The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba
& Her Flying Machines too
I wrote this essay immediately after watching the film Aramotu with a colleague from work, that was months ago. I delayed posting because I wanted to learn more about the gelede masks in Yoruba tradition (and I won’t lie, also because I grew distracted with other things). ~ Aramotu is an amazing movie that has…
Oh noes, you don’t say there are more African authors writing historical romance set in all corners of the continent. Be still my beating heart! Kiru Taye is an author, she writes African historical romance. She recently revealed the cover of her upcoming debut book His Treasure (due for release in December 2011). His Treasure…
I enjoyed reading ‘The Economics of African Slavery’ by Rizwana Monir so much that I had to share it here. The BBC’s British History website contains a large section dedicated to the movement for the abolition of slavery. It details the efforts of British political figures and political protestors, all of whom are highlighted as…
Taafé Fanga is a film about a group of Dogon women who, with the power of a mask, manage to subvert gender roles in their mountainous village. Taafé Fanga has elements of comedy (which may not translate well outside a West African audience) yet, the heart of Taafé Fanga is female empowerment. The film begins…
I like to picture this as a snowball. ‘This’ being my regularly increasing knowledge on the shared history between the African and the Asian continents. I admit that I thought the ‘wow’ moments ended with my posts on historical Sino-African relations. When we think about the African Diaspora, most of us turn our attention to…
I recall a period in which I was searching desperately for films directed by Ousmane Sembene, always coming up empty handed. Now I have watched most of his iconic movies from Xala (1975) to Ceddo (1975). The latest addition to that list is Faat Kiné (2000). I had no idea that he released a film…
I have a new essay up on Beyond Victoriana looking into the history of Ganvié, a village built entirely on a lake in Benin Republic that was built by people from several ethnic groups that are now known as the Tofinu. Ganvié is a water town situated on the northern edge of the Lake Nokoué…
Date Wine (1998) is a movie directed by Radwan el-Kashef. I only caught the movie halfway through but I enjoyed it thoroughly because it reminded me of Almacita, Soul of Desolato. Date Wine explores the effect on an Egyptian village when all the men abandon home in search of greener pastures leaving behind the women…
A more specific title would be ‘Nollywood for Child Rights, Women’s Rights and Against Human Trafficking’. For those of you who don’t know, I currently work with a non-governmental organisation and part of my job entails attending all sorts of meetings. Last week, I attended press conference at ActionAid on their new project, in collaboration…
Hyenas (Hyènes) is a movie directed by Djibril Diop Mambéty, a.k.a "the most paradoxical filmmaker in the history of African cinema", "the African Dionysus," "the prince of Colobane." Hyenas is part of Mambéty’s trilogies about the ‘power of craziness’; [It] tells the story of Linguere Ramatou, an aging, wealthy woman who revisits her home village…