Mapping Several Belongings
A North African film can belong to several cultural, linguistic, political and institutional spaces at the same time. The goal is not to choose one identity, but to map the relations between them.
Learning language
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North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Arab World and Africa
North Africa occupies an essential place in African cinema history, but is sometimes treated separately because of its links to Arab cinema, the Mediterranean, Europe, Arabic, Amazigh and French. Its cinemas help analyze anticolonial struggles, language, national memory, migration, religion, gender, youth and relations with Europe.
Lesson goal
Understand North Africa as part of African cinema history and as a bridge to Arab, Mediterranean, Amazigh, French and European histories.
Module
Geographies of African Cinema
Course progress
0%
Lesson player area
Map-based lecture connecting North Africa, Carthage and Mediterranean circulation.
0:00-0:20
North Africa as African Cinema
Situate North Africa inside African cinema history while acknowledging its Arab, Mediterranean, Amazigh and European connections.
0:20-0:40
Language, Memory and Migration
Study how language, national memory, migration, religion, gender and youth shape North African screen cultures.
0:40-1:00
Carthage and Institutional Circulation
Use Carthage Film Festival as a way to connect African, Arab and Global South cinemas.
Lesson reading
Key concepts and examples
North AfricaMediterranean circulationArab cinemaAmazigh languagesCarthage
Map one North African film by shooting location, language, colonial legacy, festival route and relation to Africa, the Arab world, Europe or the Mediterranean.
Case study and prompts
Case study: compare the same kind of location described first through colonial narration and later through locally grounded filmmaking.
Discussion prompt
What makes a colonial image feel authoritative, and how can contemporary viewers resist that authority?
Exercise prompt
Map a North African film by identifying shooting location, languages, colonial legacy, festivals and its relation to Africa, the Arab world, Europe or the Mediterranean.
Practice
Apply this lesson
Work through the exercises and complementary resources after reading the lesson.
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Quiz
Check your understanding
Answer 1 questions, review explanations and continue when ready.
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