Showcasing African films

A scene from Sembene's film Moolaade

Zahir Raihan Film Society (ZRFS) is celebrating its 22nd anniversary (May 16) with film screenings. This year, ZRFS is paying tribute to the cinematic outputs of a continent, which for centuries has been termed the “Dark Continent” by European colonists.
Secretary General of ZRFS, Sabbir Chowdhury informed that some 80 films would be screened -- in six parts -- at Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, Russian Centre of Science and Culture and Alliance Francaise. In association with the Goethe-Institut, the first part of the five-day screening started at the Institut's auditorium on May 18.
“Throughout the years we have been screening films from several point of views like country focus; retrospective; film within film and more. In our anniversaries, we have been arranging something special. These films have a great aspect, which highlighted the present trauma of African society,” said Sabbir Chowdhury.
At Goethe-Institut, 26 feature films (full length and shorts made by African filmmakers) will be screened till May 22. This session called "Country Focus" features films from sub-Saharan countries including Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Senegal.
Some acclaimed films including Moolaade, Xala and Black Girl by Ousmane Sembene (Senegal); Yaaba by Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso); Buud Yam by Gaston Kabore (Burkina Faso); Baara by Solomani Sise (Mali) and Abouna by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad) are scheduled to be screened.
The rest of the sessions will highlight documentaries made by African filmmakers at Alliance Francaise from May 26 to 30; feature films made by North African filmmakers from June 1 to 3 at Goethe-Institut; retrospective on French filmmaker Jean Rouch (1917-2004), who made several films from the ethnographical point of view on African societies from June 18 to 20; and films on Africa made by foreign filmmakers at Alliance Francaise from July 6 to11 and at Russian Centre of Science and Culture from July 13 to 17.
The event is dedicated to the memory of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene (1923-2007), who is widely considered as the "father of African films".
The aspect of African films is atypical from other countries. In many African countries, film production started following formal independence, which happened in the 1960s.
During the colonial era, Africa was represented in cinema by Western filmmakers as being without history or culture. Films on Africa during the colonial era include jungle epics such as Tarzan or adaptations of King Solomon's Mines.
Many African writers' (like Chinua Achebe) denying such stereotypes was an important motivation for African filmmakers.
The first African film to win international recognition was Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl (1965). Sembene who started off as a writer, turned to films to reach a wider audience. Sembene's native country Senegal continued to be the hub of African film production for more than a decade.
Djibril Diop Mambety's (Senegal) sophisticated comedy Touki-Bouki (1973) is considered one of the best African films ever made.
The filmmakers started by recalling the neo-colonial condition of African societies. African filmmakers stressed their solidarity with progressive filmmakers in other parts of the world.
African cinema has also been influenced by traditions from other continents such as Italian neo-realism, Brazilian "Cinema Novo" and the theatre of Bertolt Brecht.