Chapter 29: The Cinema and I (A Black Filmmaker) – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

John Alex Maina Karanja's 1986 MA thesis, prepared under Professor Jerzy Bossak at the Łódź Film School, argues that Jean-Luc Godard's radical interrogation of film language created the conceptual space for Third World cinema. Karanja traces Godard's influence on Glauber Rocha and other directors, and critiques colonial propaganda films in Africa (e.g., Mau-Mau, Simba). He highlights how European filmmakers, operating from a mindset of racial superiority, produced shallow, harmful depictions of African life. Karanja then advocates for a distinct African film language and identifies the documentary form as pragmatically suited for African cinemas due to lower cost and pedagogical potential. He concludes by urging the production of historical epics that demystify Africa's past, citing Ousmane Sembène and Yambo Ouologuem.

Key Events

Karanja positions Jean-Luc Godard as the pivotal figure enabling Third World cinema, comparable to Picasso in art or Joyce in literature.
He describes Godard's films from 1967–1970 (e.g., Weekend, La Chinoise) as dismantling established film language.
Glauber Rocha's response to Godard in The Lion Has Seven Heads (1970) is given as a key moment in the emergence of Third World film culture.
Karanja criticises colonial-era film propaganda in Africa, citing T. W. Koyinde Vaughan's report of a director who knew nothing about soil erosion while shooting a film on the topic.
He references films Mau-Mau (1955) and Simba (1955) as examples of anti-African propaganda.
He notes the positive exception of Les statues meurent aussi (1951) by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker.
The chapter contrasts European cinema's industrial roots with Africa's illiteracy rates and fragile economies.
Karanja endorses Ntongela Masilela's call for an African film language and historical epics.
He discusses the relative advantages of documentary over fiction for contemporary African cinema.

Character Development

Although not a narrative work, the chapter develops the intellectual persona of John Alex Maina Karanja himself. He writes from the dual perspective of a Kenyan filmmaker and a student of European film theory. Having trained at the Łódź Film School under Jerzy Bossak, Karanja commands an intimate knowledge of both European avant-garde cinema (Godard, Resnais) and the colonial film apparatus. His identity as a "black filmmaker" shapes his critique of European cultural arrogance and his advocacy for an autonomous African cinema. He positions himself as part of a generation that must forge a new cinematic language while navigating neocolonial legacies.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs Actually Evidenced Here

Colonialism and Cinematic Representation: Karanja systematically exposes how European filmmakers distorted African realities, either through ignorance or deliberate propaganda. The motif of the "exotic backdrop" recurs.
Film Language as Political Instrument: Godard's work is analysed as a demonstration that European film language is historically constructed, not universal. This opens the door for region-specific African film languages.
The Documentary vs. Fiction Debate: Karanja argues that documentary is currently more viable for African cinemas due to cost and educational needs, while not dismissing fiction's future potential.
Neocolonialism and Cultural Self-Determination: The chapter warns against neocolonial mimicry and insists on originality. Masilela's call for historical epics is positioned as a demystifying rather than romanticising project.
The Tarzan Archetype: Karanja uses Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's image of Tarzan's death giving way to African revolutionaries as a symbol of colonial fantasy's collapse.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter offers a rare insider perspective from a black African filmmaker trained in the European film school tradition. It bridges Western film theory (Godard, Solanas, Gettino) with the practical and political urgencies of postcolonial Africa. Karanja's thesis, written in 1986, presciently identifies challenges—economic fragility, lack of trained personnel, neocolonial structures—that continue to shape African cinema today. It also serves as a historical document of the Łódź Film School's influence on Third World filmmakers. By advocating for a distinct African film language rooted in documentary and historical epic, Karanja contributes to ongoing debates about cultural sovereignty and cinematic form. The chapter is essential for understanding how the concept of Third Cinema was adapted to the African continent from its Latin American origins.

3 Specific Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Karanja use Godard's example to argue for the possibility of Third World cinema?
Karanja claims that Godard's films from 1967–1970 revealed European cinema as a historical construct rather than an immanent quality of film. This demonstrated that other cinematic traditions could develop their own languages. Godard's influence on Glauber Rocha and his post-Mozambique revolution work in Maputo further concretised the link.

2. What evidence does Karanja provide for the harmful effects of colonial film propaganda in Africa?
He cites T. W. Koyinde Vaughan's account of a British crew shooting Soil Erosion without understanding the subject, wasting 75% of raw stock. He also describes films Mau-Mau and Simba depicting Africans as instinctive murderers, and reports that Kikuyu prisoners sentenced to death were used as extras in Simba and executed shortly after filming.

3. Why does Karanja advocate for the documentary form in African cinema at this historical moment?
He argues that documentary is cheaper than fiction, easier to use for educational purposes (critical given Africa's literacy crisis), and can serve as a national information reservoir for cultural history. The form is also amenable to forging national consciousness and political ideologies without the infrastructure required for feature films.