African Women on the Film Festival Landscape

Abstract

African Women on the Film Festival Landscape Beti Ellerson (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Figure C. Women gather at FESPACO festival. Courtesy of FESPACO. [End Page 59] A vital function of the film festival is in its capacity to showcase on a local, continental and international level, the works of African women, and to serve as a networking space to professionalize their experiences as stakeholders on the global film festival landscape. As these entities proliferate on the continent and internationally, African women are leading the way, often at the helm of or in top-level positions at these institutions. The objective of many local film festivals is to facilitate an interconnected triadic relationship between the film, filmmaker and audience—especially with the organization of press conferences and panel discussions. Hence cultivating a critical audience via ciné-clubs and after-screening debates has been a long-standing practice of these local film initiatives. Drawing from this background and historical context, this article and the associated timeline, outline: women's film festival practices in Africa as a vehicle for promoting leadership and featuring women as role models; the cultural leadership functions that African women have taken on at the helm of film festivals on the continent and the diaspora; the diverse film festivals in Africa and their initiatives toward the empowerment and advancement of women in cinema; the showcasing of African women at African film festivals around the world; the flagship international film festivals and their interest in including African women in the global cinematic conversation. As there is an abundance of African and women-related film events, because of their obvious relevance they are described in the timeline that follows the discussion, while a few select festivals receive more detailed focus because of their historical importance, longevity and significance to this analysis of African women and film festival practices. Furthermore, this piece examines film festival practices and discourses to demonstrate the strategic function they have played in strengthening African women's participation in the myriad spheres of the moving image and beyond. Notably, Burkinabe Alimata Salembéré's trailblazing role in the creation of FESPACO carved a space for women who journey in her [End Page 60] path, as founders, organizers, curators, and stakeholders of film festivals (film events, screening venues, cinema conferences-symposia-colloquia). Likewise, it reveals the importance of film festival practices in the promotion, advancement, and visibilization of African women in cinema, visual media and screen culture over the past Fifty years. One of the particularities of the article is that it is informed by my primary-source based research derived from interviews with organizers, programmers, curators, festival planners, and other key players; the collection of posters, festival programs and catalogues; as well as my own participation at festivals as jury president and as member, as consultant, panelist, facilitator, and as festival participant. What inspired me to frame the film festival as a site of inquiry developed as I recognized the undeniable role that FESPACO—from its inception in 1969—and the cinema-related structures that it supports, have played in the capacity building of women in cinema as leaders. The interplay between FESPACO and the initiatives that derive from its prominence for a generation are now part of the cinematic landscape across the continent. The MICA marketplace, the Cinémathèque, Journées Cinématographiques de la Femme Africaine de l'Image (African Women Image Makers Cinema Days). This is the first mention of the JCFA, Institut Imagine, the historic film school INAFEC that existed between 1977 and 1987, all based in Burkina Faso, are important stakeholders in the country's cinema culture. While film festival scholarship highlights the significance of women's film festivals towards the global visibility of women in cinema since their rise in the 1970s, the emergence of continental-based film festivals/days in the 1960s marks the beginnings of an African-women presence in the milieu of the film festival event, notably the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (JCC), the Carthage Film Festival, created in 1966 in Tunisia and as noted, FESPACO in Burkina Faso. The JCC's recognition of women dates to its early history, particularly at...