Africa: Have it Your Way

American documentaries tell us about their concerns over different issues; global warming, terrorism, health issues, successful biographies. Europeans deal a lot with immigration and individual stories on more personal subjects. We hear some about conflicts from the Middle East, some by insiders - local filmmakers - and others by outsiders (usually ’Westerners’). When it comes to Africa however, we face a striking reality: there are not many African documentaries actually made by Africans.

Even though documentary seems like more of an objective form of reality compared to fiction, the director’s point of view still frames the reality. Because we see so many films from a Western point of view, our knowledge about this part of the world is very limited. We never see things the way an insider sees them.

When you are not an active participant of the community you are filming, you are likely to get stuck with stereotypes. Not having the full experience with the historical, political or cultural dimensions of the subject as a native would, your analysis may seem irrelevant or incomplete. Here we face a problem: What are the challenges of making documentaries in countries which are not your own? How does an outsider or insider perspective change a film’s direction?

"I am fighting for Uganda" Kassim says before a boxing match. Kassim the Dream follows his personal story. He was kidnapped at the age of 6 and trained as a child soldier, involved in rebel forces under the Yaweri Mousevini administration. After spending long years as an active soldier, one day he escaped to the US and became a successful boxer. Even though he doesn’t have any further dreams than being more successful, he refers to his country when he needs emotional motivation for strength. He and his American dream don’t tell us all that much about Uganda. Director Kief Davidson cooks up a story and serves it with an African dressing.

Back to Africa explores the trials and tribulations of young African artists who live in Europe. Othmar Schmiderer proves that you can make your dreams come true if you work hard enough, even if you’re from the ‘Third World’. Again, we see individual success stories, but the film lacks an adequate portrayal of their difficult circumstances.

Pierre Morath and Nicholas Peart have a different position when portraying Togo. Instead of choosing characters, they chose a subject and analyzed it from different angles. We see their journey towards understanding what soccer means to people in Togo; how it is related to politics, feelings, and beliefs, and how it can feed nationalism by giving people the sense of being in the game. They have no resources to fight with, and many people don’t even know their country’s name. But through football, the world acknowledges them.

One character can represent many things about a society but at the same time it can be very tricky to put all emphasis on one individual story and expect to gain a general idea about a specific country. It seems more likely for an insider filmmaker to get over this controversy as he/she is more familiar with the sensitivities of their specific culture.

Africa is a big puzzle that we know very little about. Success stories actually leave very little room for hope by only showing specific examples. We need more critical documentaries which make us question ourselves about the tragedy of the continent: Where do we stand in the African question?

Starting the African story with a self-critical perspective could give us new keys to comprehending the great unknown. Trying to portray a country through just one character would only keep entertaining people with superficial emotions.

Selma Åževkli