Listen to some of my comments on Africa have your say, BBC Radio.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/africa_have_your_say/default.stm
The topic was African films and as an aspiring scriptwriter, I was asked to join the discussion. It was an honour to hear some of Africa's greatest film-makers share their thoughts on the future, past and present of African films.
"Sudan is not really a country at all, but many. A composite layers, like a genetic fingerprint of memories that were once fluid, but have since crystallized out from the crucible of possibility" Jamal Mahjoub, a Sudanese novelist
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Human Stain
Most of the movies nowadays are based on books. Personally, I prefer the books. You just have to read The Notebook and a Walk to Remember before watching them. When you read a book, you start painting pictures of charcters in your mind.
The Human Stain was a good movie based on a great book.
The book is loosely based on the life of Anatole Broyard, a Creole ( mixed race) literary critic. When he started his career after World War 2, he decided to "pass" as white. After his death, his race was questioned in many articles. This encouraged his daughter to trace her roots back to West Africa.
The book is about Coleman Silk, a professor of Classics at a fictitious university in Massachessets. At first, we knew nothing of his background , he was just your average Jewish-American man. Earlier in the movie, he is accussed of using a racial slur and because of that, he quits his job.
The movie is narratted by Nathan Zuckerman, his close friend who ends up writing his story. Then the flashbacks start, we are introduced to his family. His mother had an affair with a white men and he was the product, a green/blue-eyed very light-skinned Colored man.
Silk just chose the easy way out, all he had to do is check white on applications.
He chose to live a lie his whole life.
nterestingly, it was played by WentWorth Miller, an American of Syrian,Jamaican, African American, Lebanese, Somali, Russian and German heritage. He describes his father as black and his mother as white.
In 1994, Miller was a student at Princeton. He published a cartoon in the Daily Princetonian. The cartoon was misunderstood and he was accussed of being a racist. Interestingly, he didn't use the race card to explain this misunderstanding.
The Human Stain was a good movie based on a great book.
The book is loosely based on the life of Anatole Broyard, a Creole ( mixed race) literary critic. When he started his career after World War 2, he decided to "pass" as white. After his death, his race was questioned in many articles. This encouraged his daughter to trace her roots back to West Africa.
The book is about Coleman Silk, a professor of Classics at a fictitious university in Massachessets. At first, we knew nothing of his background , he was just your average Jewish-American man. Earlier in the movie, he is accussed of using a racial slur and because of that, he quits his job.
The movie is narratted by Nathan Zuckerman, his close friend who ends up writing his story. Then the flashbacks start, we are introduced to his family. His mother had an affair with a white men and he was the product, a green/blue-eyed very light-skinned Colored man.
Silk just chose the easy way out, all he had to do is check white on applications.
He chose to live a lie his whole life.
nterestingly, it was played by WentWorth Miller, an American of Syrian,Jamaican, African American, Lebanese, Somali, Russian and German heritage. He describes his father as black and his mother as white.
In 1994, Miller was a student at Princeton. He published a cartoon in the Daily Princetonian. The cartoon was misunderstood and he was accussed of being a racist. Interestingly, he didn't use the race card to explain this misunderstanding.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Exciting...weird..interesting...hollywoodish...darfurian news
A few days ago, Darfur peace talks were held in Arusha,Tanzania(obviously). Everybody was there from rebels to international envoys to Darfur however, Suleiman Jamous, a co-ordinator for the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) was absent. It's not a big problem since a celebrity offered to "take his place". Mia Farrow,a goodwill ambassador for Unicef and the ex-wife of Frank Sinatra wrote a letter to Beshbesh, the Sudanese president and offered a Darfur Exchange. Since Jamous is getting medical care and can't attend the peace talks, she might as well take his place. I mean an actress can be in the shoes of a Darfurian rebel once in a while.
She seems like a great person but a Hollywood celebrity taking the place of Jamous is just too much!
ps:- great idea for a Hollywood movie!
She seems like a great person but a Hollywood celebrity taking the place of Jamous is just too much!
ps:- great idea for a Hollywood movie!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Movies about Africa, Hollywood's new obsession!
Thanks for inspiring this post Dana:)
Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, The Constant Gardener, The last king of Scotland etc..they are not just random movies they are movies about my beloved Africa. Its the begining of the 21st century and the world is still worried about Africa seeing that most African countries greeted the 21st century and the new millenium armed with poverty, illiteracy, war, destructive ethnic or religious conflicts and underdevelopment. In the 1950's and the 1960's, the world wasn't very worried about Africa, they were worried about Asia. Yes, Asia, I am talking about the Middle east, the near east and the far east. However, this century is truely the "Asian century", Asians proved that they can solve their conflicts and problems and started developing their countries (hongkong, Thailand, UAE, China etc...). While America was entering the digital age, Europe was recovering from the destructive WW2, Asians started using their resources, Africa was too involved in pointless ethnic conflicts, corruption and other problems which often lead to humanitarian disasters.
Why is Hollywood soo interested in making 20th century Africa into movies? Because we have plenty of amazing, unbelievable, touching and shocking stories ( not to mention that they are most definitely oscar-winning stories!).
I'm not going to be surprised if I go to the movies in a few weeks to watch a movie about Sudan! wait a minute, they are filming emma's war right now! I'm sure the world will be thrilled by this movie. I mean a sudanese warlord marries a british aid worker and she lives with him in Southern sudan during Africa's longest-running war! How originial! ( drum rolls, drum rolls pleaseeeee.....and the golden globe for best actress goes to ...Nicole Kidman for playing Emma's part in an exquisite way and for turning the horrors of the Sudanese civil war into an eye-opening film ( not that we were aware of the civil war but hey thanks for telling us about it!).
Do I like movies about Africa?
Yes, No, Mabye. I do like watching movies about Africa because hollywood succeeds in making them very real and believable. However, I hate watching such movies, it makes me helpless, it makes Africa seem helpless. Africa is not a helpless sad continent and I hate being helpless.
I'm not in denial, Africa did go through some tough times mabye more than any other continent but is it irreversible? are we never going to rise? are we always going to be a dependant sad continent? did Africa go down for good?
Mabye the 20th century wasn't "africa's" century, mabye the 21st century will not be "africa's" century but mabye the 22nd century will be ours. Africa has so much potential. Atleast, I think so! I believe in her.
Honestly, I'm not against watching hollywood movies about her or any movies about Africa at all but please, stop the afro-pessimism n stop making Africa look helpless.
Moreover, what did they all have in common except hotel rwanda?
The European trying to save the helpless little sad Africans. Europeans come to Africa expecting change and ofcoure they will be the ones responsible for this change. They will come to Africa and all of a sudden, AIDS dissapear, poverty is gone, all people are educated, development is all over the place but wait a minute, this is the real world.
Why is Hotel Rwanda different from the other 3 movies? It is real. It happened. Yes, that one African man, Paul ,saved thousands of lives. Yes, Africans are capable of great things once they get to work.
Europeans did alot for Africa, Europeans are doing alot for Africa right now but what can Africans do for Africa? Alot. Who is going to change Africa? its own people, the Africans. Is there any hope for Africa? Yes, its people.
The hollywood movies are true, I'm not going to lie but its history, history is the past and the future is the present. We should look forward to the future while not forgeting the past, acknowledging it while learning our lesson for it, we can make a brighter future for ourselves, our children and the next generations.
Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, The Constant Gardener, The last king of Scotland etc..they are not just random movies they are movies about my beloved Africa. Its the begining of the 21st century and the world is still worried about Africa seeing that most African countries greeted the 21st century and the new millenium armed with poverty, illiteracy, war, destructive ethnic or religious conflicts and underdevelopment. In the 1950's and the 1960's, the world wasn't very worried about Africa, they were worried about Asia. Yes, Asia, I am talking about the Middle east, the near east and the far east. However, this century is truely the "Asian century", Asians proved that they can solve their conflicts and problems and started developing their countries (hongkong, Thailand, UAE, China etc...). While America was entering the digital age, Europe was recovering from the destructive WW2, Asians started using their resources, Africa was too involved in pointless ethnic conflicts, corruption and other problems which often lead to humanitarian disasters.
Why is Hollywood soo interested in making 20th century Africa into movies? Because we have plenty of amazing, unbelievable, touching and shocking stories ( not to mention that they are most definitely oscar-winning stories!).
I'm not going to be surprised if I go to the movies in a few weeks to watch a movie about Sudan! wait a minute, they are filming emma's war right now! I'm sure the world will be thrilled by this movie. I mean a sudanese warlord marries a british aid worker and she lives with him in Southern sudan during Africa's longest-running war! How originial! ( drum rolls, drum rolls pleaseeeee.....and the golden globe for best actress goes to ...Nicole Kidman for playing Emma's part in an exquisite way and for turning the horrors of the Sudanese civil war into an eye-opening film ( not that we were aware of the civil war but hey thanks for telling us about it!).
Do I like movies about Africa?
Yes, No, Mabye. I do like watching movies about Africa because hollywood succeeds in making them very real and believable. However, I hate watching such movies, it makes me helpless, it makes Africa seem helpless. Africa is not a helpless sad continent and I hate being helpless.
I'm not in denial, Africa did go through some tough times mabye more than any other continent but is it irreversible? are we never going to rise? are we always going to be a dependant sad continent? did Africa go down for good?
Mabye the 20th century wasn't "africa's" century, mabye the 21st century will not be "africa's" century but mabye the 22nd century will be ours. Africa has so much potential. Atleast, I think so! I believe in her.
Honestly, I'm not against watching hollywood movies about her or any movies about Africa at all but please, stop the afro-pessimism n stop making Africa look helpless.
Moreover, what did they all have in common except hotel rwanda?
The European trying to save the helpless little sad Africans. Europeans come to Africa expecting change and ofcoure they will be the ones responsible for this change. They will come to Africa and all of a sudden, AIDS dissapear, poverty is gone, all people are educated, development is all over the place but wait a minute, this is the real world.
Why is Hotel Rwanda different from the other 3 movies? It is real. It happened. Yes, that one African man, Paul ,saved thousands of lives. Yes, Africans are capable of great things once they get to work.
Europeans did alot for Africa, Europeans are doing alot for Africa right now but what can Africans do for Africa? Alot. Who is going to change Africa? its own people, the Africans. Is there any hope for Africa? Yes, its people.
The hollywood movies are true, I'm not going to lie but its history, history is the past and the future is the present. We should look forward to the future while not forgeting the past, acknowledging it while learning our lesson for it, we can make a brighter future for ourselves, our children and the next generations.
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