Volume 3, Number 2 of Black Camera has just been released by IU Press, and features a new section called Close-Up, which critically examines a particular subject in film employing a variety of modes of inquiry. In this issue, the focus is on Nothing But a Man (1964) by Robert Young. The JSTOR page for… Read more »
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‘Kichwateli’ & Other Pleasures of the Kenyan Music Video Scene
Nairobi has been at the center of some great music videos recently, and they deserve to be seen. The songs and videos here, taken alone, would stand up just fine. Together, though, they are wonderful compositions. The music for Kichwateli (Swahili: TV Head) comes from Nairobi based Just A Band as well as Maasai Mbili… Read more »
Into the Archive: Black Action Figures
Last Fall, our former archivist Mary Hueslbeck put together a display at the IU Cinema featuring a collection of toys and action figures of black movie stars. It’s a pretty interesting collection, and reminds me how action figures and toys have the Janus-like quality of being both fun (I had a great time popping Jim… Read more »
Afro-Vietnamese Orphans Tell Their Stories in ‘Indochina: Traces of a Mother’
A new(er) documentary film by Idrissou Mora-Kpai follows the stories of Afro-Vietnamese orphans born of Vietnamese mothers and West African fathers – tirailleurs sénégalais – brought by the French to fight la sale guerre, mostly in today’s Viet Nam. The synopsis: Through the story of Christophe, a 58-year-old Afro-Vietnamese man, the film reveals the little… Read more »
The Pulse: What about Language in Nigerian Cinema?
In The Pulse, our new feature section, we’ll connect different voices on topics in Black Film. We’ll ask a question, frame it, and then connect with some of the many modes of answering that question. In this first installation, we’ll look at the conversation about language in Nigerian Cinema. * * * * * *… Read more »
Focus on Afro & Indigenous Film with Showcase in Lima
The 6th annual International Indigenous and Afro-descendant Film Showcase and Awards took place last week in Lima, Peru. The Anaconda Prize – the event’s top award – went to the Guatemalan film El oro o la vida (Gold for Life). Hosted by Susana Baca (Afro-Peruvian singer and Minister of Culture), the event expanded this year… Read more »
Images of Black Women Festival Highlights ‘Diversity in the Diaspora’
Participants of the 8th Anniversary Images of Black Women Film Festival, in London from April 13th to 15th, will be taken from Canada to Zimbabwe (via Gaudeloupe) on screen, as the film festival focuses this year illustrating diversity of films about/by black women across the diaspora. In addition to film screenings, other events consider the… Read more »
Celebrating TransAfrican Independence Day: ‘One Night in Brooklyn’
One Night in Brooklyn, a feature film project written and directed by Esosa Edosomwan, will tell the story about a group of bohemian Brooklynites who declare a TransAfrican Independence Day and throw a party to celebrate. Edosomwan, wanting to make a film in the vein of House Party (1990), School Daze (1988), and A Different… Read more »
Latino Film Festival & Conference at Indiana University
The Latino Film Festival and Conference – a packed three days of film, discussion, and visiting directors and writers – comes to IU from the 5th to the 7th of April. The festival kicks off with the dystopian border tale Sleep Dealer (2008) and Blacktino (2011), a “dark teen comedy about an overweight half-black, half-latino… Read more »
‘Worlds of Ousmane Sembène’ in Miami University’s Africana Film Festival
The films and legacy of Ousmane Sembène will be the focus of the 2nd Africana Film Festival at Miami University (Ohio). In addition to refocusing attention on the films of Sembène, the festival “is meant to serve both as an opportunity to open up new inroads in the criticism of Ousmane Sembène’s artistic achievement and… Read more »