2011 was a good year for African cinema. In various cinema seats and at home, I’ve been intrigued and moved, horrified and sickened, surprised and hugely entertained by a group of industries that together we call ‘African cinema’ — a sign that what can be expected is anything but stereotypical. In the list below, I’ve […]

As part of a series of year-end posts–we’re taking a break from Friday, December 23, till January 5, 2012, we’re hoping to post 10 “Lists of 10” this week. (We’re trying to be cool by calling it “10×10”). So two lists per day. Orlando Reade, who blogs for us from London, starts us of with his list of 10 photographers to watch in 2012. He’s picked five African artists and five Europeans who have been working in Africa.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yffEiWHIoZI&w=600&h=349] This morning, Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora passed away in Mandelo, São Vicente, the island were she was born. One of the many meanings of “Sodade” — that most difficult to translate Creole word — is a feeling of loss.

The Samburu of northern Kenya are pastoralists, and they are under attack. According to Survival International, two US-based charities — the Nature Conservancy and the Africa Wildlife Foundation — bought lots of land, from Daniel arap Moi. How did he get the land? Good question.

Ploughing through the blog’s archives to come up with a fair selection of ten videos for next week’s year-end lists, I wondered why we haven’t written about the Congolese Salaam Kivu All Stars. Things went well in Goma, Kivu during the elections last week. A year ago, youth and media organization Yole! Africa staged the […]