AFRICAphonie

Telefilms: Telling our Own Tales

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

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.

Movie Trailer - Kuva Likenye and the Bakweri Armed Resistance to German Colonization

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) Presents Kuva Likenye, a historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane.

For details on how to obtain a copy of the documentary, contact:

George Ngwane
Executive Director
AFRICAphonie
Tel: 77 66 84 79
E-mail: gngwane@ yahoo.com or Africaphonie2000@ yahoo.co.uk

Movie Review: Kuva Likenye, a Historical Documentary

By Dibussi Tande

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) presents Kuva Likenye, a Historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane. Music by DJ Kofi.

Very few Cameroonians know the history of Cameroon in all its diversity and depth. And with good reason. Most of what passes for “Cameroonian history” in schools is a sanitized version of the country’s history whose sole purpose is to reinforce “state control” and “toe-the-line” concepts such as “unité nationale and intégration nationale. These concepts seek to legitimize the official narrative on the “colonial partition” of the Cameroonian family and the ultimate “reunification” of these long lost brothers and sisters against all odds in 1961 in a “historic burst of nationalism”. Any piece of history which either questions or contradicts this official narrative, or fails to add value to it, is simply ignored or discarded. The result? Many key events and personalities in Cameroon’s pre-colonial and colonial history remain largely unknown and confined to local and ethnic folklore.

By Dibussi Tande

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) presents Kuva Likenye, a Historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane. Music by DJ Kofi.

Very few Cameroonians know the history of Cameroon in all its diversity and depth. And with good reason. Most of what passes for “Cameroonian history” in schools is a sanitized version of the country’s history whose sole purpose is to reinforce “state control” and “toe-the-line” concepts such as “unité nationale and intégration nationale. These concepts seek to legitimize the official narrative on the “colonial partition” of the Cameroonian family and the ultimate “reunification” of these long lost brothers and sisters against all odds in 1961 in a “historic burst of nationalism”. Any piece of history which either questions or contradicts this official narrative, or fails to add value to it, is simply ignored or discarded. The result? Many key events and personalities in Cameroon’s pre-colonial and colonial history remain largely unknown and confined to local and ethnic folklore.

AFRICAphonie’s Latest Telefilm: A Classical Tri-therapy Against the HIV/AIDS Pandemic

By Donatus Fai Tangem* 

The Cameroonian Telefilm scene has once more been adorned by yet another AFRICAphonie production entitled “Positive living” (live and let’s live). Coming on the heels of “Nkuma” a film on female Genital Mutilation, (FGM), the awe-inspiring movie announces itself through a captivating poster design shaped like a hose shoe and hemmed by the beaming faces of mature actors and actresses.

The prominence of good old reliables like Mejame Njikang, Pa Ngalla (of the Musinga drama group fame) and the venerated Mah Fese among other fine actors and actresses foretells swell times for potential viewers.

Cameroonian Cultural Industries: Potentials and Promises

By Mwalimu George Ngwane (Originally published in Cameroon Tribune, October 31, 2007)

'Only those nations which are culturally solid ever indelibly influence the course of history’ - Professor Kountchou Kouomegni former Minister of Information and Culture)

The three main links that constitute the Cultural Industry chain are Production, Promotion and Consumption. These links represent the culture triangle needed to energise an industry whose aesthetic nature and artistic values mirror the essence of human civilization. Attempts by both civil society actors and governments have aimed at transforming Africa’s indigenous culture from mere populist folklore to a national character.

Africaphonie Introduces Tele Films in the Cameroon Movie Industry

By Juliana Ndolo Mbua (Originally published in The Entrepreneur)

The world of showbiz in a multi facial composition of Fashion designing acting and modeling cultures beckon Cameroon’s vibrant unemployed youth market. Africa with a diversity of cultures stands a better chance of harboring varieties of modest film and theater resorts. Created in 1998, Africaphonie is a Pan-African association with the vision of democracy and economic development, to Show case the world of films in Cameroon they introduced their “Tele films.” The chairman of the board of trustee Dr Jacqueline Okay and her 26 member association believes that Africa can only be what Africans want it to be. Africaphonie organizes conferences and workshops in a sporadic and project based approach for stakeholders.

Is the United States of Africa Necessary?

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, at its 8th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa from 29-30 January 2007 decided that the next ordinary session of the Assembly to be held in Accra, Ghana in July 2007, will be devoted to a “Grand Debate on the Union Government”. This decision is inspired by the fact that Africa now needs a Union of the African people and not merely a Union of states and governments and that ‘the ultimate goal of the African Union is the political and economic integration of the continent leading to the creation of the United States of Africa’.

Using Movies to Fight Female Genital Mutilation

Mwalimu George Ngwane explains why he decided to produce a film on female genital mutilation.

Interviewed by Nkeze Mbonwoh (Cameroon Tribune)

Cameroon Tribune: What prompted you to produce this telefilm on Female Genital Mutilation called "Nkuma"?

GeorgeNgwane: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is an age-old practice that is perpetuated in many parts fo the world. In Africa alone, there are 27 countries that have been battling with the controversial practice that not only draws a dichotomy between traditionalists and modernists but has placed Cameroon in the storm of practices that impair women's wellbeing. As a matter of fact, a UN report estimates that about 20% of women in Cameroon go through a form of Female Genital Mutilation  called infibulations. Certain areas of the South West and North provinces have been cited as championing this practice.

Click here to print or download complete interview in PDF format

Movie Review: NKUMA (Female Genital Mutilation)

By Ebenezer Tabot-Tabot, Development Practitioner (Originally published in The Post)

Nkuma (Female Genital Mutilation). An AFRICAphonie Production in Collaboration with OSIWA

There have been many interventions purporting to sensitise communities on the necessity to put an end to the practice of female circumcision, pompously referred to as 'Female Genital Mutilation' (FGM) by development practitioners.

Despite these numerous interventions, the practice still continues in many parts ofCameroon, essentially because the practice is portrayed as an entrenched negative cultural tendency (which it is), and the methods utilised to combat it are necessarily confrontational.

Peace Education Manual Published

By Brenda Yufeh (Cameroon Tribune, May 30, 2005)

Africaphonie. Peace Education. For Junior Secondary School in Cameroon. Yaounde: Africaphonie, 2005.

A Peace Education Reader for junior secondary schools accompanied by a Teacher's Manual has been produced in Cameroon. Put together by the non-governmental and Pan African Association (Africaphonie), the student's reader and teacher's manual are fallouts of a workshop organised at the Norbert Kenne Memorial Peace House last year in Yaounde on the theme "Designing curriculum and training of teachers for Peace education in Cameroon".