Xala (Senegal, 1975)

Sembene Ousmane was a remarkable filmmaker, he was responsible for the first black African film, Borom Saret (Senegal, 1963) and concluded his career with the marvellous Moolaadé (Senegal-Fr-Burkino Faso-Cameroon-Morocco-Tunisia, 2004). Xala, like Deep End, is a film I’d read about but never seen and I have to confess was slightly disappointed. Not that it isn’t an excellent [...]

The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri, Italy-Algeria, 1966)

The Battle of Algiers is an extraordinary film for a number of reasons, primarily the impartiality with which the events are portrayed and the style in which it is shot. It was made just after Algerian independence from France and focuses upon the battle for the capital city in 1957, which although a failure for the [...]

Ordinary Boys (Chico normales, Spain, 2008)

The premise of this film is fascinating: it’s set in a Moroccan village where the Madrid bombers originated and looks at the ordinary lives of its residents. It doesn’t quite work for me but there was much that was engaging. The film attempts to look at the social context – poverty – that leads individuals [...]

Goodbye Bafana (Ger, Fr, Bel, S. Africa, It, UK, Lux, 2007)

Why is it that the stories about apartheid we get to see, in the UK at least, are the white man’s story? The economic racism of the film industry, of course, explains this but it does make watching films like Goodbye Bafana a slightly uncomfortable experience. The proper story is of the ANC’s struggle and [...]

Waiting for Happiness (Mauritania-France, 2002)

Wonderfully slow-paced movie that shows the effect of globalisation on the ‘middle-of-nowhere’. Well; sort of. The outside world is only there via the radio that’s lost; the stories of the characters; and the waiting to leave. Looks beautiful too. (DVD) Powered by ScribeFire.