The French Influence in West African Filmmaking and Scholarship : Funding Festivals and Archives

One of the main economic driving forces behind francophone sub-Saharan African films has been, and in some ways still remains, France. From African independences, France has provided funding, post-production facilities, as well as markets for African filmmakers on various conditions. This has created a particular sense of dependency and France’s presence has been interpreted as a form of extractivism whereby West African countries provide films and talents that permit France to feed its image as major global cultural actor. Furthermore, scholarship on West African film’s history is itself dependent on French archives providing access to films and documentation unavailable on the continent. In this seminar, Makkonen will first, trace France’s influence in West African film history through examples of funding agreements, structures and infrastructure, film markets and festivals; and second, explore the question of access to materials and archives in African screen media scholarship.

Språk: Engelska med möjlighet att ställa frågor på franska, ryska, finska och svenska.