p The African motion picture industry is developing rapidly. With the exception of Egypt, wrote Jeune Afrique, the continent was a cinematographic Sahara.  [288•5  Prior to 1960 Egypt was the only African country which produced fulllength feature films and had a fairly extensive distribution system. In the second half of the 1960s the production of iilms increased in Algeria and some progress was registered in Tunisia and Morocco.

p For many years films about Africa were produced in Europe and the USA. In terms of their content they could be grouped (depending on the political views of the producers) into two basic categories: those that preached racial violence and the so-called inferiority of Africans, and those which showed African reality as it really was. There was also a third category which used Africa exclusively as an exotic background for the plot.

p In the 1960s independent countries south of the Sahara produced not more than twenty full-length films. Film production in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda was subsidised by the state. And though their national motion picture industry is still just beginning to develop, its progress is quite obvious. For instance, a state-financed studio has been set up in Conakry. It is outfitted with Soviet equipment and has produced several full-length films. The biggest and best equipped studio is in Ghana where a state corporation is in charge of motion picture production and distribution.

p In the 1970s the production of African films began to increase. Naturally, films made by Africans deal with neocolonialism, the revival of African culture, liquidation of tribalism, the emancipation of women, and other vital issues.

p Determined efforts are being made in Africa in recent years to place the distribution of films fully under state control. In Mali and the Upper Volta, for instance, national nlm distribution firms were set up expressly for this purpose. The film distribution system has been nationalised in Algeria, Zaire, the People’s Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Nigeria, and some other countries.

p The first steps in the creation of the African cinema have yielded promising results. Inter-state motion picture associations have already been set up, for example, by Senegal, Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania. The Pan-African Federation of Cinematographers wh’ich unites the more prominent film makers, chiefly directors, from 33 African countries was founded in 1970. The Second Congress of African Cinematographers met in 1975 in Algiers.

p Television is developing in all parts of the continent. In 1961 only Egypt and Nigeria had television networks. Now there are state-owned TV stations in most of the African countries. Television is becoming more independent and broadcasts an increasing number of national programmes designed to promote education and socio-economic development.

p The national radio in Africa plays a more independent role than television and the cinema, because there already were local radio stations in almost all countries prior to 1960 and the national radio broadcasting systems were established on their basis.

p Soviet-African cooperation in the field of cinematography is conducted within the framework of inter-government cultural exchange programmes with practically all the newly free African states. Annually these programmes envisage 70 or 80 projects involving Soviet and African Cinematographers.

p The majority of African countries were invited to send delegations to Moscow Film Festivals and to acquaint themselves with life in the USSR. On many occasions African delegates were invited even if they had no films to show. At the Sixth Film Festival in 1969 the prize for the best production of the continent’s developing film industry was awarded to the 290 film Cabascabo made by the Nigerian producer Oumarou Garida. At the Seventh Film Festival the Silver Prize and the Prize of the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee were won by Sembene Ousmane’s film Emital. At the Eighth Film Festival wide acclaim was given to the Senegalese film ToukiBouki. African films were also shown at the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Moscow Film Festivals in 1975, 1977 and 1979 respectively.

p Since 1968 African delegations have been regularly participating in the Tashkent Film Festival of Asian and African Countries. This festival fulfils the special mission of popularising the cinema in the developing countries and strengthening its independence. In a message to the participants in the Second Tashkent Film Festival, the USSR Council of Ministers said: "The broad participation of Asian and African cinematographers in the festival which is taking place under the motto ’For Peace, Social Progress and the Freedom of Peoples’ is an important indication of the steady growth of mutual understanding and cultural links between the peoples of different countries and continents, of the further penetration of the cinema into the masses; it is a vivid reflection of the successes in the development of cinematic art which is taking place in keeping with democratic principles of the national culture of the peoples that had freed themselves from colonial oppression, and of the strengthening friendly ties between them and the peoples of the Soviet Union.”  [290•6 

p Four full-length films] and ten shorts from African countries were shown at the Third Tashkent Film Festival.

p African cinematographers are among the judges at these film festivals. For example, the Senegalese film director Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and the actress Therese Diop m’ Bissine, and the Egyptian film director Kamal El Cheikh were on the panel of judges at a Moscow film festival. Soviet international film festivals are usually attended by African film distributers.

p With the development of the African motion picture industry, the USSR has been able to organise film festivals and premieres of African films. In 1970 the USSR held a Week of Guinean Films and in 1973 a festival of Guinean films. Almost all of the films were purchased for screening in the USSR. Films from other African countries are also shown to Soviet audiences.

p Soviet films were first shown on African screens over twenty years ago. Today Sovexportfilm has film contacts with most African countries. It annually sells them 45-50 full-length films, including 12-14 that are dubbed into English or French. Quite of ten documentariesjand newsreels in these languages and also in some African languages are donated to African film distributors. Sovexportfilm has representatives in Algeria, Morocco, Benin, the People’s Republic of the Congo, Angola, Guinea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Senegal. From Senegal Soviet films are distributed to 11 countries in West and Central Africa. In recent years Soviet films have considerably gained in popularity in Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Guinea, Benin, and the People’s Republic of the Congo, where their distribution is handled by the state. There is a growing interest in Soviet films in Guinea-Bissau.

p Quite often delegations of Soviet cinematographers attend weeks and premieres of Soviet films in African countries. They visited Algeria, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Sudan, Ethiopia, Madagascar,’and other countries where festivals of Soviet films are regularly organised (premieres of Soviet films have been held in almost all African countries). For instance, during the Week of Soviet Films in Guinea in December 1973, Soviet films were shown in all the country’s cinemas, and the most popular one was The Dawns Are Quiet Here. During the week more than 25,000 people saw Soviet films.

p In connection with the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia there were premieres and festivals of Soviet films in many African countries. The centenary of Lenin’s birth was also widely marked. In 1970 Soviet film festivals were organised in Mali, Tanzania, and Uganda.

p Similar events were arranged by Soviet and African organisations in connection with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the USSR, including weeks of Soviet films in the Central African Republic and Uganda.

p In 1975 film festivals marking the 30th anniversary of the rout of fascism were held in some African countries. There were weeks of Soviet films in Benin, Ghana, and Ethiopia. In 1977 weeks and premieres of Soviet films were held in the overwhelming majority of African countries to mark the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.

p There are many Soviet documentaries about Africa showing the rise and development of new African states and the 292 struggle of their people for full freedom and independence. Usually local organisations cooperate with Soviet cameramen who shot the following documentaries: Congo in Struggle; Independent Guinea; All the Best, Nigerial; Holiday in Togo; Good Luck, Mali; We’re with You, Africa; Libyan Sketches; The Light of Aswan; Algerian Diary; Ethiopia: Country and People; Ethiopia: Centuries and Years; The Voice of Free Angola; Clear Skies over Guinea-Bissau, and The Triumph of Free Mozambique.

p The production of joint Soviet-African feature films on African themes has been launched. They are The Committee of 19 and The Black Sun. The leading roles in the latter film arc played by African actors, and Africans studying at Soviet institutions of higher education were invited to take part in the mass scenes.

p The Soviet Union assists Africa’s developing motion picture industry. When Guinea became independent in 1958 it had no motion picture industry and had to begin from scratch. Since then Soviet cinematographers have been extending technical and creative assistance to it: Guineans studied at the Soviet State Institute of Cinematography and underwent practical training at Soviet film studios.

p There are close ties between Soviet and Senegalese cinematographers. The prominent Senegalese film director and writer Sembene Ousmane, who made the first full-length film in his country, studied in the USSR. Soviet film festivals are regularly held in Senegal, local actors have taken part in films made in the USSR, and Senegalese cinematographers are always among the jury at international film festivals in the USSR. Contacts have also been established with film makers in Nigeria, Mali, Upper Volta, Zaire and Ethiopia.

p Soviet cinematographers have close links with their counterparts in Algeria. There are annual exchanges of delegations of film makers between the two countries, previews of films and festivals and visits by film shooting groups.

p Soviet-African contacts in the field of radio and television are also expanding. The Soviet Union regularly sends recorded radio and TV programmes which are transmitted by local stations. They are usually programmes about the USSR, Soviet music, Russian language lessons for radio and TV audiences, TV films and newsreels, features devoted to national holidays. African TV studios often show Soviet documentary and feature films. Many Soviet films, for instance, 293 were shown on TV in Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt. During the observance of the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution, Soviet films were shown on television in Algeria, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Sierra Leone. Soviet radio and TV also show programmes from Africa.

p Cooperation in the field of radio and television is also maintained under inter-state agreements with all Maghreb countries, Benin, Zambia, Cameroon, Kenya, the People’s Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other countries. The USSR has long-term agreements on exchange in the field of radio and television with Benin and Ethiopia, and one- and two-year protocols are drawn up and signed with other countries (Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea, Angola, Central African Republic, Algeria and Morocco).

p There is a regular exchange of delegations for the purpose of sharing experience and drawing up projects under bilateral agreements, visits by radio and TV journalists, production of TV films and establishment of new contacts.

Soviet-African cooperation in the field of motion pictures and the mass media is expanding steadily as is the mutual interest of their peoples. A vivid example is the interest of the African population in Soviet films which are distributed by public organisations on the continent. Thousands of people see films shown at Soviet cultural centres and at friendship societies with the USSR.