Beyond colonial stereotypes: reflections on postcolonial cinema in the African Great Lakes region

Abstract

The African Great Lakes region – Rwanda, Burundi and Congo-Kinshasa – is usually remembered for its social upheavals and fratricidal wars, rarely for film-making. Moreover, some cinema critics recognize that in the region, like in other African countries, many contemporary films remain subtly informed by colonial clichés and western sponsors' unilateral choices, with little or no consideration for African film-makers' interests and needs. First, the article describes the core of colonial cinema with its stereotypical and sensationalist images, which are the ingredients likely to stir western audiences. Second, through the analysis of some representative films, it shows how the colonial-inspired marketable clichés surreptitiously inform today's film-making. Finally, and most importantly, this enquiry examines films that embody what may be defined as milestones of postcolonial imagination in the region. The conclusion points to production initiatives and to more freedom in the choice of topics.