Africa Is a Country

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Sean Jacobs

Sean Jacobs, Founder-Editor of Africa is a Country, is on the faculty of The New School.

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New Documentaries

Some of the films in The Encounters Documentary Film Festival which kicks off its 13th year in Cape Town and Johannesburg today (till June 26), that I hope make it over here sometime: "When China Met Africa" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA9w3eVGJS8 "Forerunners" http://vimeo.com/21384365 "Glitterboys and Ganglands": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifQUxl7zHTw "King Naki" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As12EhJnY8k&w=570&h=355] And finally, "Robert Mugabe: What Happened?" http://vimeo.com/24822228

Music Break

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X0nq5nGvPU&w=560&h=349] As a bonus, see also the 10-minute video for "Clap" also off "W.A.R.," below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG_iDZbSZ3I This is not your usual music video. This one is really a short film. I don't want to say more about the plot except it is about police violence. And, even better, here is the live version of "Clap": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR5at8AhQMs&NR=1

'Short Cut'

http://youtu.be/ubz387K2XL0 The trailer for the feature film "Short Cut" (to be directed by Norman Maake) about the quest of two brothers to escape a life of hardship and political turmoil in Zimbabwe and decide to travel to Johannesburg only to be forced into slavery in an illegal mine in a border town. As Maake explains: "They plot an escape but are seperated instead. One gets deported back and the other is left stranded in no man land.. Inches away from freedom he is forced to turn back and search for his brother dead or alive bring him back to the city of promise or slums." The film is still in development phase. For more information also read this essay (part of a fundraising effort) about the genesis of"Short Cuts" by the film's producer David Max Brown.

Street Photographer

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHxFJgqicZw&w=560&h=349] Charlie Ahearn's new documentary of Brooklyn photographer Jamal Shabazz screening on June 26 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Andrew Dosunmu's 'Restless City'

I recently missed out on seeing a special screening (at BAM in Brooklyn) of "Restless City," the new film by Andrew Dosunmu, "... the story of Djibril, an Africa immigrant surviving on the fringes of New York City where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk." Links to the film's website, an early review, a short interview with director Dosunmu, or just follow the film's twitter feed.

An Ordinary Killing

Riveting piece of journalism in this weekend's New York Times Magazine as well as an accompanying video piece (narrated by correspondent Barry Bearak) on the ordinary murder of a Zimbabwean migrant and widespread mob "justice" in Diepsloot, a squatter camp to the north of Johannesburg. The piece is generally good.  As one friend remarked: "To his credit, Bearak's clearly made an effort at getting to know Diepsloot and writing a good story. While it has a whiff of Rian Malan's 'Hammerman' tale towards the end, with the white man's discovery of and fascination with muti, etcetera, it is generally good, and didn't stray into laziness." So go ahead and it.

Out of Africa

Vanity Fair's June issue has a profile. of Hillary Clinton. It contains tons of information about her working relationship with President Barack Obama, how she made up with Samantha Power, the Obama ally and Harvard professor, who referred to Mrs Clinton as "a monster," speculates on Clinton running for President in 2016 (she still wants to), and that she "offers continuity with Condi Rice’s policy on aids and Africa." In other words familiar ground. Then there's this throwaway reference: "... She resists movies (despite a weakness for anything with Meryl Streep, especially Out of Africa) ..."

'Three soldiers from Somalia'

I reread that infamous 2010 New Yorker profile. of Gil Scott Heron earlier today. I was struck by the conclusion where Scott Heron tells reporter Alec Wilkinson about a novel he wants to write:

I have a novel that I can write ... It’s about three soldiers from Somalia. Some babies have been disappearing up on 144th Street, and I speculate later on what happened to them and how they might have been got back. These guys are dead, all three, and they have a chance in the afterlife to do something they should have done when they were alive ... I have everything except a suitable conclusion.

It's also worth reading Greg Tate's obituary of Gil Scott Heron here.

Goksin Sipahioglu

One of the highlights of a recent trip to Istanbul--dominated by run-ins with operatives of a secretive Turkish political group--was a quick stop at the Istanbul Modern. What I remember most were a set of photographs taken in the 1960s in East and West Africa by the legendary photographer, Goksin Sipahioglu. This link takes you to 2008 interview with Sipahioglu, who founded the SIPA Press Agency, in Paris where he lives.