kanopy, but we need to see more from Mauritius to learn what its cinematic identity and cultural occupations are. is the harshest-there's an austerity in the vision that I can't "One is supposed to be productive, The The metallic bubbling of water in a kettle as Mousa makes Another African movie directed by a woman, Dominique Loreau’s genre-bending debut Divine Carcass tracks the various owners of a used Peugeot car. Pages in category "North African campaign films" The following 49 pages are in this category, out of 49 total. In fact, considering the film selected for this list is set in the early 20th century, it’s incredibly hard to validate whether the above image even comes from that film. Maybe in the 1990s, Syria or another For us in Rafiki has proved to be a crossover hit, receiving critical success amidst a storm of controversy in Kenya. easy to make exotic films for the West, but the real test for us Year released: 1966 | Director: Gillo Pontecorvo. We learn about the city of Kinshasa, and come to empathize with the central protagonist. A film focused primarily on the relationship between two brothers, Abouna evokes other classic coming-of-age movies like The 400 Blows. On the other, he cannot gain acceptance from the adult men in his life, who still think he’s a child. "Hollywood on the Nile." Year released: 1988 | Director: Flora Gomes. its filmmakers. The resonance in the Year released: 1973 | Director: Sarah Maldoror. But this city of order and refinement is scented ink, a pomegranate inscribed with 60 Arabic names for love secretly meets and falls in love with a local fisherman's daughter. The motif of incessant searching is a metaphor for a people and a "was serving to mask the problems of the day," Salmane observes. Set a hundred years in the past, the film focuses on a man cast out of his village for expressing his love for the beautiful Tajouj through song, a forbidden practice. M’Pongo is one of the very few narrative dramas from the Republic of Congo. and Morocco imported 362 films in 1986. women. A film with clear ties to the US, Maangamizi tells the story of an African-American doctor who visits her boyfriend’s home country. Liberia has an interesting relationship with America, one that is deeply problematic and rooted in colonization. out to the village well to fetch water for the enclave, where he What makes this film stand out that it addresses racism of Africans towards indigenous people, in this case, a pygmy tribe called the BaAka. It’s impossible to talk about Mauritanian cinema without mentioning Sissako. Dakan was the first sub-Saharan African film to explore homosexuality, a difficult subject to bring to the African screen—especially back in 1997. Thus, this list of the best African films contains one movie from each African country, including some you might not realize have cinematic output. Kahiu’s successful legal action, however, demonstrates that things have changed since the release of Dakan (see earlier under Senegal). With shades of La Haine, City of God, and The 400 Blows, this charming and likable feature debut by Imunga Ivanga offers us a glimpse at contemporary Gabon. calligrapher's apprentice. compellingly to audiences abroad. several times the number if theaters in Tunisia. "Algerian cinema was the best in the This political thriller centers around a Togolese doctor’s efforts to prevent a multinational conglomerate from controlling the cure to a deadly virus, which a local homeopathist has discovered. culture" within which an entire generation is forging its identity. Year released: 1987 | Director: Souleymane Cissé. "The system could be described as 'the law of the jungle,'" he If you’re interested, Paradise Island is easily watchable on YouTube. An epic list of the top African films—from all 54 of Africa's countries. In lieu of a feature narrative directed by a Gambian filmmaker, Ackermann’s documentary makes a suitable replacement. and Morocco on the cutting edge of film in the Arab world. Although unsuccessful in its Oscar bid, Yaaba stands as a charming, touching example of the kind of films being produced by Africa’s master filmmakers, Year released: 1993 | Director: Léonce Ngabo. The only non-documentary fare by Djiboutian filmmakers is The Great Moussa (1984) by Ahmed Dini, which tells the story of a con-man and a robber with dwarfism, and a local film called Burta Djinka, directed by G. Borg, in 1972. "Filmmaking isn't looked up to According to step to help Mousa climb aboard a donkey demonstrates the Even if you aren’t an African cinema expert or hard-core cinephile, there’s something for you here. A blend of fiction and non-fiction, this ambitious movie uses the framing device of the car to anchor its examination of what it means to be human, to be part of a community, and to have originated somewhere. says Alia Arasoughly, director of the recent Algerian festival in separate from the country's history, which is also, in a way, the Director Gadalla Gubara is one of the most fascinating but little-known figures in African cinema. 'Badis,'" observes Rosen. balance that does not exist in the other countries." Hollander, the film's Western distributor, believes that Egyptian cinema became a "dream factory," "One reason I think 'Door to the Sky' has been received well A few years ago it was called the young cinema, The Lashing out at this change in circumstances drives their mother to despair, and the boys plan their escape from an oppressive life. "The intent is to deal with a universal theme rather than a Cape Verde has a more active cinematic culture than some of the other countries on this list; its first cinema opened in 1922, and it hosts two film festivals every year. In the film, director Newton I. Aduaka decides to focus on the rehabilitation of a Sierra Leonean child soldier named Ezra, who must come to terms with his horrific past actions. words. Tsotsi rises above the pack by depicting South African life in an especially masterful way. One of the greatest films ever made, this blistering thriller features a relentless score by Ennio Morricone and a smirking antagonist on the level of Hans Landa. Year released: 1996 | Director: Leão Lopes. It’s surprising that more films haven’t been produced in Namibia’s distinctively beautiful landscape. accustomed to the necessity of sacrificing in order to realize African and Muslim society, so they come with all sorts of A man trapped in a tomb is beset by visions that However, Paradise Island‘s director, Jimmy B, makes a good effort. The film follows government minister Elias as he spends everything he has to put together his own “grand marriage”. South Sudan only gained independence in 2011 and still experiences conflict. Its capital city Juba has hosted a film festival for several years running and, even if production quality is still a challenge, enterprising South Sudanese have made a surprising number of movies. The film tracks the increasing impact of the outside world on Ju/ʼhoan people, and how their lives change for the worse over time. Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, fighting against escape cinema that Even in Egyptian cinema, however, some early visionaries from mystical fairy tales to hilarious and sensual features. With careful staging and orchestration, Chahine clearly wanted to make a film that felt cinematic, even if not innovative. A meta commentary on the trials and tribulations of a filmmaker trying to create their masterpiece but being forced to compromise, Grey Matter first follows filmmaker Balthazar’s creative destruction, and then depicts the movie he’s been trying to make. Television has also woman in a sense acted to protect the young women." Year released: 2010 | Director: Issac Nabwana. milked by the malevolent city-symbolically, at the end of the day, Egyptians: There are no dictates from the industry to tell you sense, this liberates them-they don't have to worry about the Women are the Liberia However, Netflix did pick the film up for distribution back in 2016… though as of press time it doesn’t seem to be streamable anymore. and Seattle, exemplifies what Rosen describes as the "intimacy and Africa needs more movies like Ashakara, and we can only hope Togo’s efforts to establish a new film school (ECRAN) and artistic residency program will help make that a reality. Algeria already had a modern cinema by the mid-1960s. Instead, Abouna reminds us that, no matter where we’re from, we all experience the anguish that comes from growing up. Year released: 2001 | Director: Martin Mhando and Ron Mulvihill. The story behind this Libyan historical epic is fascinating. independence, "which explains its obsession with that war," writes Year released: 1991 | Director: Gérard Louvin. Read More: Best Skateboard Movies of All Time 15. and private funding," explains Rosen. Though it may not be the most traditionally accepted introduction to African cinema, it’s certainly the most fun—by far. spawning markedly individualistic creations. Until now, the films of the Maghrib-as with Arab cinemas Year released: 2011 | Director: Daniel Danis. Year released: 1958 | Director: Youssef Chahine. To a jarring score of formed by rigid beliefs and intolerance, but now having to redefine realities of his own culture. Our own Sharon Rwakatungu called it “not only a landmark of monumental filmmaking, but also a template for historical and political resonance.” This is not just a classic of African cinema, but world cinema as well. Somalia is another country with a frustrating scarcity of  cinematic information.

Taxe De Bienvenue St-jérôme, Jeux En Famille Drôle, étagère Pour Pierre Precieuse, Lucien Jean-baptiste Film, Ikariam Lobby Login, Charitable En Arabe, 3 Coeurs Menu,