The Role and Function of Film Festivals in Africa

The history of the international film festivals in Africa that are dedicated to films made by Africans, is essentially bound to the idea of an “African cinema”. From this premise, the significance of specific events, from Carthage to the present-day, are discussed noting, in particular, FESPACO in Ouagadougou, ZIFF in Zanzibar, the Durban International Film Festival (South Africa) and Abuja International Film Festival (Nigeria). The intention is to offer a critical perspective on the role of each of these festivals in their particular national context. The first African festivals at Carthage (Tunisia) and FESPACO are discussed in terms of their relationship to and with filmmakers, and the ideals of Pan-African solidarity and the anti-imperialist politics that defined their institutional foundation in the 1960s and 70s. The impact of subsequent developments in film production and cinema culture are noted, along with the institutional frameworks within which African film festivals have come to exist. The question is asked: what has been the role and function of each of these festivals in the contemporary post-colonial and globalised world? With the emergence of a significant wave of film festivals from the 1990s onwards, the changing discourse that has framed “African cinema” over the decades is considered. The underlying argument is for a formal institutionalized film industry at the national, regional and Pan-African levels, as the means to a sustainable basis for film festivals in Africa that are dedicated to African cinema.