Cinema from Francophone Africa

Fren 1311 & Hum 1311
West African Francophone Cinema

Course Description Assignments & Grades Course Calendar Final Exam		Contexts Emergence of African Cinema: Senegal in the 60s and 70s Return to the Source: African Oral Traditions and Film Ecocriticism and African Film Gender and Society
	Dr. Sarah B. Buchanan 211 Camden Hall Office Hours: T/TH 10:30-11:30 and by appointment Phone: 320-589-6292 buchansb@morris.umn.edu My home page

Course details:
This class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:00-1:40pm
Classroom: HFA 6
Film Screenings: Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00pm. Place TBA.

Course description:
Cinema has long been recognized as a powerful ideological weapon, serving to establish mental images often perceived as “true,” or as simply “recorded reality.” This perception has been particularly detrimental to the many cultures and civilizations in Africa because for the first sixty years of cinema, the only images to portray the peoples of that continent narrated them as wild savages devoid of culture and history. This course will examine those political images, and how African filmmakers have challenged those images by creating new depictions of their societies. In our study of African cinema, we will closely examine both the themes (or stories) and the form (or construction) of the films in order to try to understand what political and aesthetic goals motivate African filmmakers today.

Required Texts:
Thackway, Melissa. Africa Shoots Back.
Course packet

Assignments:
Analytical papers: You will write four papers 1000-1300 words long (3-4 pages) analyzing various films we will have discussed in class. For each paper your analysis will focus on the theme of the section, and you will elucidate how the film deals with the theme both in content and in the form of the film (how the film is edited, lighted, costumed, designed, etc.). These papers will be graded on the depth and originality of your analysis (How much textual evidence do you give, and how well do you you integrate that evidence into your argument?) and on the organization of your argument (Does your paper have a clear thesis? Does it flow logically?) Paper grades will be reduced 1/3 grade per day if turned in late.

Presentation: In consultation with me, you will prepare a 10-15 minute PowerPoint presentation on one of the directors or African countries. You will be graded on the level of detail, organization and professionalism in your presentation. Click on these links to download the Presentation hand-out and Presentation Grading Sheet.

Final exam: The exam will be composed of four sections. The first section will ask you to identify African countries on a map of the continent. The second section will focus on identifying various filmmakers, films, characters, and/or other important elements we have discussed in class. You will need to clearly state who or what the element is, and why it is important to the course. In the third section of the exam you will identify various clips of films we have seen over the course of the semester. Finally, there will be an essay that will allow you to reflect upon the readings, viewings and discussions from the semester.

Miscellaneous assignments: From time to time there will be quizzes, assignments to hand in, etc.

After two absences over the course of the semester, your final grade will be reduced 1/3 for each subsequent absence.

Grade Calculation : Grade Distribution:

4 Papers (15% each):	60%
Presentation	15%
Final Exam	15%
Miscellaneous	10%

94-100 = A	77-79 = C+
90-93 = A-	74-76 = C
87-89 = B+	70-73 = C-
84-86 = B	67-69 = D+
80-83 = B-	64-66 = D
	0-63 = F

University of Minnesota Classroom Policies

Course calendar

I. Contexts

Tues, Jan. 22:	Introduction to the class African history
Thurs, Jan. 24:	African HistoryTo do BEFORE CLASS: Research facts about the African continent Reading on African History (TBD) Gugler, Josef. “Recovering the African Past,” African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. 17-21. (course packet)
MONDAY January 28th:	FILM SCREENING Méliès, Georges. Voyage dans la lune (France, 1902, 15 min) Lederman, D. Ross. Tarzan’s Revenge (USA,1938, 70 min) Clips from Teno, Jean-Marie. Afrique, je te plumerai (Cameroon, 1992, 88 min)
Tues, Jan.29:	European Visions of Africa 1. Presentation on Tarzan by K. O. 2. Presentation on Jean-Marie Teno and Cameroon by A. R. Thackway, Melissa. “Cultural Identity, Representation and Voice,” Africa Shoots Back. 30-48. Gugler, Josef. “Introduction: Africans Re-Image Africa” African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. 1-14. (course packet)

II. Emergence of African Cinema: Senegal in the 1960s and 1970s

WEDNESDAY January 30th:	FILM SCREENING Sembène, Ousmane. Borom Sarret (Senegal, 1963, 20 min) Sembène, Ousmane. La Noire de… (Senegal, 1966, 60 min)
Thurs, Jan. 31:	3. Presentation on Ousmane Sembène by J. H. 4. Presentation on Senegal by S. V. Thackway, Melissa. “Introduction,” 1-15. Ellerson, Beti. “M’Bissine Thérèse Diop. ” Sisters of the Screen, 79-86. (course packet)
MONDAY February 4:	FILM SCREENING Sembène, Ousmane. Xala (Senegal, 1974, 123 min)
Tues, Feb. 5:	5. Presentation on Senegal by K. B. Thackway, Melissa. “Critical Paradigms” Africa Shoots Back. 16-29. Harrow, Kenneth. “Sembène’s Xala, the Fetish, and the Failed Trickster.” Postcolonial African Cinema: From Political Engagement to Postmodernism. 44-65. (course packet)
Thurs, Feb.7:	6. Presentation on marabouts by C. S. Pfaff, Françoise. “Xala (1974): Realism and Symbolism.” (course packet) Gugler, Josef. “Betrayals of Independence” African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. 107-112. (course packet) Gugler, Josef. “Xala (1974): Impotence Sexual, Cultural, Economic, and Political” African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. 126-138. (course packet)

III. Return to the Source: African Oral Traditions and Film

MONDAY February 11:	FILM SCREENING Paes, Cesar. Angano, Angano. (Madagascar, 1989, 64 min.) Sora Wade, Mansour Fari l’Ânesse (Senegal, 1989, 17 min)
Tues, Feb.12:	7. Presentation on Cesar Paes and Madagascar by J. F. 8. Presentation on Mansour Sora Wade and on griots by P.K. Barlet, Olivier. “ ‘Proverbs Were Flesh and Blood’: The Reference to the Past,” African Cinemas. London and New York: Zed Books, 1996, 47-71. (course packet)
Thurs, Feb.14: Valentine’s Day!	*Paper #1 due: Write about the origins of African film* Thackway, Melissa. “Screen Griots: Orature and Film,” Africa Shoots Back. 49-92.
MONDAY February 18:	FILM SCREENING Kouyaté, Dani. Keïta, ou l’héritage du griot (Burkina Faso, 1995, 94 min)
Tues, Feb.19:	9. Presentation on Dani Kouyaté by C. Y. 10. Presentation on Sundjata by T. D. Hopkins, Nicholas S. “Memories of Griots” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 17, Literature and Anthropology in Africa. 43-72. (course packet)
Thurs, Feb. 21:	11. Presentation on Burkina Faso by C. S. 12. Presentation on Burkina Faso by H. B. Gugler, Josef. “Keïta (1995): Transmitting the Sundjata to the Next Generation.” African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. 36-43. (course packet) Thackway, Melissa. “Interview III: Dani Kouyaté,” Africa Shoots Back. 193-195.
MONDAY February 25:	FILM SCREENING Cissé, Souleymane. Yeelen. (Mali, 1987, 105 min)
Tues, Feb.26:	13. Presentation on Souleymane Cissé and on Mali by S. B. MacRae, Suzanne. “Yeelen: A Political Fable of the Komo Blacksmith/Sorcrers.” Research in African Literatures. Fall 26(3), 1995. 57-66. (course packet)
Thurs, Feb.28:	14. Presentation on Mali by L. J. Philip, Gentile. “In the Midst of Secrets: Souleymane Cissé's Yeelen.” Iris 1995 Spring; 18. 125-35. (course packet)
MONDAY March 3:	FILM SCREENING Rajaonarivelo, Raymond. Quand les étoiles rencontrent la mer (Madagascar, 1996, 85 min.)
Tues, Mar. 4:	15. Presentation on Rajaonarivelo and on Madagascar by J. H. Haynes, Carmel L. “Review of Quande [sic] les Etoiles Recontrent [sic] La Mer [When the Stars Meet the Sea] by Raymond Rajaonarivelo.” African Studies Review. 44 (1) 2001. 126-130. (course packet)

IV. Ecocriticism and African Film

Thurs, Mar. 6:	Ker Conway, Jill, Kenneth Kenniston and Leo Marx. “The New Environmentalisms.” Earth, Air, Fire, Water: Humanisitc Studies of the Environment. Jill Ker Conway, Kenneth Keniston, and Leo Marx, Eds. Amherst: University of Massachussets Press, 1999. 1-29. (course packet) Cogoy, Mario and Karl W. Steininger. “The Economics of Global Environmental Change: International Cooperation for Sustainability.” The Economics of Global Environmental Change: Inteernational Cooperation for Sustainability. Mario Cogoy and Karl W. Steininger, Eds. Bodmin, Cornwall: MPG Books, Ltd, 2007. 3-33. (course packet)
MONDAY March 10:	FILM SCREENING Kobhio, Bassek ba. Sango Malo (Cameroon, 1991, 94 min.) Clips from Drabo, Adama. Ta Dona ! (Mali, 1991, 100 min.)
Tues, Mar. 11 :	*Paper #2 due: Write on orality in African cinema* 16. Presentation on Adama Drabo and on Mali by B. T. Manning, Patrick. Excerpts from Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1880-1995. 33-34 ; 110-132. (course packet)
Thurs, Mar.13:	Haynes, Jonathan. « Sango Malo ; Ta Dona. Returning to the African Village. » Jump Cut : A Review of Contemporary Media. 40, 1996. 62-66. (course packet)
March 17-21:	SPRING BREAK!
MONDAY March 24:	FILM SCREENING Wade, Mansour Sora. Ndeyssan (Senegal, 2002, 90 min.) Clips from Sissako, Abderrahmane. Vie sur terre. (Mali, 1998, 61 min.)
Tues, Mar. 25:	17. Presentation on Abderrahmane Sissako and Mali by A. K. Slaymaker, William. “Ecoing the Other(s): The Call of Global Green and Black African Responses.” PMLA, 116 (1), 2001. 129-144. (course packet)
Thurs, Mar.27:	Goldsmith, Edward.“Development as Colonialism.” The Ecologist. 27 (2) Mar./Apr. 1997. 69-76 (course packet)
MONDAY March 31:	FILM SCREENING Sembène, Ousmane.Guelwaar (Senegal, 1992, 115 min)
Tues, Apr. 1: Watch out for April fish!	18. Presentation on Muslim burial practices by H. L. Mowitt, John. “Guelwaar : Politicizing the Politics of Hunger” Edebiyât: The Journal of Middle Eastern Literatures. 1998. 8 (1).129-36. (course packet)
Thurs, Apr. 3:	19. Presentation on Baaba Maal by G. A. Sugnet, Charles. « I Sing all the Space : A Conversation with Baaba Maal. » Transition. 74, 1997. 184-198. (course packet)

V. Gender and Society

MONDAY April 7:	FILM SCREENING Onwurah, Ngozi. Monday’s Girls (Nigeria, England, 1993, 50 min) Folly, Anne-Laure. Femmes aux yeux ouverts (Togo, 1994, 52 min) Clips of M’mbugu-Schelling, Flora. These Hands (Tanzania, 1992, 45 min.) NOTE: Total film running time for today will be 2 hours, 27 mins. You may leave after the two scheduled hours have elapsed, but I will let the third film run to its end. If you are interested in staying to the end, you are welcome.
Tues, Apr. 8: FRENCH POETRY CONTEST!! 7:00pm in the Alumni Room	20. Presentation on Ngozi Onwurah and Nigeria by N.D. 21. Presentation on Anne-Laure Folly and Togo by A.H. 22. Presentation on Flora M’mbugu-Schelling and Tanzania by L. M. Thackway, Melissa. “African Women and Film: On Screen and Behind the Camera,” Africa Shoots Back. 147-164.
Thurs, Apr. 10	*Paper #3 due: Write about how African filmmakers present the relationship between society and the natural world.* Thackway, Melissa. “Interview II: Anne Laure Folly,” Africa Shoots Back. 191-193. Ellerson, Beti. “Anne-Laure Folly,” Sisters of the Screen. 95-108. (course packet) ---. “Ngozi Onwurah,” Sisters of the Screen. 221-230. (course packet) Harrow, Kenneth. “Women With Open Eyes, Women of Stone and Hammers: Western Feminism and African Feminist Filmmaking Practice.” African Cinema: Post Colonial and Feminist Readings. Kenneth W. Harrow, Ed. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc., 1999. 225-240. (course packet)
MONDAY April 14:	FILM SCREENING Drabo, Adama. Taafe Fanga (Mali, 1997, 95 min)
Tues, Apr. 15:	Barlet, Olivier, “Infidelities,” “The Marabouts’ Projective Mechanism” and “From Nudity to Modesty,” African Cinemas: Decolonizing the Gaze. Chris Turner, Trans. London and New York: Zed Books, 2000. 99-108. (course packet) Thackway, Melissa. “Interview I: Adama Drabo,” and “‘Womanist’ Films,” Africa Shoots Back, 183-191; 164-178.
Thurs, Apr. 17:	Sudarkasa, Niara. “The ‘Status of Women’ in Indigenous African Societies.” Readings in Gender in Africa. Andrea Cornwall, Ed. Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana UP, 2005. 25-31. (course packet) Nnaemeka, Obioma. “Mapping African Feminisms.” Readings in Gender in Africa. Andrea Cornwall, Ed. Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana UP, 2005. 31-41. (course packet)
MONDAY April 21:	FILM SCREENING Bekolo, Jean-Pierre. Quartier Mozart (Cameroon, 1992, 80 min)
Tues, Apr. 22:	23. Presentation on Jean-Pierre Bekolo and Cameroon by C. S. Haynes, Jonathan. “African Filmmaking and the Postcolonial Predicament : Quartier Mozart and Aristotle’s Plot.” Cinema and Social Discourse in Cameroon. 111-136. (course packet)
Thurs, Apr. 24:	Buchanan, Sarah. “Untraditional Tradition: Gender and Orality in Quartier Mozart.” Cinema and Social Discourse in Cameroon. 223-248.(course packet)
MONDAY April 28:	FILM SCREENING Camara, Mohammed, Dakan (Guinea, 1997, 87 min.)
Tues, Apr. 29:	24. Presentation on Mohammed Camara and Guinea by J.F. Tcheuyap, Alexie. “African Cinema and Representations of (Homo)Sexuality.” Body, Sexuality, and Gender : Versions and Subversions in African Literatures 1 ed. Flora Veit-Wild and Dirk Naguschewski. Amsterdam and Union NJ : Editions Rodopi, 2005. 143-154. (course packet)
Thurs, May 1:	25. Presentation on Guinea by N. C. Desai, Gaurav. “Out in Africa.” Sex Positives? The Cultural Politicsl of Dissident Sexualities. Foster, Thomas C., et al. New York: New York UP, 1997. 120-143. (course packet)
MONDAY May 5:	FILM SCREENING Absa Sene, Moussa. Madame Brouette (Senegal, 2002, 104 min)
Tues, May 6:	26. Presentation on Tajaboon in Senegal by R. K. Bouffault, Françoise. “Review of Madame Brouette.” www.africanfilmny.org/network/news/Rbouffout.html. (course packet)
Thurs, May 8:	*Paper #4 due: Write about gender in African cinema* Thackway, Melissa. “Conclusion,” Africa Shoots Back.179-181. Evaluations Conclusion: What is African cinema?

FINAL EXAM:
Wednesday, May 14 mai at 11:00am