Imaging Brother, Imagining Other: African Characters in Diaspora Cinema and African Diaspora Characters in African Cinema

Abstract

Filmmakers of Africa and the African diaspora have a long tradition of imagining their brothers and sisters from other parts of global Africa in their films, such as Ousmane Sembene’s African American GI in Camp de Thioroye (1988) or Nnegest Likke’s Nigerian love interest in Phat Girlz (2006). These characters help connect a broken line of history, and explore how racism and imperialism impact contemporary global Africa. Through a survey of commercial and independent global African narrative films, this study takes a cultural-critical look at the presence of diaspora Africans in African cinema and the presence of Africans in African diaspora cinema. This study, specifically, interrogates how these characters advance the films’ narratives. The primary research question is: What is the function of African characters in diaspora cinema and African diaspora characters in global African cinema? Do they serve as comic relief, stereotypes, or authentic representations? Do they serve to heal long open wounds of loss and trauma? The study also asks: How do representations compare from different parts of global Africa and how do they compare from earlier to contemporary global African cinema?