10 African Films That Deal With Protest Culture & History

With a history of oppression, it stands to reason that Africa has seen protests in many different forms. As Nigeria currently grapples with uprisings against police brutality, it is interesting to look back at the history of such events across the continent, many of which have been captured in film. Directed by the duo of Gunnbjørg Gunnarsdóttir and Aslaug Aarsæther, The Art of Fallism is an instructive peep into how lack of intersectionality can sabotage even the most well-meaning of protest movements. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers has endured to become one of the most influential films in history. Burkinabè Rising upholds creative nonviolent resistance as a legitimate tool for engagement as gleaned from the Burkina Faso experience. For six days in the year 2000, the Ugandan and Rwandan armies came head to head in the Congolese town of Kisangani. This brutal tragedy known as the six-day war, was part of a broader extended conflict over mineral deposits. It claimed the lives of over a thousand people while maiming over three thousand more. Dieudo Hamadi’s official Cannes festival selection draws attention to some of the survivors of this war as they go about dealing with the scars.

SOURCE: OKAYAFRICA