This dissertation examines representations of women and children in South African films about HIV and AIDS, paying particular attention to issues relating to the advancement and empowerment of the two groups. The dissertation focuses on two films: Yesterday (Darrell Roodt, 2004) and Life Above All (Oliver Schmitz, 2010). These two films represent marginalised communities and identities. Yesterday focuses on the experiences of rural women, while Life Above All focuses on women and children living in a small town on the urban periphery. In order to contextualise the two films as well as the textual and theoretical analysis found in the body of the dissertation, the first chapter provides a brief outline of some of the concerns regarding the representations of women and children in South African films about HIV and AIDS. These concerns include the debate surrounding the authenticity of the representations of poor, black women by male, middle-class, white filmmakers, as well as the authenticity of the representations of children by adult filmmakers. Chapter 2 provides additional contextual information by defining and considering the various concepts and theories on which the study is built. These include the naturalist, humanist and pluralist methods of representing HIV/AIDS, as well as the semiotic and discursive approaches to analysing audio-visual texts. Chapter 3 consists of a close textual analysis of Yesterday. The chapter problematises representations that place too much emphasis on marginal communities‘ need for external help. It argues that the film‘s focus on generating sympathy from external viewers with the 2 hope that they might be persuaded to help women like the film‘s main character, Yesterday, hinders the promotion of empowerment. Chapter 4 critically analyses the representation of children in Life Above All, with special attention paid to self-development and agency. This chapter argues that the film neglects children‘s self-development and long-term empowerment by placing too much value on the virtues of selfless sacrifice. Chapter 5 concludes that the use of stereotypes and the prioritisation of easy to understand educational information and narratives in South African films about HIV/AIDS hinder a deeper understanding of identities as well as the promotion of women‘s and children‘s empowerment. Effective collaboration between filmmakers and the represented groups would lead to representations of identities that are more truthful to the complexities of the experiences of those infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, I argue that increased participation of female filmmakers would lead to more diversified representations of women‘s and children‘s identities and experiences.

I wish to present a study of the different literature regarding national culture, African cinema and postcolonial identity and explore how it relates to local cinema in Namibia. How have Namibian films contributed to this debate? The films 100 Bucks and Try contributed to the creation of postcolonial identity and national culture in independent Namibia. This dissertation will focus primarily on the aesthetics, themes and stories produced in Namibia since 2000 as well as how our storytelling and funding models can learn from other industries throughout the world. I will undertake an examination of past works and writings on the topic of national culture in post colonial African states, nationalism and African identity.

Includes bibliographical references. / This dissertation investigates representations of Black South African lesbians in contemporary local documentary films. In order to do so, the author focuses on two films: Breaking out of the Box (dir. Zethu Matebeni and S’bu Kheswa, 2011) and Difficult Love (dir. Zanele Muholi and Peter Goldsmid, 2010). These films are analysed in the light of a number of questions regarding the depiction of Queer Black women, including: the frequency and qualities of such representations, in which kinds of films such identities are represented, which techniques such films utilise, and which themes are addressed. One issue addressed in both films is the matter of so-called “corrective” rape and this dissertation examines the complexity of depicting this specific theme. Because the subject matter is related to a number of distinct yet intersecting subjects, resources from a variety of fields are utilised – including, but not limited to, Queer theory in general and research on Queer Film specifically, documentary film theory, and historical studies of South African cinema. The films are analysed within the context of the socio-political environments in which they were created as well as in relation to theoretical contexts relating to representation in film and other media. Findings indicate that the representation of Black South African lesbians has grown in recent local documentary films. A significant portion of these films utilise personal approaches to documentary filmmaking, which proves particularly suitable for depicting the sensitive and personal nature of the subject matter. The films challenge prevailing beliefs about homosexuality within the African context and defy notions of essentialism in favour of highlighting diversity. Juxtaposed with the growth in documentary film representation, Queer female representation in local fiction film is negligible. Depictions of Queer male identities are comparatively more widespread, yet even these still tend to rely on negative or onedimensional stereotypes. On a more encouraging note, there appears to be an increase in representation of Queer Black South African documentary filmmakers, which constitutes an increase in the variety of voices represented in a previously limited (and limiting) film industry. These filmmakers’ work also opens interesting questions around representation and selfrepresentation.

The paper argues that the South African television series, Ubizo: The Calling (d/Krijay Govender, 2007) blends elements of psychological thrillers, horrors as well as the gothic genre. The relationship of these subgenres is discussed in this paper in the context of the African spiritual practice of divine calling that is narrated by the series. The paper concludes that genre classification in this series is left unclear, whether it is horror or psychological thriller as suggested by its producers. For most parts of the series, horror conventions can be identified from the way the characters are set to the types of props and iconographies, as well as the set design and shot sizes of most scenes. Towards the end of the series, however, it changes focus thematically to fit a category that cannot be confined to one genre type. The effort of this research is to present concerns about the way in which some African spiritual practices are likened to sorcery due to the obsession with madness and ghosts. I used Indigenous Knowledge Systems together with genre analysis to arrive at my findings which were important in shedding light to the fact that some genres become less effective when they have been ideologically moved to other cultures. Upon on embarking on this research, I wanted to arrive at the certainty that western borrowed genres were bastardising African practices using foreign jargon and visuality to depict African spirituality. Indeed, the research was constructed in a manner that it simply wanted to confirm something that I, the author desperately wanted to believe. However, my own work has challenged me to acknowledge that these two can coexist.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2604. Adviser: Charles C. Stewart. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-277) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> The objective of this work is to present the identities of two traditional African societies: Agni and Bakongo. It is imperative to note that the initiation allegory and the initiation ritual practiced in traditional African society are the two methods of initiation used to analyze the respective identities of two characters: Prince M&eacute;l&eacute;douman in Jean-Marie Adiaffi's <i> La Carte d'identit&eacute;</i> and King Mani Kongo in Mweze Ngangura's <i> Pi&egrave;ces d'identit&eacute;s</i>. Not only does this approach establish a study of these heroes, but also of their people. </p><p> Thus, the ancestral practices, and the cultural and religious values that M&eacute;l&eacute;douman discovers in his quest, are those that express his identity and that of his community. Additionally, the symbols that Mani Kongo wears bestow on him his identity and present his DNA. That is, it signals his belonging to his ethnic group. Moreover, the lived experiences of Prince M&eacute;l&eacute;douman and King Mani Kongo, in the course of their prospective initiation voyages, can be defined as an initiation allegory whereby the neophyte, M&eacute;l&eacute;douman, on one hand, goes to be reestablished in his rights and Mani Kongo, on the other hand, becomes convinced of the limits of his traditions. Likewise, the practice of the <i>Comian</i> illustrates a type of initiation ritual, which expresses a unique identifying value among the Agni people in the Ivory Coast. </p><p> This study aims to reconstruct and to revalorize the identity of two peoples. It is evident that the cultural symbols, values, and other ancestral practices are in the process of disappearing due, certainly, to the domination of Western values of which francophone African peoples are the victims. Finally, this particular identity, constructed through history, myths, practices, and belief, translates, as well as defines, the worldview of these two traditional francophone African societies.</p>

This thesis examines representations of identities that are specific to Francophone West Africa, as depicted in the films produced in the region since the 1990s. The films are set in the countries of Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, among the ethnic groups that form the diverse demographic landscape of the region, and they portray stories and characters that strongly relate these films to the local ways of belonging. While existing research in the field of African film studies focuses on how films from Francophone West Africa portray postcolonial or national identities, very little scholarly attention has been paid to the depiction of identities that are linked to the region’s ethnic cultures. This thesis demonstrates that the local ways of belonging and the practices, rituals and beliefs which these identities rely on continue to have vital significance for representation in Francophone West African cinemas. Using textual analysis as a base for its arguments, this thesis is underpinned by an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that combines extensive contextual research into various West African practices, rituals and beliefs with the philosophical works on cinema by Gilles Deleuze. A number of the concepts Deleuze defines help significantly in the understanding of time and identity in the films, and the interpretative nature of Deleuze’s work offers the opportunity to bridge the gap in film theory application in studies of Francophone African cinema. By applying this diverse theoretical approach to its investigation of the intertwining local identities, the thesis highlights the necessity of an intersectional approach to analysing identity representation in Francophone African cinemas. It is the first study of representations of ethnically-linked identities in the field of African film studies.

This study focuses on the role of women in African cinema – in terms of female directors working in the African film industries as well as the representation of women in African film. My research specifically focuses on francophone West African and lusophone and anglophone Southern African cinemas (in particular post-apartheid South African cinema). This research is necessary and significant because African women are underrepresented in theoretical work as well as in the practice of African cinema. The small corpus of existing theoretical and critical studies on the work of female African filmmakers clearly shows that African women succeed in producing films against tremendous odds. The emergence of female directors in Africa is an important but neglected trend which requires more dedicated research. The pioneering research of African-American film scholar Beti Ellerson is exemplary in this regard, as she has, since the early 2000s, initiated a new field of academic study entitled African Women Cinema Studies. My own research is situated within this emerging field and aims to make a contribution to it. The absence of women in public societal spheres is often regarded as an indicator of areas where societies need to change. In the same sense the socio-political and cultural advancements of women are indicators of how societies have progressed towards improved living conditions for all. Because the African woman can be viewed as doubly oppressed, firstly by Black patriarchal culture and secondly by Western colonising forces, it is essential that the liberation of African women includes an opportunity for women to verbalise and demonstrate their own vision of women’s roles for the future. The study analyses a large corpus of films through exploring notions of nationalism and post/neo-colonialism in African societies; issues related to the female body such as health, beauty and sexuality; female identity, emancipation and African feminism in the past and present; the significance of traditional cultural practices versus the consequences and effects of modernity; and the interplay between the individual and the community in urban as well as rural African societies. Female filmmakers in Africa are increasingly claiming the right to represent these issues in their own ways and to tell their own stories. The methods they choose to do this and the products of their labours are the focus of this study. Ultimately, the study attempts to formulate more complex models for the analysis of African women’s filmmaking practices, in tracing the plurality of a female aesthetics and the multiplicity of thematic approaches in African women’s filmmaking.

No description available.

The reductive representations stemming from Western cinematic depiction of the African cultures have exacerbated the issue of Western hegemony over African countries. The first representations of Africa were of the exotic genre and failed to portray the socio-political history and culture of the indigenous people. Much of these depictions were due to years of Western colonialism, the dominant idea found in Jean-Marie Ténos film, Afrique je te plumerai. In this film, the Cameroonian filmmaker creates an avenue of viewing history through the lens of the colonized, breaking the chains of hegemony. Ténos use of revolutionary cinematic techniques forces the audience to understand Western colonization of Cameroon and of other African countries by dismantling our own preconceived ideas of that particular era in history. The ails of colonialism are portrayed in this film and these particular themes are found in the writings of the literary movement, la Négritude where we find definitions of colonialism, the effects of colonialism on the indigenous people and the root of the revolutionary spirit it engendered. Where there is colonialism, there is neocolonialism, or the continuing financial and cultural domination of a people. The subject of neocolonialism is portrayed in the second film studied in this research, Guelwaar by Ousmane Sembene. In this film, the Senegalese filmmaker brings to question the controversy of food aid in formerly-colonized countries in Senegal as well as around the world. This form of neocolonialism and other forms of foreign domination in economically-weakened countries are also invoked in the writings of the literary movement Panafricanism, which urges the cultural and economic independence of African countries. Ténos didactic message is obvious to the viewer and even shocking whereas the message of Sembene is ingeniously hidden behind a film so colorful and mesmerizing, it appeases to any audience. / Master of Arts