Interested in seeing African film, but don’t know where to start? Cinema Escapist gives us their take on eleven films that should be on your watch list. Spanning genres and countries, these films will provide a great introduction to the best of African film and whet your appetite for more. Though it wasn’t nominated, Azali was Ghana’s first-ever submission to the in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2018 Oscars. The film centers on a girl named Amina, who initially lives in a small village in northern Ghana. Those more interested in romance movies might find Road to Yesterday a worthwhile African movie on Netflix. This Nollywood production follows an estranged couple who, on a long drive to a relative’s funeral, try to repair their relationship but end up unearthing more emotional baggage than they bargained for. Another Netflix original movie worth featuring is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Though this movie had British producers, it also had Malawian co-producers and was filmed in Malawi with 80%+ of dialog in Chichewa—so we feel it’s “African” enough to qualify. Before making Vaya, director Akin Omotoso spent years in story workshops with homeless residents of South Africa’s economic capital, Johannesburg. The stories he heard influenced Vaya, which powerfully interweaves three stories of South Africans who come from rural communities to fulfill personal dreams or aspirations in Johannesburg.
SOURCE: CINEMA ESCAPIST