In Search of Africa (Guinea, Mali: 1997)

Director

Manthia Diawara

Cast list

Manthia Diaware (as himself)

Credits

Sound department: Paul Michael

Synopsis

In 1996, Diawara returned to Guinea from NYC, thirty-two years after his family had been expelled from their newly liberated home country. Diawara began working on a documentary regarding dictator, Sékou Touré, Guinea’s first post-independence leader. Expecting to be accepted and welcomed as an insider, despite the time he had been abroad, Diawara is shocked to discover that he is in fact not saluted with appreciation. Diawara finds an Africa not on the verge of savagery as described in the Western press, though it is also unlike the Africa of his childhood, lacking the excitement of newly sought independence. When faced with dilemmas, Diawara accords a significant role to the culture of the diaspora in addition to traditional literature and music, with respects to Miles Davis, James Brown, Salif Kéita, to even Spike Lee, Richard Wright, and the ancient epics of the griots. Diawara’s journey certainly enlightens viewers in a disarming way with honest conventions, interesting dialogue, and well-told, humorous accounts.

Reviews

“In Search of Africa by Manthia Diawara (Harvard University Press, 1998)” Latest Books.
http://www.asante.net/articles/31/afrocentricity/

"LRB. Landeg White. The Dignity of Merchants." London Review of Books. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v22/n15/landeg-white/the-dignity-of-merchants

"In Search Of Africa (Book)." Contemporary Sociology 30.6 (2001): 664. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Fyfe, Christopher. "In Search Of Africa (Book Review)." Journal Of Modern African Studies 38.3 (2000): 520. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Kete Asante, Molefi. "In Search Of Africa." Society 37.4 (2000): 87-91. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Academic Articles:

Keaton, Trica D. “We Won’t Budge: An African Exile In The World.” African Studies Review 46.3 (2003): 175-176. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Petty, Sheila. “African Film: New Forms Of Aesthetics And Politics.” African Arts 44.4 (2011): 94-95. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Samuels, Adrienne P., et al. “From The Motherland.” Ebony 63.6 (2008): 112-118. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Sangudi, Genevieve, and Ruthie Epstein. “An Interview With Manthia Diawara.” Journal Of International Affairs 57.2 (2004): 119-126. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Tchouaffé, Olivier Jean. “We Won’t Budge: An African Exile In The World.” Velvet Light Trap: A Critical Journal Of Film & Television 55 (2005): 71-72. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Williams, Adebayo. “The Postcolony As Trope: Searching For A Lost Continent In A Borderless World.” Research In African Literatures 31.2 (2000): 179. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Other movies from Guinea made in

Title Country Year Director More infos
Dakan (Destiny) Guinea 1997 Mohamed, Camara
In Search of Africa Guinea, Mali 1997 Manthia Diawara
Sorry, there's no movie with the same year.