Great African Films
AFRICA ON THE BIG SCREEN
When you have caught the rhythm of Africa,
you find out that it is the same in all her music
- Karen Blixen, Out of Africa -
Of course the lovely Ms Streep features as the cover girl of this particular list (and hey, why not, she seems to have a thing for Rob's). But choosing another 5 movies to join Out of Africa is near impossible. So - as per our African book selection - we have instead chosen a selection of films* that we feel are really special bits of African film-making (hover over each title for more and for links to YouTube trailers).
* Whilst there are many great foreign language films made in Africa (The Wind, from Mali, amongst them) - this particular list is by nature rather Anglicized and post-1980 biased...
A movie that truly launched the romantic colonial safari image in cinemas across the globe (& the one responsible for my boyhood crush on a certain lead actress) - this classic love-story set in colonial Kenya is a timeless work of art with a great soundtrack by John Barry & featuring two of the more beautiful actors of their age...
Forest Whitaker's portrayal of arch-dictator Idi Amin is something chilling to behold, especially for those who live in touching distance of such horrors... a brilliant piece of acting & a great film about a truly scary part of African history. This film is closely followed by Hotel Rwanda as one of the best cinemographic accounts of Africa's dark recent past.
Dereck & Beverly Joubert's moving story about the plight of Africa's lions, as told through the lives of a lioness & her cubs in Botswana's Delta, is a masterpiece of entertaining story-telling and some stunning cinematography...
Everyone's all time favorite tongue-in-cheek African hit comedy - again from the 1980s. I can't begin to tell you how many guests ask me if I have seen 'that sweet film about the little bushmen guys and the Coke bottle...' A classic from the same film-maker who brought us the Marula-inebriated baboons & elephants in Beautiful People (Jamie Uys)
A very clever piece of film-making that mixes the Men in Black-styled sci-fi action comedy with a real & compelling South African sociopolitical history lesson - a must see! (and I am keenly awaiting the return of District 10...)
My African film pick from (way) outside the box... if you have not seen this brilliant documentary about the life and genius of a fig tree in Africa, then do yourself a favor and watch it right now! Brilliant macro photography and a completely non-human cast make this one a slightly off-the-wall A-list selection