The historical relationship between Africa and Europe, full
of colonial past and violence but also of a rich cultural mixture, has led
several filmmakers with African roots living in the old continent to
investigate their origins in their mother territory. Guidedoc.tv presents the latest documentary films of Africa about the exploration in the African
heritage of these European filmmakers.
Being a resident in Holland since her parents left their
native Morocco to start a new life in Europe, filmmaker Fatima Ouazanni left
her home in Amsterdam at the age of sixteen to rebel against a destiny that was
to be imposed by the family’s religion. According to tradition, a Moroccan
woman does not necessarily decide with which man she will marry and most of the
time a suitor is assigned to her even against her will. Several years after her
scape, Ouazanni makes "In My Father's House", an exploration of what
could have been her life if she had stayed at home. From the Netherlands she
travels to Morocco to interview her grandmother, who regrets having been forced
to marry a man she did not want. In parallel, the director films a young woman
of Moroccan origin residing in Holland who celebrates her marriage with a
suitor whom she did not choose.
During the colonial quest of the Europeans in the Americas,
the Spanish city of Seville held a market of black slaves who were forced to do
the hard work in the so-called "New World". Director Miguel Angel
Rosales builds a friendly and educational narrative in “ , Afro Andalusian Memories”, a film about the African heritage
that continues to thrive in today's Seville. One of the most harrowing scenes
of the documentary is the excavation of the remains of Africans buried in the
bottom of a public dump. The archaeological discovery serves as a reason to
begin a discussion about the dilemmas, sufferings and prejudices against black
people that still exist among white majority populations in Europe, a continent
that still has much to purge considering its colonial role in the African
continent.
In "Casamance", Spanish singer Jairo Zavala
embarks on a trip to Africa in search of his musical origins. The first stop of
this road movie is in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, the country of origin of
the singer's mother, who used to play traditional Senegalese music while she
had breakfast with her children. It is precisely those tracks from his
childhood that guide Zavala in a musical journey where he shares with several
characters that contribute with sounds and stories to a soundtrack that is spun
by the hand as the trip develops. The beautiful Casamance,
in the south of the country, will be the last stop. It is a natural haven where
one can hear the ancestral sounds of a culture that still remains invisible in
the rest of the world.
Watch this and other greatdocumentaries on Guidedoc, your new documentary platform.
No comments:
Post a Comment