New African Documentary
Friday, February 15 6:00-9:00pm
The documentary has been a part of African cinema from the beginning of film history. But because of the allure of narrative fiction film, African documentary filmmakers have not been as widely known or recognized. In the last 10 years, an exciting new group of documentary filmmakers from countries including Cameroon, Congo, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and South Africa have given new prominence to the documentary. Perhaps the most influential and widely known is Jean Marie Teno, who also serves as producer for a number of other African filmmakers. Teno will survey contemporary African documentary and will screen excerpts from a number of works.
The Master Class fee includes admission to the screening of Jean-Marie Teno's film Le malentendu colonial screening at International House on Thursday, February 14 at 7:00 pm. Click here for more information about the film.
Jean-Marie Teno, born in Cameroon, is an acclaimed filmmaker, whose works have been centerpieces at the international art exhibition, Documenta, the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and at the film festivals on five continents. He studied communications at the University of Valenciennes (France), and then began work as a film critic for the magazine "Bwana". In 1985, he was hired as an editor at FR3 (French National Television) where he worked until 1997. In 1983, Teno made his first film, the documentary short "Schubbah". His feature documentary Afrique, je te plumerai (1992) is one of the most insightful examinations of the cultural damage created by Europe's colonization of Africa. He has continued filmmaking, moving effortlessly between documentary and fiction. His other films include Le mariage d'Alex (2002), Vacances au pays (2000) and Chef!(1999) and La tete dans les nauges (1994).