Back To Africa

I've never been a fan of movies shot on video tape instead of film stock, due to the inevitable technical problems that crop up, and Back To Africa was, indeed, shot on video tape, so potential viewers can expect ugly lighting situations, unconvincing special effects and depth-of-field problems. The inadequacies of video tape aside, Back To Africa is one of the oddest indy films I've ever seen. The premise seemed simple enough. A young African-American woman, Sade, travels to Nigeria in search of her father, a college professor whom Sade hasn't seen since she was a small child. Halfway into the film, however, the narrative is abruptly--and I mean whiplash abruptly--transformed into an allegorical tale fraught with magic and up-country voodoo and the viewer is left struggling to piece together the story. Director Tony Abulu may be trying to explore the dualist nature of Nigerian spiritualism in this piece, but his film is a confusing, somewhat obscure tale impaired by a fatal dose of dismal acting. Still, almost despite itself, Back To Africa offers an intimate look at life in modern Nigeria and the soundtrack, by Wole Alade, is terrific. A strong optional purchase. (P. Van Vleck)