Mama Africa

SIX DYNAMIC TALES OF MODERN ARFICA BY WOMEN

(DRAMA 6 x 26′)

There is still prejudice and ignorance about African women. The stereotypes are seen the world over: the strong salt-of-the-earth mother, the manipulator, all too often the victim. But the truth is more subtle, more complex, more exciting. Under the surface of traditional forms, under the skin as it were, African women experience emotions, laugh and cry, love and hate, plan and plot, pursue and achieve excellence. But this is seldom shown, apart from in films directed by African women. By making these six films, we wanted to broaden the way in which Africans are perceived. We also wanted to entertain a unique collection of perspectives on African life.

After an exhaustive year-long selection process, Mama Africa began filming. A Zimmedia and M-Net co-production, this groundbreaking short film initiative brought together the incredible fresh talents of six female directors spanning the vast and diverse continent of Africa. The six selected directors were from Burkina Faso, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.

The 6 x 26 min final short films challenge the stereotypical perception of women and the people surrounding them in Africa. Crossing language and regional barriers, each story presents an entirely different perspective and continental reality. Yet a common thread portraying the comic, tragic, and passionate side of modern life in Africa unites the whole.

MAMA AFRICA – THE FILMS

MAMA AFRICA – THE DIRECTORS

Fanta Nacro (Burkina Faso)

A Close-up on Bintou portrays the self-elevation – against all odds – of a downtrodden housewife into a dynamic businesswoman whose ultimate symbol of success is a motorbike.

Ngozi Onwhura (Nigeria)

Hang Time centres its focus on a young, poor, but talented West African basketball player whose desperation to wear the right shoes to impress an American basketball scout ends in tragedy.

Raja Amari (Tunisia)

One Evening in July unfolds the battle between the society morals of a sixty year old bridal beautician and her empathy for a reluctant bride, who is plotting to murder her groom.

Zulfah Otto-Salies (South Africa)

Raya leads the viewer through the a young mother’s recognition that not only can true change only be realised from within, but that the price for the release of the next generation must be paid by the present.

Ingrid Sinclair (Zimbabwe)

Riches follows the flight of a mixed race journalist from apartheid South Africa to an isolated and unfriendly village in Botswana. The gesture of friendship from a member of the community inspires the journalist to write her first story in exile.

Bridget Pickering (Namibia)

Uno’s World presents the disintegration of a young single mother’s escapist lifestyle when she is confronted with the inescapable responsibilities of childbirth.