Colonial propaganda in cinematography - ACAFR0007

• Title: Koloniální propaganda v kinematografii
• Guaranteed by: Centre for Ibero-American Studies (21-SIAS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 4
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unlimited / unlimited (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: yes / unlimited
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: combined
• Teaching methods: combined
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D. (11.09.2022)

Lectures on the history of colonial propaganda in cinematography and sub-Saharan francophone cinematography will be studied from a decolonial critical point of view. The course is divided into two parts: The first part concentrates on European colonial short movies. These short films portray the presence of colonizers in Africa in a positive light while also justifying it as something that was historically unavoidable while employing all of the clichés about colonized nations. Short movies by European authors on the so-called reality of colonized territories in Africa will be projected and discussed. Together we will discover the colonial meaning of "white man’s burden" and the civilizing mission as the main justification for colonization in the 20th century. Those short-length movies were created to influence the opinion of the European public; we will reveal the narrative techniques to understand their impact. The second part of the semester will be focused on the first sub-Saharan short movies about the cultural alienation caused by the colonial and imperialist behavior of colonizers in Africa. The focus now shifts to Sub-Saharan feature films and how they reflect the African colonial and post-colonial reality. The European vision of colonisation will be confronted with the African (Sub-Saharan) understanding of imposed assimilation and acculturation.

Aim of the course

Last update: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D. (11.09.2022)

The main objective of the course is to understand the core issues raised by this film production (a contrast between dominant and dominated; power and powerlessness; tradition and modernity; rural and urban areas; the position of women and men in African societies and their everyday difficulties). The course is organized as a seminar; each projection is thus followed by a section for comments and discussions.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D. (11.09.2022)

To get the credits, the students have to be active and have to write an essay on a topic related to the course. It will be further described during the first seminar. Three absences are allowed.

Literature

Last update: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D. (27.10.2022)

Online sources:

http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/production-company/colonial-film-unit

https://files.libcom.org/files/zz_aime_cesaire_robin_d.g._kelley_discourse_on_colbook4me.org_.pdf

https://monoskop.org/images/4/4e/Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979.pdf

https://web.archive.org/web/20120803090558/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49355

https://www.vulture.com/2015/02/how-ousmane-sembene-invented-african-cinema.html

 

Film sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-pksToXSL4 (12 episodes all accessible on youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75COneJ4w8 (4 episodes all accessible on youtube)

 

Book sources:

Manthia Diawara, African Cinema: Politics & Culture, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1992.

Nancy J. Schmidt, Sub-Saharan African films and filmmakers, 1987-1992: an annotated bibliography, Londres, New Providence (N.J.), Hans Zell Publishers, 1994.

Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank, Black African cinema. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994.

Lindiwe Dovey, African Film and Literature: Adapting Violence to the Screen. Columbia University Press, 2009.

Barlet, Olivier, Contemporary African Cinema. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2016.

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Vojtěch Šarše, Ph.D. (11.12.2023)

Africa speaks, 1930, Walter Futter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pkfKbJ_GoQ)

Untamed Africa, 1933, Wynant D. Hubbard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfnKQzoK64A)

 

African Visitors to the Tower of London, 1949, Sean Graham (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9AVPPHpLY)

Journey by a London Bus, 1950, Sean Graham (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RNEkygXxrg)

Boy Kumasenu, 1950, Sean Graham (http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/332)

I will speak English, 1954, Sean Graham (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZkSKV2onnU)

Mr. Mensah builds a house, 1955, Sean Graham (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_FXmC1Niwk)

 

L'élite noire de demain, 1950, Gérard de Boe (http://filmgeschiedenis.be/portfolio/lelite-noir-de-demain-1955)

En 50 ans, 1958, Gérard de Boe (https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdwblb)

Lovanium, 1959, Gérard de Boe (https://archive.org/details/luniversite-lovanium-documentaire-sur-le-congo-belge/L'Universit%C3%A9+Lovanium+-+Documentaire+Sur+Le+Congo+Belge.mp4)

 

Afrique 50, 1950, René Vautier (https://www.facebook.com/political.film/videos/afrique-50-ren%C3%A9-vautier/2046588575449393/)

Les statues meurent aussi, 1953, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais et Ghislain Cloquet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0y1ZTrql8U)

Les maîtres fous, 1954, Jean Rouch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G9mlBlWNcY)

 

Borom Sarret, 1963, Ousmane Sembène (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCxyrSW6RA&t=803s)

La Noire de..., 1966, Ousmane Sembène (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ynkwHvVLI)

Xala, 1974, Ousmane Sembène (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q96VkREhLMA)

Moolaadé, 2004, Ousmane Sembène (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8rXw_NdsaM&t=6491s)

Les tam-tam se sont tus, 1972, Philippe Mory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-1FPS89xDw)