SIX AFRICAN TITLES YOU SHOULD SEE BEFORE YOU DIE

3/12/2016

Touki Bouki (1973)

Okay so the title may run a tad dramatic (blame click bait internet influences) though, yes, below are the African Films you must watch before you die. So put away your Nowhere in Africa's and Machine Gun Preacher stuff and see these films made by actual African Filmmakers. In no particular order, the films listed traverse the four points of the continent capturing the best of Africa's often captivating, strange and heartwarming stories that always go without mention. Without further ado, grab your popcorn and get scrolling!

Touki Bouki (1973)

Touki Bouki (1973)
Senegal
Djibril Diop Mambety

This Senegalese feature follows the story of cow herder Mory and spunky university student Anta who tired of their boring, poverty-stricken lives, decide to leave Senegal for Paris.

Truly, the film may not be everyone's cup of tea but leaving out this exceptional piece by one of Africa's visionary directors would seem blasphemous.

The film even scored areview by Scorsese himself. Touki Bouki's stunning imagery in the film serves a visual feast from scene to scene, unmatched for decades to follow.
Note: Nsfw. Contains images of slaughtered animals.

Les Saignantes/The Bloodettes (2005)

Les Saignantes (2005)
Cameroon
Jean Pierre- Bekolo

Popularly known as the film that brought Bekolo out of an 8 year hiatus, Les Saignantes follows the exploits of beautiful friends Majolie and

Chouchou in future Cameroon who after killing and disposing the body of a famous politician, gain entry into the enviable glamorous wakes that have taken over the cities nightlife.

This is by far one of the strangest films I have seen in my long experience of watching strange films. As easy as it is to dismiss the film as such, Les Saignantes never descends into self aware madness. The film endures with its oft funny dark humour in oddly paced sequences and wears its commentary of the political climate and corruption in Cameroon with stylish aplomb.
Note: Nsfw

Sankofa (1993)

Sankofa (1993)
Ghana, Burkina Faso
Haile Gerima

Perhaps the most famous on the list is Ethopia's auter Haile Gerima's slave story Sankofa. When an African-

American fashion model participates in a shoot taken on the coast of Ghana's slave posts, a mystic transports her back to a West Indies plantation as a slave.

At the heart of Sankofa are its emotionally driven characters. The films painstaking focus on characterizing each slave, gives much needed reason to their motivations, a trait shallowly referenced to or blatantly ignored in Western Media.
Note:Violence

Timbuktu (2014)

Timbuktu (2014)
Mauritania
Abderrahmme Sisako

Uh... stop what you are doing. Watch it now!

Timbuktu marks Sisako's most successful venture earning him an Oscar nom and the prestige of flooring Cannes audiences. The story follows the growing global concern of radicalism. A peaceful cattle herder and his family living in Mali's ancient city of Timbuktu get swept up in the chaos of rising Jihadists.

To say more would be to spoil this beautiful film. The restrained yet sweeping cinematography from frame to frame captures the beauty of everyday life and courageousness in the face of utter oppression. The opening shots of hand carved Malian Statues shot up by trigger happy youth in the setting of a city once rich and of great historical importance is just one of the many haunts sure to remain with you long after the film is gone.

Tsotsi (2005)

Tsotsi (2005)
South Africa
Gavin Hood

Now this you must see, that is, if you have not already seen it.
Many are familiar with this title and why not? It is one of Africa's rare Oscar winning films. The film follows six days that escalate out of control when a street hardened thug finds a baby in

the backseat of a car he has stolen... ok anymore and all the twists and turns she be ruined

Tsotsi succeeds in drawing out the human face of its characters in a genre so heavily stereotyped. This gritty drama surprised all with its heartbreaking cruelty, depth and human voice.
Note: Violence

Le Silences du Palais ( 1994)

Le Silences du Palais (1994)
Tunisia
Moufida Tlatli

Lastly, comes our only female director on the list. Moufida Tlatli's tragic stunning piece on the last days of

Tunisian colonialism is depicted through the eyes of Alia and her mother Khedija set in the local palace in which they work.

The title of the film is spectacularly fitting as we helplessly witness the happenings inside the palace. Alia comes to realize that the female servants in the house must be sexually available to their masters. The stakes are high in this slow burn film which Tlatli effortlessly brings out in a drool-worthy play of deliberate juxtapositions of sound and silence. A pure masterpiece.

This was a hard list to curate, therefore, I would like to know your thoughts on them. Have you seen any of the films listed on here? Let us know and start a conversation!