Courtesy of Third Man Records Three Phases of African Cinema This does not dilute its contribution to African Cinema, in fact quite the opposite- like Black Girl, it is a film that spearheads a phase of African Cinema. The film has achieved the same sort of impact as the aforementioned films, on a larger and less intellectual scale.īlack Girl is an essential part of a continent-wide sweep of political development, but Who Killed Captain Alex? is solely made to entertain. So what does Who Killed Captain Alex?, a film whose narrator blurts out “dinosaurs” with no context as its hero hides among a flock of Pelicans, have to do with these masterpieces? It achieves exactly the same thing, announcing a new type of filmmaking to the world, although by accident- Nabwana only made his film for the entertainment of the people of Wakaliga, but when it got uploaded to YouTube it introduced the internet to a unique piece of African filmmaking. (There are, of course, other notable landmark films in African and African-American Cinema, such as Cheryl Dunye’s Watermelon Woman, but the three aforementioned examples have penetrated the public consciousness to a far greater extent) Moonlight (2016) Courtesy of Le Monde. The fact they are masterpieces has ensured they are more than just an interesting historical marker. Just the fact they exist is enough of a milestone. They spearhead what I consider to be the three phases of African and African-American Cinema (more on that in a moment). The common thread between these films is that they were announcements of a new type of filmmaker, or a new type of storytelling, or both. And a bold coming-of-age gay love story depicting a truly African-American experience that successfully crossed over into the mainstream and awards glory. Rebellion school of filmmaking, by one of the first publicly recognized African-American filmmakers since Oscar Micheaux. The first truly African film by an African filmmaker. Three films, two from African American filmmakers, that stand out not just because of their quality, but because they are films that broke new ground. Milestone films that are announcements Killer of Sheep (1978) Courtesy of Cornell Cinemaīlack Girl. It indicates a way forward for African Cinema to become a more vocal force on the world stage, and looking at the making of this ludicrously entertaining film is a great way to chart the evolution of African Cinema in the last 55 years, which draws certain parallels to the birth of Western Cinema. To date, Who Killed Captain Alex? is the magnum opus of both Nabwana and Wakaliwood and it is the most important African film of this century so far. All this from the creative mind behind Ebola Hunter and Cannibal Mama. Nabwana’s maverick approach is markedly different to other film industries within Africa, leading him to the kind of success they have been unable to achieve. He inadvertently capitalized on the crossover appeal of genre films, and through his love of vintage Martial Arts movies has developed the kind of relationship with the Chinese market that no other African filmmaker has done. He has almost single-handedly created an industry. What Nabwana has achieved in Wakaliga since then is nothing short of remarkable.
#WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX HE KNOWS THE WAY MOVIE#
But you would be surprised how much these four films have in common, even though one of them features a helicopter literally flattening a skyscraper whilst a narrator screams “What Is Happening?!?! Hello!” at the top of his voice.ĭirector Isaac Nabwana’s Who Killed Captain Alex?, the absolutely ridiculous “Supa Action” movie from the slum of Wakaliga near Uganda’s capital, Kampala, became a viral hit when its trailer was uploaded to YouTube, amassing millions of views across the globe. This author has consistently argued, to much ridicule, that a movie which proudly declares that everybody in Uganda knows Kung Fu can be compared to masterpieces like Ousmane Sembene’s Black Girl, Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight.