Through an analytical piece headlined Films find heart in Africa, the newspaper pointed out an untapped potential that Hollywood has noticed in Africa. Buoyed by the critical and financial success of movies such as Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener (partly shot in Kenya) , studios are unleashing a series of films not only based on life in Africa, but shot there as well, wrote Scott Bowles in the article. The cinematic migration, filmmakers and analysts say, reflects a sea change in Hollywood s perspective about the region, once a mystery and easy stereotype for the entertainment industry.
Hollywood has been a leader in cinema business but lately, it has faced competition from Bollywood and Nollywood. This has forced players in Hollywood to change tack in a bid to secure their place. One of the options for inspiration for the much needed fresh approach seems to be the yet to be fully exploited African stories-historical and even current - that have resonance with cinema going masses fatigued by the Hollywood formulaic stories.
More studios have already dispatched their production teams into the continent for serious shoots. And they are doing this with lots of confidence and enthusiasm. In the past few years, millions of dollars have been spent in shooting African themed films despite the fact that these films are yet to get mass appeal that Hollywood blockbusters enjoy.
Hollywood has been fascinated with Africa since before Tarzan, says film critic and historian Leonard Maltin in USA Today. But these new films are a lot more realistic about the issues of the continent. A hundred, maybe a thousand, good stories could be told from there.
Several of these films have seen light of the day and they have not disappointed their producers. The Last King of Scotland and Blood Diamond have done well both at the box office and film competitions. There are concerns, especially from Africa, on stereotypes that have been peddled by some of the film.
That has not stopped the Hollywood filmmakers. But as Hollywood comes to fill her baskets with African stories and sceneries, the big question that African film critics ask is: where are the African filmmakers? When the African film and cinema fraternity congregated in Nairobi between December 1 and 11 in 1986 for the inaugural Africa Film week, the agenda on the table was very urgent.
According to the event organizers, there was a pressing need to build the required infrastructure to support a competitive African cinema industry. Several glasses of wine were tossed to a sustainable African cinema; ideas to build a formidable African film industry rolled from the tongues; dances danced and several papers to guide the process churned out. Several years later, it was apparent that time for the African cinema was not yet then.
After the over 2000 delegates who attended the event finally cleared from their hotel rooms back to their countries, nothing much was left behind in terms of the agenda that the meeting set. In order to develop, film industry must reach and retain wider audiences in the countries of Africa, noted delegates in a document retrieved from the archives. Screening of films in various rural centres be maintained and encouraged to develop further.
Measures must be taken to maintain regular access to rural and urban audiences to screenings of films from various countries of Africa.
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