Those of you that read the page constantly are aware that the AICN Headquarters Staff has been attending a film fest here in Austin hosted by Quentin Tarantino for several days now. Well Father Geek is happy to announce that tonight is the eagerly waited for PIMP NITE at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema with all 3 features, and all the dozens of trailers, and shorts related to that business. Annnnnnd one of the truly great blaxplotation films, THE MACK, will be lit up on the giant silver screen as one of those featured features.
For those of you NOT familar with this fantastic 1973 genre classic, it kicks major booty from start to finish. Our anti-hero is an ex-con con man named Goldie played to perfection by Max Julien, and he is one fast, hip, smooth talking badass mutha. His pardner in crime is none other than Richard Pryor. And one of the babes in his stable is the totally too hot to trot Carol Speed. This violent epic of the ghetto is a well acted revenge/impowerment film that if you've never seen you must rent on video immediately, and under NO circumstances miss it if you ever hear of it playing on the big screen within 200 miles of you. It has to be viewed and heard larger than life with a live audience to be fully appreciated. Now on to the good Doc and his medicine show...
"Hello everyone this is Nurse Lotte (Benda Lotte to frequent clients),
filling in for a few lines for DR. SOTHA. Seems the good doctor is still
busy scrubbing up a storm in the washbasin, so he gave me the opportunity to
start things off. Firstly, let me say that I'm a big fan of his column,
practically worship it, which is why I got this AfricaAICN tattoo emblazoned
on my left nipple. It got a little infected, but the good Doctor sterilized
the wound. And "C" DR. SOTHA said in addition to being a good Nurse, he
would use me as bait whenever he needs to get his hands on important
information."
Now now that's enough of that Benda. My apologies to all, this is DR. SOTHA,
you give a nurse an inch, and she takes a mile. Moving on, if you have any
"important information" that you'd like to forward on to my very attractive,
but slightly confused nurse please do so to Africaaicn@hotmail.com
Nurse, did I say to lubricate the keypad?
SOUTH AFRICA
* "Bandit House" is set to be directed by John Greyson, and explores a
blooming relationship between two male prisoners, as they cling on to each
other trying to weather the storm of violence within the prison. Co-written
by Greyson, Zackie Achmat and Jack Lewis, and financed by Big World Cinema.
* "The Wooden Camera" looks finally set to go into production, after being
more than a year on hiatus. The project follows a young black boy, who finds
a wooden camera near a railroad track. His vision of the world changes when
he starts recording life around him - and ends up following his dream into
film. It will be a French/ South African co-production (Les Films), written
by Yves Buclet and Ntshaveni Wa.
* The SASC (South African Society of Cinematographers) is calling for
entries for the 2000 SASC Visible Spectrum Awards. These awards celebrate
and acknowledge the very best work produced by cinematographers in South
Africa.
The competition is open to all cinematographers. (Production companies and
agencies are encouraged to enter the work of their best cinematographers.)
The closing date for entries is 1 October 2000. For more information please
email sasc@mweb.co.za
* Proving that the "disaster" genre still has lots of pulling power, The
George Clooney / Mark Wahlberg release, The Perfect Storm, is this week's
leader at the South Arican box office, having taken about 300k$ since 11
August. Next in place are Gone in 60 Seconds (YAWN!), Me, Myself & Irene,
Return to Me and MI2 (Otherwise known as "Miserably intolerant 2"). I
Dreamed of Africa, the Kim Basinger film (can you say turkey? - DR. SOTHA)
which was shot in KwaZulu Natal, has just squeezed into the number 10 spot,
ahead of Gladiator.
NORTH AFRICA
* I realize this is technically Hollywood (or is that anti - Hollywood - DR.
SOTHA) news, but there's a dogma (hence the anti) film in the works called
"The King is Alive" (Dogma #4) which takes place in the Namibian desert
(that's right punks, Africa). Now the interesting thing is that Jennifer
Jason Leigh (She can not become a nurse soon enough - DR. SOTHA) stars in
this using handheld digital cameras, available light, ad-libbing, and well
you know the rest. They will also act in the film with (Academy Award
Nominee) Janet McTeer. Kristian Levring wrote and directed. It's the story
of 11 bus passengers stranded in the desert. Vusi Kunene (South African
actor), someone I've raved about on this column before, gets his first major
break to show the world what he's capable of. Jason Leigh is working on her
own Dogma film, which she will co-direct with actor Alan Cummings.
* Egyptian immigrant Mustaf Ahmed is returning to his native country from
New York to shoot "Spin the Riddle" about the machinations of a drug cartel
on the west coast of Africa that supplies to the east coast of the US. One
of the men in the organization has been working his way up the ladder for
years in the hopes of bringing the whole thing down from the inside. Things
take a turn for the worst when he finds out his brother is behind the east
coast operation.
* I hand you over to Rigobert Song."Good day readers, Rigobert Song here to
take you through a film called "Salut cousin!" directed by Merzak Allouache
starring Magaly Bertly, Gad Elmaleh and Ann Gisel Glass in a French/
Algerian co-production. Before I get to the review, let me just say thanks
to all who e-mailed wishing to know more about African Film, it's very
encouraging, and please continue to do so at my e-mail address:
Rigobertsong@hotmail.com
Alilo arrives in Paris, met by his hip cousin Mok. Alilo is to pick up a
suitcase of dresses to smuggle back to Algiers for resale. He's lost the
dressmaker's address and his boss is gone for five days, so he stays in the
Moskova neighborhood of the 18th arrondissement with Mok. Mok makes rap
music of Jean de La Fontaine's fables,
invents fabrications of his own, is in debt to his bookie, and in love with
a punk rocker. Alilo's old-country sweetness, in contrast with Mok's
big-city neuroses, gets the attention of Fatoumata, a lovely African
neighbor. Once Alilo gets the dresses, he must return to Algiers, but it
seems he's only started to live: is there any way he can stay? So that's the
jist of the story. Now onto my thoughts. It's really a fable about the
crossection of cultures within an African community. The old first
generation versus the third. Although this might sound like serious drama
(which it often is), there's enough vibrant energy and wit to inject scenes
with genuine hilarity. Allouache uses grounded pastel colours against rich
backdrops to exemplify the two opposites in our main characters. In many
respects though, this seems to be a step backwards for Allouache when
considering his previous films, especially his politically admonishing "Bab
El Qued City" (his most successful film to date). This is probably due to
the fact that he's been (indirectly) forced to endure a life in exile in
France, because of certain ill fated power struggles in his native Algeria.
This does spill over to a certain extent in "Salut Cousin", but it is more
introspective than angry. The characters reflect the mordant habitualization
inherent in Allouache's own experiences. I remember reading a review of this
film where the critic called it an African "Odd Couple", and I tend to
agree. There's enough Neil Simon-esque gimmicks on display to warrant this
train of thought. I know that Seventh Art released this film in North
America, so this must be available on video or DVD. This is a solid showcase
for African Film.
* "Monday's Girls" is the next film in an English / Nigerian co-production.
It explores the conflict between modern individualism and traditional
communities in today's Africa through the eyes of two young Waikiriki women
from the Niger delta. Although both come from leading families in the same
large island town, Florence looks at the iria women's initiation ceremony as
an honor, while Azikiwe, who has lived in the city for ten years, sees it as
an indignity. Ngozi Onwurah, director of such feminist
classics as "Coffee Coloured Children" and "Body Beautiful", herself an
Anglo-Nigerian, turns a wry but sympathetic eye on the cross-cultural
confusions.
The five week long iria ritual is overseen by post-menopausal women headed
by the redoubtable Monday Moses (hence the title.) The girls are paraded
bare-breasted before the entire community so their nipples can be examined
to determine whether they are still virgins (I've used this same procedure
many times on my nurse - DR. SOTHA). They are then confined to the
"fattening rooms," their legs immobilized in copper impala rings, where they
are pampered and fed. Finally, the girls, now women, are presented to
society, wearing yards of fabric around their waists indicating each
family's wealth - and suggesting pregnancy.
The film traces the girls' contrasting responses to each stage of the
ritual. Florence, who is Monday's granddaughter, comments at the end of the
ceremony, "I'm not fat, but I am grown up now," but even she decides to
postpone marriage until she completes her education. Azikiwe refuses to bare
her breasts and, as a result,
her father is fined by the outraged villagers and she is sent back to the
city in disgrace. She concludes: "There are some traditions people should
forget." Monday's Girls calls into question the idea of a single,
"ethnographically correct" representation of tradition. Rituals are revealed
as fluid, polysemous texts, social contracts continuously renegotiated
between individuals and communities. For millions of Africans like Azikiwe,
tradition is increasingly seen as a matter of
individual choice not social coercion. The BBC may have released this on
video, so if you come across it on a shelf somewhere, you know what to do?
Well, I hope I've done enough to convince you to at least take notice of
these 2 titles should any of you readers cross paths with it. This is
Rigobert Song signing off.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
* Spike Lee is promoting his upcoming film "Bamboozled" with an Internet
site for the nonexistent Step 'n Fetch It Pictures
(www.stepnfetchitpictures.com) that features numerous racist images that are
almost certain to stir off controversy among African-Americans. The Web site
pitches a lineup of TV shows from the fake studio, including the ManTan
Minstrel Show, starring two men in blackface. The promotional blurb for the
"show" reads, "The smash hit ManTan Minstrel Show delivers nonstop belly
laughs you're guaranteed to feel tomorrow morning. ManTan and Sleep 'N Eat
are up to their old tricks and it just doesn't stop!" Similar racially
offensive material is being included in billboards for the movie and in
newspaper ads. Commenting on the Bamboozled marketing campaign, Michael
Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition, told the
New York Post: "The anger attendant to this recycling of racial trash, I bet
will not be worth the price of admission". ( The gastric consequences of
this story have only just begun - DR. SOTHA)
* Chris Rock's Emmy nominated HBO special ``Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker''
was inadvertently left off the final ballots for the awards show, which will
be televised on ABC, September 10. The error was caught by one of the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 120 members. Rock issued a statement
saying, "I'm not worried. I'm sure the Academy will handle it accordingly.
"Bigger and Blacker" is nominated for best variety, music or comedy.
AFRICAN COAXIAL
* Sky Johannesburg-based TVPC Media has licensed the first season of its
wholly owned international sci-fi series, "Hard Wired", to air on BSkyB's
channel. The series was sold by TVPC's London distributor. "Although the
series has been selling well in English and French, the Sky deal is
important because it's a psychological watershed - once a big UK broadcaster
makes a deal, it clears the way for the series to sell in other English
language territories," says TVPC CEO Gordon Greaves.
* The Zambian town of Livingstone will be hosting a bush festival experience
featuring the country's top bands, street theatre and traditional dance
acts, acapela groups and theatre productions. These will be joined by South
African and other international acts for three days of celebration in an
outdoor performance venue set in a mopane woodland. Performers include No
Parking Band, Daddy Zemus, the Lima Jazz Band and Kalambo Hit Parade, and
the acapela group Amashiwi. Top South African actors Andrew Buckland and
Lionel Newton will perform The Wellbeing which has just completed a tour of
Sweden. Theatre for Africa is renowned for its entertaining and
thought-provoking plays on environmental themes and its Zambian team will
present Horn of Sorrow, which focuses on the plight of the rhino. (Thanks to
Dlamini)
So now onto the Q & A. My question last week, was how many people actually
give a shit about the question and answer session. Tempe Terra answered
right. 1 person, and as a freaky sort of coincidence he is that one person.
As a result all future prizes can only be won or lost by him. The smile on
his face stretched from ear to ear shortly after his free (insurance
included) rectal exam.
Okay,Tempe Terra, are you all ears : Who is South Africa's leading film
critic?
End of the line palookas, pupils dilated, blood vessels constricted, gastric
juices pumping, prepare to evacuate web, but before you do,do send me your
sterile gowns, leather catsuits, suction tubes, chocolate body paint and ID
bracelets to Africaaicn@hotmail.com
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