Africa in Motion Decolonising the image: Repression and resistance in anti-colonial film

In an attempt to maintain order, the 1934 Laval Decree sought to control all images of Africa and French colonialism, giving the French authorities the right to refuse anyone permission to film in the colonies. Shot between 1950 and 1970, these three short films are of immense historical and aesthetic importance. From the first French anti-colonial film to the first documentary shot by African filmmakers south of the Sahara, Colonising the image explores through film the relationship between France and (colonial) Africa.

The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with Professor Michael Syrotinski, Dr Mathilde Von Bülow and Professor David Murphy, all scholars working in postcolonial studies.

Curated by Alasdair Campbell.

Films within this programme:

Afrique 50 (Africa 50)
René Vautier | Niger/Côte d'Ivoire 1950 | 17m | French with English subtitles | 15

In his third year of film school study in Paris, 21-year-old René Vautier was commissioned by the French Board of Education to make a film about the daily lives of villagers in French (colonial) West Africa. Intended to show the ‘benefits’ of empire, Vautier instead made the first French anti-colonial film, exposing the brutalities of the French military.

Afrique sur Seine
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and Mamadou Sarr | France 1955 | 22m | French with English subtitles | 15

Afrique sur Seine is hailed as the first film made by Africans south of the Sahara. Made by two Senegalese filmmakers who were unable to shoot in Africa, it takes the spectator on a disconcerting tour through the centre of Paris, observing French society in the same way that French filmmakers had made ethnographic films about Africa. Africans had so often been portrayed as the exotic ‘other’, yet here they are the protagonists, reversing the colonial gaze.

Contras City
Djibril Diop Mambéty | Senegal 1969 | 16m | French with English subtitles | 15

Contras City is Senegalese maverick Mambety’s first film, made at the age of 24 with no formal training. It is often considered Africa’s first comedy film, though it was initially only screened to western audiences. It was filmed in the immediate aftermath of the 1968 Dakar riots against continuing French influence.