Contemporary African Cinema

Olivier Barlet is a member of the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma, a member of the African Federation of Film Critics, a delegate for Africa at the Cannes Festival Critics’ Week, and a film critic for Africultures.

• Contents Preface Chapter 1. The Question of Criticism Chapter 2. Thematic Continuities and Ruptures Chapter 3. Postcolonial Clichés Chapter 4. Memory and Reconciliation Chapter 5. Styles and Strategies Chapter 6. Economic Perspectives Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index of Filmmakers and Films

“For a long while Olivier Barlet has been a sure- footed guide in the rugged terrain of African cinema. Now in a fast-moving sequence of vivid reports, he brings us close to an amazing array of films and situations across the continent in this century. Africa has broken out of its ‘exotic’ isolation. Its films, whose striking styles he sketches, participate in cultural and political debates that go beyond Africa. He makes us pay attention to what they say and, more important, what they show.”—Dudley Andrew, R. Seldon Rose Professor of Film and Comparative Literature, Yale University