DR. SOTHA here for the 10th edition of AfricaAICN. It's strange how the days turn to weeks, how the weeks turn to months, and (you guessed it) how the months turn to years. The passage of time is much less innocuous when the world of cinema (and medicine to be sure), particularly Africa, is revisited every week. It's like antibiotics really, you've got to take the entire dosage for it to work.

Also, let me put out a call to film personage at the Venice Film Festival to keep an eye out for the four African films that are premiering in various categories of the fest. I want reports (sterilized or otherwise) sent in to Africaaicn@hotmail.com

Nurse, for god's sakes these are regular clients, use the surgical gloves..

SOUTH AFRICA

* Leggy golden girl Charlize Theron has lined up a pair of starring roles: the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama for the Walt Disney Co. and Woody Allen upcoming project for DreamWorks, which starts shooting this October. Theron revisited her modeling past in Allen's 1998 film, Celebrity appearing as a supermodel so bewitching that she reduces Allen alter ego Kenneth Branagh to a quivering jelly. Doing Alabama for Disney is another rematch for Theron, after her role supporting the big ape in Disney's Mighty Joe Young. "Alabama", which does not yet have a director, is slated to start shooting in the spring. It's the story of a young white trash woman from Alabama who abandons her husband and runs away to the Big Apple. There she reinvents herself as a New York socialite. She's forced to confront her past when her Park Avenue boyfriend pops the question and she must choose between the two men in her life. Alabama is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, an original story that was sold to Disney about two years ago as a pitch. For the love triangle pic, Theron will step up to the role of co-producer for the first time, through her newly formed D&D Films. Theron, who'll be seen in this fall's The Legend of Bagger Vance, was slated to star in the indie feature The Husband I Bought but dropped out because of scheduling conflicts with Allen's project. As usual, the title and story line of the neurotic auteur's next film are still under wraps.

* Nick Psaros sent in this piece about a South African documentary film called "Voices from Robben Island" by director Adam Low."A look at the 400-year history of Robben Island, from the 17th century to present day. Robben Island began as a place of banishment for social outcasts, lepers and lunatics. In the 1960's it was given the name Devil's Island and turned into a high-security prison for political prisoners opposed to South Africa's Apartheid regime. Interviews with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and other former prisoners reveal the triumph of freedom and dignity over repression and humiliation."

* "TABLE MANNERS" is in development at Revolution Studio's. It follows the exploits of a manic depressive, suicide prone blue collar worker. One day in downtown Johannesburg, he is witness to a big covert operation by the Government, who is in the process of taking over power from their President by assasinating him. His life suddenly has meaning, and he is driven to uncover the conspiracy and expose it to the media. Jeremy Loeb is scripting. (What are the odds of convincing Stone to direct this before "Beyond Borders".ahhh dream a little dream - DR. SOTHA).

* A Major (see Minor - DR. SOTHA) film company has been launched called New Africa Media Films, headed by international CEO Amy Moore, has been launched by New Africa Media Ltd (NAM - isn't that apt - DR. SOTHA). According to Zwelakhe Sisulu, who heads NAM, the decision to create a new film division was based on the growth opportunities which exist in owning content in the convergent world. NAM plans to produce and release at least one big budget film a year, should the right projects come along.

* As part of its Women's Day celebrations, Women In Film & Television (WIFT) is privileged to have as guests of honour at the "Creating Franchise Television Forum" to be held on 8 August at Tate's in Melville the following: Sarah Pillsbury (producer of How To Make An American Quilt / Desperately Seeking Susan / Love Field / And The Band Played On / Eight Man Out and board member of Artists for New South Africa ); actress CCH Pounder (Bagdad Cafi / Sliver / Face Off / End Of Days / All That Jazz and board member of Artists for a New South Africa); and music editor Adam Smalley (Mission Impossible: 2 / Gladiator / As Good As It Gets / Being John Malkovich). The guests will give a short talk and answer questions from the audience.

* Dr Ben Ngubane, Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, today offered his condolences to the family and friends of Tolla van der Merwe, well known South African comedian and actor. Mr van der Merwe died on 7 August due to multiple injuries sustained in a car accident in Mpumalanga. Work colleagues Ollie Viljoen and Koos Meyer were both injured in the accident, which also claimed the life of Mr Viljoen's wife Estelle. The Minister offered his sympathy to all the families affected.Ngubane said that Van der Merwe made a significant contribution to the development of the South African arts sector. He was a close observer of those around him and of everyday situations and had the ability to pick out the humorous and the funny side of situations. He taught South Africans, and more specifically, his Afrikaans-speaking audience, how to laugh at themselves and how to enjoy the humour present in every day life.

* It seems ironic that a film about car theft should go straight to the top of the South African box office but that is the case with the new Nicolas Cage / Angelina Jolie film, Gone In 60 Seconds. The film has earned R2 911 154 since its release on 28 July. Meanwhile, Mission Impossible 2 has moved back to its position ahead of The Patriot. The number four and five spots at the local box office are Centre Stage and Reindeer Games respectively. (Bruckheimer could make a film about a man watching paint dry, and people would flock to see it regardless - DR. SOTHA).

NORTH AFRICA

* Sometimes I feel it is my duty to inform you of African films that may have been released years ago, but overlooked at its time of release. Oh the wonders of video, and so here are some worth taking the trip to a quirky, underground videoshop (say "videots" not "Blockbusters" - you simply won't find these there). I hand you over to the ever capable "Rigobert Song". "Femmes aux Yeux Ouverts" (Women with Open Eyes) directed by Anne-Laure Folly from Togo. A film about African women is a rarity, even more one made by an African woman. In Women with Open Eyes, award-winning Togolese filmmaker Anne-Laure Folly presents portraits of contemporary women in four West African countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Benin. The film asks: what role are women playing in Africa's current opening to democracy? It shows how African women are beginning to speak out and organize to reshape key aspects of their lives including marital rights, sexual health and reproduction, women's role in the economy, female genital mutilation, and more.

The next film comes from renowned African Cinema Pioneer Ousmane Sembene called "Guelwaar" in Wolof and French with English subtitles. New Yorker films released this theatrically close to 10 years ago. "On the morning of the funeral the political activist Guelwaar, his friends and family discover to their horror that his body has disappeared from the morgue. Because he died violently, theories on the whereabouts of the corpse multiply wildly before the truth is revealed: the remains of this baptized Catholic have been mistakenly buried in a Muslim cemetery. The confusion that ensues due to this bureaucratic mix-up and the amazing attempts to rectify this error add up to a razor-sharp critique of contemporary politics and the fractious religious dogma that still exists in many places, including the sahel, a drought-stricken belt in Senegal, where the film takes place. Inspired by a true story, Sembene uses the death of this champion of an independent unified Africa to symbolize the petty jealousies and deeply rooted conflicts that are the enemies of that cause.

* And while we're on the subject of Sembene, you'd do far worse then checking out his second feature from the late 60's called "Mandabi" also released by New Yorker at the time (smart company - DR. SOTHA). Sembene's second feature unlocked for the first time the complex daily world of modern Africa. A deceptively simple story of a man who receives a money order and, in his attempts to cash it, encounters an intimidating barrage of Third World bureaucracy, Mandabi is a deeply moving, witty, masterful portrait of an ancient civilization in the throes of change. A warm, subtle, heartbreaking comedy.

Another power player in African cinema is filmmaker Idrissa Ouédraogo. Check out his film "Samba Traoré" A universal morality tale set in the austerely beautiful plains of the African Sahel region. Samba Traoré, on the run after a gas station hold-up, returns to his native village a rich man and becomes both benefactor and enigma to his neighbors. What starts as a crime story at times resembles an American western in its lean, landscape-shaped style, but at its core are timeless issues brought to life by a master of humanist cinema.

* Venice Film Festival news, four African films are set to premiere (or may have already premiered) at the festival "Adanggaman" by Roger Gnoan M'Bala (Ivory Coast) in the "Cinema of the Present" section. "Baobab" by Laurence Attali (France/Senegal) & "Ouaga, capitale du cinema" by Mohamed Challouf (Tunisia/Italy/Burkina Faso) in the "Medium and Short Length Film" category. Faouzi Bensaidi (France/Morocco) in the "Corto-Cortissimo Short Films Competition. Like I said before, I'd like to hear from those lucky enough to have seen them.

* Filmmaker Djip Loare from Sierra Leone is in pre-production on "BLACK HEART". A semi-autobiographical account of Loare's own journey from his home country to various parts of Europe, where he eventually fell in love with film. It takes place in the 60's and features some interesting auteur cameos including Antonioni on the set of "Zabrieskie Point", Nicolas Roeg and one Alfred Hitchcock. Various European locations such as Torino, Madeira and Vienna are been locked in.

AFRICAN AMERICAN

* "ART OF WAR" starring Wesley Snipes opens in theater August 25. The film is about ruthless terrorists, who threaten to bring down the United Nations by framing international security expert Neil Shaw (played by Wesley Snipes). From there, Shaw sets out not only to clear his name but to stop what could possibly be World War III. The film also stars Anne Archer ("Clear And Present Danger," "Short Cuts"); Maury Chaykin ("Entrapment"); Marie Matiko ("The Corruptor"); and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, with Michael Biehn ("Aliens," the upcoming "Cherry Falls") and Donald Sutherland ("Instinct," "A Time To Kill") as U.N. Secretary General Thomas. To find out more about the film, go to the "Art of War" website at where you can watch the movie's trailer, tap into the message boards and a whole lot more. (for more check out netnoir.com)

AFRICAN COAXIAL

* On 31 July, Botswana Television launched in the country's capital, Gaborone. It is now 10 years since the Government of Botswana decided to create a television service which would be made in Botswana for the Batswana people. Earlier this year the Government recognised that in the enthusiasm to build and equip televisions facilities, the programme content had been overlooked. Consequently BTV called upon the expertise of the BBC to transform it into a regional television service that would properly reflect the issues that concern the Batswana and the rich diversity of their civic and cultural life. A team from BBC Resources Consulting & Projects (C&P) arrived in Botswana at the beginning of June

* Little Tracker, the 50 minute children's wildlife film produced and directed by Johan Heyns of Fevertree Productions, is a finalist in the prestigious WildScreen Panda competition. This event is held biennually in Bristol and is the world's largest festival of natrual history film and television. Associate produced by Provision's Fanie and Laura van der Merwe, Little Tracker features their son Thomas and his adventures in the Kalahari with legendary tracker "Vetpiet". Johan Heyns is delighted with the WildScreen nomination. "It's great to be recognised by one's peers. Hopefully this will help pay the bills," he said. Heyns is presently negotiating sales of Little Tracker to broadcasters.

We've reached the question and answer round. "Bombi" got the answer right last week, Marlboro cigarettes are banned in South Africa because they refuse to line their packs with health warnings. Bombi (in ICU as a precaution) is enjoying the (free of charge) addition of a third (never been done before, using revolutionary techniques) lung after giving up on a 35 year smoking addiction. She's gonna pull through.

Question for the week with a decidedly African American flavour: "Who was the youngest filmmaker to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for direction?"

That's it organ donors, end of the line, blood pressure dropping, erratic heart beat, prepare to evacuate web..BUT before you do, make sure to e-mail me your knickers, DNA strands, garter belts, lab coats, g-strings and urine samples to Africaaicn@hotmail.com

DR. SOTHA OUT