Africa Is a Country

tom-devriendt

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Tom Devriendt

Tom Devriendt was an editorial board member of Africa is a Country before there was an editorial board.

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Cinema of disquiet

Alain Resnais and Chris Marker’s 1953 film “Statues also die” should be appreciated more for how it challenged European, especially French, approaches to African art.

New Documentaries To Look Out For at the Luxor African Film Festival

The third edition of the Egyptian Luxor African Film Festival again has a wide-ranging programme scheduled for next month. Selected films will be showing in different competitions: Long Narrative, Short Narratives, Short Documentaries and Long Documentary. Below you'll find a couple of the selected documentaries' trailers (set in Togo, Senegal, Ghana, Somalia, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Angola) that were recently uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo, plus links to the films' websites -- where available. Nana Benz (2012, 85 min, director Thomas Bölken) | Togo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tt_juRbxs Touba (2013, Chai Vasarhelyi) | Senegal http://vimeo.com/74214585 Lettres du Voyant (2013, Louis Henderson) is a documentary-fiction about spiritism and technology in contemporary Ghana, which attempts to uncover a mysterious practice called "Sakawa" - internet scams mixed with voodoo magic. http://vimeo.com/61732174 From the same filmmaker, Louis Henderson, also showing is Logical Revolts (2012) | Egypt http://vimeo.com/47084436 Angola Ano Zero (2013, Ever Miranda) | Angola http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50vOVdRDdPw The River (2013, 86 min, Abdenour Zahzah). During a journey on foot along the Oued El Kebir River, Zahzah encounters mini-societies of people who give us a different picture of Algeria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muZBuLWyLFk Ali'ens: Somalis in Transit (2013, 90 min, Paula Palacios) | Somalia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j4jbCo6ISs Emirs in Wonderland (2013, 75 min, Ahmed Jlassi) | Tunisia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hof7EArgTE8 Made in Gougou (2013, Latifa Doghri) | Tunisia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EetT5I-fEJ4 Light and Dark (2013, 45 min, Paulene Abrey), a biopic of South African artist Norman Catherine | South Africa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60LvEaQz9z8 LAFF takes place from 16 March to 24 March. See the Festival's website for more details.

Weekend Music Break 65

There's plenty to choose from what musicians have been releasing during the holidays. So here's a first selection of ten new videos that we've found in our inbox. First up, a new release from Akwaaba: Joey le Soldat, like his man Art Melody, raps on Burkina Faso's ills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD-kDO3pRaY This one by Stromae from late last year we have on repeat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAMWdvo71ls Another Belgian artist you might remember from last year is Coely, who released a new single this week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GLo5c4_Hw Ghostpoet joined the latest Africa Express, and returned with the most interesting collaboration of that lot, with thanks to talking drum band Doucoura: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9IviTquuCA Jovi and Reniss shot a video in Douala and Yaoundé for their most recent collaboration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8c3ifLePcQ There's Pitso Rah Makhula, from Maseru, Lesotho, with a short reminder of what's good in the country's hip-hop landscape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f-cXH-mnsw From Senegal, we have Alibeta who sings about migration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWoUH-H0eqc Summer vibes in this video by The Reminders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UlgIn4XpSg Tinariwen's new sounds appear to be a lot more subdued than their previous work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix76SFstT0I And the day after Mandela died, Peruvians Novalima dedicated this song from their KCRW session to him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXhld-WOOs

Weekend Music Break 62

10 new music videos from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Kenya, Mali, Burundi (via Belgium), South Africa and Nigeria (via the US and the UK) to get your weekend started. But first up, from Senegal, Daara J Family have a new video out, directed by Lionel Mandeix and Loïc Hoquet. N’Dongo D and Faada Freddy, from Dakar, still bringing it after all those years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyshD0lpe0 "THIS VIDEO IS SOOOO AMAZING IT HAS A JAMAICAN VYBE PLUS DANCING N FLAVOR I GOTTA LUV MY NAIJA PPL DEM TUN UP LOUD BUSS TWO BLOODCLAAT BLANK FI DIS!!!" And that was just one of the first YouTube comments under this new Burna Boy jam, 'Yawa Dey', directed by Peter Clarence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O0tJQxZeWw Here's another Nigerian jam, by Omawumi and Remy Kayz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B978auHSc8g More Pan-African styling courtesy of Nde Seleke in 'Pelo Ea Ka'. Lesotho house music as good as it gets: http://youtu.be/I2jf000rwKU Kenyan director Wanuri Kahui shot this video for South African rapper Tumi -- is this the new Pan-African aesthetic? http://youtu.be/OAsIUjLyOoc Compare the above to what Zimbabwean hip-hop artist Orthodox is doing in Bulawayo... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR7_ONjSehs ...or what Nigerian-American Kev is doing in Queens, New York (he is part of the Dutty Artz' L'Afrique Est Un Pays project -- check the EP we shared yesterday): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpnK5FhWP8Q In Kenya, Muthoni the Drummer Queen has released an unusually dark video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMo5FV_D9qw Meanwhile, in Belgium, Burundi-born (but claiming Rwanda as his original home) Soul T knows his Soul classics; this is a first single off his EP Ife's Daughter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDCdj3SllfU And now for something completely else, to end, 'Ay Hôra' is a great new tune by Malian singer Sidi Touré and band (throwing a good party too): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iuqLHOj9so

Weekend Music Break 61

Your weekly collection of new tunes and videos -- this week from Zambia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mali, South Africa and the Netherlands, but first: Congo. This year's Salaam Kivu International Film Festival (SKIFF), which took place in Goma in July, had as its theme "Agizo ya Lumumba -- Justice". The festival's program included film screenings and dance/media/music workshops around the Justice theme and the following video by the same title, featuring Doris, Dak2, Black Man, DMD, BIN-G, Babu, Wanny S-king, Dj Couleur, M-Chris, Nathan, Jobson Madibo, Darsana, Fal-G, Gaius Kowene and Willy Ston, is a great product of that.

Weekend Music Break 59

Oddisee (real name: Amir Mohamed El Khalifa; he has a Sudanese dad) is on tour in Europe this month, so go check him out if you're anywhere close. Details and dates here. He also has a new video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Snh2NZHhk Zimbabwe-born, South London-raised Eska Mtungwazi gives us these visuals for her new work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6ng51T7Pm8 Uganda-born Jaqee (real name: Jaqueline Nakiri Nalubale) also shared a new video this week, recorded in Gothenburg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smx9ufI62_4 A happy tune by Belgian-Congolese Karoline Kamosi aka Leki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR4aL8uvesA Nigerians WizKid and Femi Kuti team up in 'Jaiye Jaiye': http://youtu.be/pAV4KlD86E8 A new disco jam from South Africans Muzart, 'Party After': http://youtu.be/rD8_10akeKU Hipe produced this track for Ill Skillz, also featuring Sandra Amarie and Melo B Jones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XNeiZaTldc At the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival, Nomadic Wax gathered top MCs from around the world. This cipher features artists from USA, India, Burkina Faso, and Kenya: MC K-Swift, Mandeep Sethi, Humanist, Mr. Lif, Kama and Lah Tere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dHSfGfTn70 Nana D grew up in Ghana before moving to the UK in 1980. Here's his latest collaboration with Jordan Crisp, the quite hectic but fun ‘Ngoma’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRwMhIyK-wg And to end, we were very sorry to hear about the unexpected passing of Robo The Technician last weekend. He will be missed in Johannesburg and beyond. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQLTDp5pAKs  

Weekend Music Break 58

Your weekly dose of 10 new music videos. First up, from Kenya, Muthoni The Drummer Queen's ode to Nairobi: http://youtu.be/CA521lUdNcg M.anifest, "Ghana man since 19 kojo-hoho": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z0BKQxzPTA Indocile is a hip-hop crew from Liège, Belgium: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNza4M4CC6k South of Belgium, representing the Congolese diaspora in France, new work by Black Bazar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU-wrssKVEI Ol'Kainry (representing Benin) and Youssoupha bring their version of that Pusha T & Kendrick Lamar 'Nostalgia' video from earlier this month: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxc8NX3zp28 Davido's Skelewu already had an instructional dance video (accompanied by some controversy), but it comes with a new story now: http://youtu.be/sqflXTvth3s Cape Town's winding mountain roads were made for longboarding -- assuming you've seen this one already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxgmMA7q87g DJ Kent gets help from pop duo The Arrows on 'Spin My World': http://youtu.be/bJ82QbP6xyw Toro y Moi (an AIAC favorite) remixed Billie Holiday a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G5B2x0_RFE And a last South African tune to get your weekend started, courtesy Character, Oskido and Mono-T: 'Inxeba Lendoda': http://youtu.be/cDFymvJYiBA

Weekend Music Break 56

Three South African videos to start with. Cape Town rapper Youngsta moves between the city's neigbourhoods of Wynberg and the CBD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06y0SSHPu9w ...while fellow Cape artist HemelBesem went for a stroll in Utrecht, Netherlands earlier this year. EJ von LYRIK who was on tour with him gets a cameo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plxxtFZSwms Mafikizolo seem to find a lot of fun in creating retro-styled videos lately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVUFju4tnWQ A Nomadic Wax production for Diamondog, an MC from Angola, currently based in Berlin, Germany: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJMXM3SC908 From Jumanne's archives: Kali Kwa Wote Unit from Zanzibar, 'Tatizo Coins' (an older song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPiLAthLSvo Baloji (who no longer needs an introduction) has two songs on the latest (and great) Red Hot compilation, both Fela interpretations. Here's one of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0VVZZ9O5j8 Dinozord -- from Kinshasa -- could be seen dancing in a KVS-sponsored production recently but rapping is still what he does best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEKkPcJ8gUs A new album and a sweet video for guitarist Hervé Samb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LCiZZj4c4 Rap from Québec, Canada: Webster (real name Ali Ndiaye -- he has a Senegalese dad): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix8C7H2ajSk And another one from Angola: Puto Português and 'Minha Passada': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7r8du9HFPw

Weekend Music Break 55

When Tendai Maraire broke down his Chimurenga Renaissance mixtape for us last year, he said about "It's Time For You To Go", a song inspired by a family visit to Zimbabwe ("driving down the street bumping Biggie's ‘Juicy’"): "Young Maraire Boys being crazy at home." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMfI9dnKArE Toronto, Canada-based Zambian artist Chansa recently released his debut single, titled "Immigrant", and has a video for it too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPyhgHAqlqc Simba, Milton Gulli and Zubz's "Scenario", a first single taken off their Tribute To A Tribe Called Quest, which is a production by Mozambican arts collective Grasspoppers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yH5yBG_qMU We now also have images to go with Ghanaian-Swiss audio experimentalist Oy's hair philosophy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZmcAXy_7Bo Matshidiso goes for a run in and around Johannesburg: http://youtu.be/Bs-U_Go1_ts New soul from Sandra Nkaké who hails from Yaoundé, Cameroon but resides in France: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaOFbXmt94I Anoter soul-ish one from the Mozambican lady who's got Lusophone Africa on lock: Lizha James' highly-stylized ode to her mother: http://youtu.be/Kl868uQ8sgA Jacques Vergès, Femi Falana and Thomas Sankara are but a few names who feature in this new track and video by Togolese rapper Elom 20ce (which he dedicates to Gouyano Sinandare, the 12-year-old who got murdered by the police during the student protests earlier this year): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zDHOIGGT38 Bajah (from Sierra Leone) recorded a Last.FM session with Prince Polo at The Kennel Studios in Brooklyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQzMUNEI-n8 And Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits played an almost 30-minute set on Seattle radio station KEXP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqsA_v4Nu4U * The photo of Sandra Nkaké by Claire Vinson.

5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°30

From the director and singer-actors of the 2005 film U-Carmen eKhayelitsha comes a new "opera" film. Unogumbe/Noye's Fludde follows the plot of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde work but moves the action from medieval England to present-day South Africa. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmOvJ3ubGRQ Nomads is a musical documentary by Mohamad Hanafi, produced by the Goethe‐Institut's Sudan Film Factory (also check out the Factory's other recent work). It tells the story of a group of artist friends working as mechanics in Khartoum. Here's a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1A4a7zxQ8A The starting point for German filmmaker Eva Weber's Black Out documentary is the "nightly pilgrimage" hundreds of Guinean school children undertake, "searching for light" at the airport, petrol stations and wealthier parts of Conakry. (Here's a facebook page detailing the power failures in Guinea.) The film has been winning prizes since it started doing the rounds at festivals earlier this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXIAwRsKQBo Another prize-winning documentary is Dieudonné Hamadi's first long-feature film, Atalaku (Lingala "The Caller"*), in which Hamadi follows pasteur Gaylor making a living by convincing people in Kinshasa to vote for "his" candidate during the 2011 elections. No (English) trailer yet, but here's a fragment: [dailymotion id=xyjrry]   And also set in Congo is Avec le Vent (With the Wind), a documentary by Belgian researcher Raf Custers about foreign investors who continue to still do pretty much what they want in the Congolese mine industry. http://vimeo.com/70843718 * Footnote on the translation. According to Arizona M. Baongoli's Lingala Learner's Dictionary: Lingala-English, English-Lingala (p.5), "atalaku" is "A kind of rapper in Congolese music; a singer who speaks the words during show time while other singers are dancing; e.g. Atalaku Bill Clinto ayebi mosala na ye malamu. (The rapper Bill Clinton knows his work well.) / The term "atalaku" comes from Kikongo language and it means "look here, look at me". It is derived from the verb "ku-tala" which means to look, to watch, to see. It first appeared in Congolese music in the early 1980s. The term was initially associated with a popular music dance step but later came to refer to the accompanist singer who is in charge of injecting words, yelling and shouting during the second part of a song which consists of a fast paced dance sequence. In French "atalaku" is also known as "animateur". Some of the very first atalakus were used by Zaiko Langa Langa and later many others followed. Some of the most popular atalakus in recent history include Bill Clinton Kalonji, Juna Mumbafu, etc. Atalakus play a major role in "mabanga" or "dedicates". That is why they are also known as "mobwaki-ya-mabanga"." There you have it. Thanks to Joshua Walker.

5 New Films to Watch Out For, N°29

Nègre Blanc ("White Negro"), director Cheikh N'diaye's new film about albinism, in which he tackles rumors, stereotypes and misconceptions through the eyes of Cameroonian storyteller Léonard de Semnjock, is one of the five films on our list this week.

Weekend Music Break 46

Electrique DJs, Fena Gitu and Jaaz Odongo have the perfect Summer tune for you. Technically, we'll have to call it "Kenyan" house music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnxXlf-5dZQ Another great video by director Nicky Campos, this time for South Africans Cassper Nyovest and OkMalumkoolKat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yihc_E0tv1g "9 quatrains to paint a reality," Enyam Scandalocks calls it. The reality he describes is Lomé's. Koreg on drums, Elias Damawu on trumpet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FetypJlkPgc Australian Summer looks in Remi Kolawole's "Sangria" (via pop Radio Afro Australia): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNUD19rgB6g Noah Kin -- remember him -- from Finland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWmfVFpBimQ I loved the short profile on Congolese artists Jupiter & Okwess International the BBC did a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhfTsd028I Kitu Sewer and Frank 'Mteule' analyze the state of the Kenyan nation in "Wanasiasa"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ofBZb9BUg London based duo Native Sun went to Mexico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG6cKxyZvSw Old Money's mind is in Mexico too, it seems. From the Dutty Artz stable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyTCX96OIzc And everybody has seen or heard P-Square's "Personally" by now, yes? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdU19Kwce8