Telefilms: Telling Our Own Tales
By Mwalimu George Ngwane Posted 17/02/09 culled from: http://cameroon.africancolours.net/content/18726 The rampant closure of cinemas in most cities in Africa today may be harmful to the growth of celluloid cinema and the future of the film festival (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso. On the other hand this may open a window of opportunity to the new wave of television films (telefilms) now becoming a permanent feature in our cultural landscape. Africa Magic and Africa Magic Plus, the twin audio-visual channels hosted by M-Net in South Africa are fast becoming the artistic vista for African film producers interested in bringing screen art and culture to the privacy of our sitting rooms and bedrooms. With the waning interest in a reading culture, telefilms are now bound to play the role “African Writers Series” played in the wake of Independence by showcasing the values and virtues, lores and mores as well as the aesthetic diversity of traditional Africa. With our educational system alienated f...