While not as openly pernicious as the institution of slavery, the carving up of Africa (popularly known as colonization) by Europe with all of its attendant exploitation of Africans and plunder of the continent's natural resources, still affects recently independent Africa. Three new releases in the Library of African Cinema series combine the filmmaker's personal reflections with a historical/political examination of their respective native countries of Cameroon, Guinea, and Zaire. The first, and my favorite, is Jean-Marie Teno's Afrique, Je Te Plumerai (Africa, I Will Fleece You) a caustic, hip, tragic, and even humorous, cinematic essay on Cameroon's colonial past and repressive "independent" present. Having been occupied by the Germans, British, and French, Cameroon won its independence in 1960. Yet, on visiting French, British, and German libraries, Teno searches mostly in vain for books written by Cameroon authors. Delving back into history, he comes across the Sho-mon written alphabet originated by King Njoya in the late 19th-century, and suppressed by the colonizers shortly thereafter. In Orwellian terms, if you control the language and the modes of communication, you control the people, regardless of whether a country is a colony or "free." Chronicling Cameroon's transition from an agrarian to a semi-industrial nation, the film looks at how the entire infrastructure of roads and towns were built on the backs of African labor, and then as the French children's song goes, the fruits of rubber, gold, and cotton were "je te plumerai": plucked. Teno's argument that the seeds planted in the past have led to the intolerable present is well-made. But it is, ultimately, Teno's ironic understanding that colonization was a mixed bag which makes Afrique, Je Te Plumerai so interesting--he rightfully wants to strike out against the oppressors of his people, but he is acutely aware that what he holds in his hand is not the spear of his ancestors but a weapon from the west: the camera.Allah Tontou (God's Will) is an often powerful personal portrait by a son of his politically exiled, jailed, and executed father. Combining home movie scenes, historical footage, letters, and dramatization, filmmaker David Achkar (who plays his father in the dramatized segments) tries to interpret what happened to Marof Achkar. a leading performer in the Ballets Africains, and called the "African Clark Gable" (to whom he bore a marked resemblance), Achkar rose to prominence in Sekou Touré's independent Guinea government during the 1960s. Serving as a U.N. ambassador, Achkar was "recalled" in 1968 and jailed, where he was assigned to cell 54, tortured, and--though the Achkar family wouldn't find out until many years later--executed in 1971. Achkar's imaginative recreation of his father's tribulations and spiritual victory, based on his father's letters, is a bold and moving effort to come to grips with the destruction of his family.Lumumba: La Mort du Prophete (Death of a Prophet) owes more to French New Wave filmmaking (surely, one of more oppressive aspects of colonial culture) than it does to the documentary tradition. Filmmaker Raoul Peck trots out one purportedly meaning-laden question after another (like "why do Belgian freeways stay lit all night?"), or runs a black screen while intoning "black holes...images in my head" as he traces the story of Patrice Lumumba, prime minister of the newly independent Congo who was brutally murdered shortly after taking office in 1960. The film mostly shifts between two modes: interviews with former journalists and officers of the period who jabber on about the partisan politics of the time, and Peck's endlessly self-referential asides. What's lost in all this is Patrice Lumumba the man. He is as much of a cipher at the film's close as he is at the beginning.Although general audiences won't be drawn to any of these occasionally difficult films, we highly recommend both Afrique, Je Te Plumerai and Allah Tontou for larger collections and universities with African studies programs. Those inquisitive souls who check these films out will be handsomely rewarded with food for thought. The way-too-arty Lumumba is not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)
Afrique, Je Te Plumerai; Allah Tantou; Lumumba: La Mort Du Prophete
(1992) In French w/English subtitles. 88 min. $49: public libraries; $195: schools & universities. California Newsreel. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 1
Afrique, Je Te Plumerai; Allah Tantou; Lumumba: La Mort Du Prophete
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: