Crosslisted with LITR 078F.

The moving image, it is often argued, has a special relationship to time and space, and in this class, we will explore how West African filmmakers explore and represent space by emphasizing place(s), both real and imagined. Using the lens of critical issues in postcolonial film studies, we will consider how to analyze these places by focusing our observations on the built-environment and the natural world; homelands and hostlands; mobility and stillness. Filmmakers studied include Mati Diop (France/Senegal), Sembène Ousmane (Senegal), Abderrahmane Sissako (Mali/Mauritania), Jean-Marie Téno (Cameroon), Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso), Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (Senegal), among others. This course is open to all students. There are no prerequisites. The course is taught in English.