Journal of African Cinemas - Current Issue

The new technological development is contributing to the promotion and preservation of African Indigenous languages and cultural heritages, despite claims that modernization is engineering the ‘extinction’ of African cultural heritages. This study examined how the Namibian short film Tjipangandjara has used new (filmless) technology to stimulate the appreciation of the Ovaherero language and cultural heritage while limiting the adverse effects associated with digital capitalism. Drawing from African oral tradition, this article examines tangible and intangible Ovaherero cultural elements in the film and accentuates their nuances and intricacies. A qualitative research approach is adopted to explore cultural variables specific to the film. In addition, the institutional (economic and political) structures that facilitated the production, consumption and distribution and constraints encountered are examined. This article is positioned in broader critical perspectives and draws from the Third Cinema approaches. Tjipangandjara is placed in this tradition because it exemplifies a marginalized heritage’s resistance to cultural relegation. The article carves space for indigenous language film in an environment dominated by mainstream visual and literary narratives. It contributes to Indigenous language film literature in Southern Africa. The film promotes and preserves the Ovaherero cultural heritage by serving as this heritage ‘storage’ facility. Moreover, Tjipangandjara testifies to the use of new technologies in producing creative works as cultural artefacts without converting them into profitable commodities.

The orbit at which Yoruba film industry operates in the recent time reveals the concentric relationship between the artistry and the technology of productions as evident in the use of language, props, costumes and make-up in compatibility with the representation of characterization and subject matter on the screen. The current situation of Yoruba films in the cinematic mode is a sort of reflection of nostalgia for the functional use of Yoruba language for communicative and artistic purposes with the interplay of codes and significations. With the qualitative approach of literature review and textual analysis of some Yoruba-language films such as Tunde Kelani’s Ayinla, Kunle Afolayan’s Anikulapo as well as Sadiq Adebayo and Adebayo Tijani’s Jagun Jagun, the present study critically examines the use of Yoruba language in its natural forms without any trace of code-mixing or code-switching that have been recurring patterns of Yoruba-language films since the departure from the cinema to home videos in the early 1990s. The use of Yoruba language in the contemporary films in cinematic mode has been functional thereby revealing the aesthetic, pedagogical and cultural values of the language. This is evident in the use of proverbs, local idioms and other nuances of Yoruba language without affecting the cognitive and semantic import of the theme and overall message of the film texts. The renaissance of Yoruba language and culture in films is necessary to reawaken the consciousness of native speakers at home and in the diaspora on the significance of the sustained use of the language for literary and non-literary functions.

The scapes of South African film and television are dynamic canvases reflecting the nation’s sociolinguistic complexities. However, casting for film and television in post-apartheid South Africa has been marked with controversies. Many experienced and emerging television actors have complained that they are being overlooked because of their ethnicities, language skills, skin tone, body shape and social media status. This article examines the nuanced sociolinguistic factors influencing casting decisions in the South African film and television industry. It investigates how language varieties, accents and linguist backgrounds become instruments through which characters are constructed and narratives unfold. The choices made in casting resonate beyond the screen, impacting societal perceptions, reinforcing stereotypes or challenging established norms. The research draws on sociolinguistics frameworks to uncover the implicit biases embedded within the power structures inherent in casting processes. The article examines how linguistic diversity, or lack thereof, reflects and contributes to broader issues of social inclusion, cultural representation and linguistic hegemony. Through interviews with casting directors, directors, actors and producers, the article seeks to unravel the sophisticated web of sociolinguistic considerations that shape the faces and voices audiences encounter in South African film and television. In essence, this sociolinguistics-informed exploration of the politics of casting in South African film and television seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how languages shape and reflect the sociocultural landscape, unveiling the complexities of representation in a diverse and multilingual society.

Translation and subtitling are prominent features in the global film industry. Subtitling is a translation of films’ audio and visuals into a language that will be understood by people. In recent times, there has been a deliberate focus on African language films, which has attracted a global audience and has led to the observations of perceived lapses in translation and subtitles in these films. It is imperative to note that non-native audiences require subtitles for easy comprehension of Indigenous African language films, and issues arise when there are lapses in subtitles, especially when considering films from creative texts in a different language. Viewed from the lens of Ngugi wa Thiongo’s argument in ‘Decolonising the African Mind’, this article investigates subtitling issues inherent in the film Elesin Oba, directed by Biyi Bandele in 2022 and adapted from Wole Soyinka’s English play Death and the King’s Horseman. This article adopts a qualitative content analysis technique to examine the lack of sync between subtitling and scene reality, music score subtitling, flash forward and linguistic misrepresentation between subtitles and scene realities. Though there is a glaring dearth of good translators in the Nollywood industry, subtitling should not be seen as a passive element of interpretation, especially for culturally embedded films such as Elesin Oba.

Review of: Seven Doors (2024), Nigeria: Euphoria 360 Media