African film: re-imagining a continent

Abstract

African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent. By Josef Gugler. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; Oxford: James Currey; Cape Town: David Philip, 2003. Pp. xiii, 202; illustrations. $24.95 paper. African Film: Re-Imagining a Continent is the book that many have been waiting for. Josef Gugler has composed a lively and loving handbook for African film aficionados and for those willing to be converted. Erudite without being stuffy, informative without being pedantic, Gugler condenses years of viewing and critiquing films into a dense but accessible compendium of stimulating observations. The format is extremely attractive, replete with photos, film frames, reproductions of film posters, and intriguing side notes. The cover design welcomes readers with the faces of two smiling children from Yaaba, which Gugler analyzes at length. The text is arranged in an orderly manner in six categories, primarily historical, and is preceded by a clear Table of Contents followed by a briefly annotated list of the main films, humorously entitled films in 17 sentences. An Author's Preface is followed by a useful chart of Basic Indicators for African Countries-all countries cited are south of the Sahara, though not all in this region are included. A simple map provides a further reference point for the discussions of films spanning the continent. The depth and breadth of Gugler's study are well indicated in his Introduction. Using a warm, personal voice, he states that he has a predilection for films that address social, cultural, and political issues, which determined the films he selected for the book. Nevertheless, the films are diverse and provide a fair sampling of the countries, styles, and topics represented in African cinema. The exception, which Gugler addresses without apology, is the omission of films from North Africa. Since the earliest films from the African continent were made in Tunisia and Egypt, and some of the most compelling recent films have come from Tunisia in particular, this omission seems regrettable. Gugler often injects humor into his observations. He introduces a light note after serious introductory material by suggesting that viewers avoid being distracted by subtitles by watching a film a second time and disregarding them (and he closes the sentence with an exclamation mark). The occasional leavening of serious analysis contributes to the book's appeal. The only odd note is Gugler's use of we in the text during and after the personal introduction; the pronoun is apparently intended to engage the reader as if an actual discussion were occurring. …