Photograph by Tiziana Manfredi

Conversation between Aboubakar Sanogo (Pan African Federation of Filmmakers/FEPACI); Mohamed Challouf (Associazione Ciné-Sud Patrimoine/Artistic Advisor Cinémathèque Tunisienne); Germain Coly, Marco Lena, Tiziana Manfredi (Diréction de la Cinématographie, Senegal); Maxime Grember (Cinémathèque Afrique de l’Institut français) e Alain Sembène (Ousmane Sembene’s son). Cecilia Cenciarelli to moderate.

“Africa’s relationship to the cinema begins with multiple traumas – wrote Aboubakar Sanogo –  trauma of the loss of sovereignty, traumas of images of exploitation of the continent’s wealth and natural resources, of dispossession of lands, and of course, of dehumanization via the cinema itself. In spite of this, African filmmakers have embraced the medium of cinema and used it to reverse this unbearable regime of representation, to rethink the nature and power of the moving image, to project a new and more faithful representation of their continent, its dreams and aspirations as well as its challenges”.

During the last FIAF Congress hosted by Filmoteca de la UNAM in Mexico City, the urgency of surveying the affiliates’ collections in search of African films, as well as the question of ‘restitution’ were brought back to the centre of the debate. Similar and equally complex issues were addressed at the Archival Assembly #2 symposium organised in Berlin by Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst in early June. In particular, discussion was informed by the transnational role of film archives as well as ethical responsibilities involved in preserving images that not only do not belong to us, but are also steeped in our colonial and neo-colonial past. 

By virtually picking up the baton from these two recent exchanges, this round table on the future of African archives has a twofold purpose. On the one hand, to share the most significant projects undertaken in the African continent – FEPACI’s current initiatives; the Senegalese audio-visual archives at the DCI; Tunisian Association Ciné-Sud Patrimoine; and on the other to attempt laying the foundations for future shared and concrete actions. 

C.C.