The black Diaspora cinema culture
SECTION A
The black Diaspora cinema culture, as depicted through films, happens to be one of the most common means of expression that has been focused on representation. The reason is that the media is simply the largest and presumably the most reliable source of information regarding different people and their various distinct cultural settings. Black Diaspora cinemas are created to examine how much the art of making films have impacted the western culture, and towards which direction. The culture of the west as it is known comes out as heavily capitalist, and that means that the production, as well as the distribution methods that are used, have at some point affected the neo-colonialism status of those people that reside within the regions in which the films are made. Black Diaspora cinema seeks to explore not only the cultural but also the ideological, thematic, political, and aesthetic narratives, and even analyzes other aesthetically different films. These cinemas are vital when it comes to African representation and world cinema.
The black Diaspora films very often bring out a celebration of diversity as well as the innovation that comes with the making of films from across different parts of the world. These films also elaborate on how historically significant film making is mainly in regards to not only the cultural but also the political forms of a region or a group of people, and especially Africans. One should note that the traditions and standard practices used in black Diaspora films are most often derived from the contributions of people in the industry, such as scholars, other filmmakers, and also critics of similar movies (Petty 15). These groups of people can be from any part of the world, including Europe, North America, and even third-world countries. This information as diverse as it is collected is vital for critical reading, and also the need to challenge colonialists with the discourses of the third world films.
Additionally, black Diaspora cinemas also depict more about the realities of the African Diaspora, from places such as the United States and Brazil. This is achieved through the ways that these films are directed. In most cases, these films are different, especially in genres, and they may bring out distinct cultures, traditional settings, styles, and even styles of presentation. However, they also share one thing in common: the theme of racial discrimination experienced by the Africans across different white-populated spheres (Arthur). The issue of discrimination and mistreatment based on race is a leading commercial gain for the film industry, and it also helps boost the African culture in these societies. This, therefore, is one of the most productive ways that they get to communicate their artistic and cultural messages, and in the process, the films also foster a sense of transnational identities as well as dialogues. Filmmakers can use this as a tool to create a similar genre in the industry and use it to convey critical messages that represent the African Diaspora.
Films that depict the most common racism issue at the end of the day acquire the most commercial gain. This is because fans and audiences are thrilled to see these issues about the African Diaspora being addressed openly in the black Diaspora cinemas. This response has been widely witnessed in box-office sales. People that have originated from African into the world may not be willing to identify as part of this community. As such, there are certain ideologies that a city that is used to seeing only specific messages and information every day may end up disregarding. This means that an individual may not know that the film they are watching is communicating a black Diaspora themed message. On a different level, a person that is an outsider can quickly identify the cultural trends that have been used in making these films. Hence audiences relate to these issues in their day-to-day lives, and they may be accurate or not.
Black Diaspora films have a crucial role in fostering transnational identities as well as dialogues, especially when it comes to the idea of how one comes and leaves. To the individual that leaves their home country and moves into another, the homeland s represented as a base. The image of corporate functions and how such a situation ay turn out is not based solely on things that are unreal, preferably, from meaning that is derived from their local experiences (Guarnizo and Smith, 98). Individuals identified as members of the black community depict their identity realization, acceptance, and also define them by their culture.
The continuous interventions in the public debate in a way have fostered the establishment and growth of the African cinema trends that have continued to arise in Britain. So to say, while these films are promoting the cultures that are represented therein, they also serve a role of raising some of the critical questions, some of which are based on what role films as an art serve in not only distinguishing black diaspora as an identity, but also emphasizing it. They also bring up questions regarding the language and convention means that are used in expressing the emerging African identities in Britain, as well as regarding the funds that are purposed to fund these films.
It is important to note that interdisciplinary programs that are thus used to portray the skills and abilities of people such as linguists and social psychologists have in a way helped in understanding what the black diaspora in the different parts of the Britain and other countries are about, and also the effects of their emerging trends either in the past or in the present. (Brubaker 15). During the past ten to twenty years, the black diaspora cinemas have gradually changed from being just a name that people considerably refrained from using, to a more embraced and appreciated aspect. At the same time, it has shifted from being just a cultural, political and also part of the educational discourse into a more vernacular perspective. In the academic issue, diaspora as a term is now consistently applied to every person that is living in another region, away from their homeland. On the other hand, it is now widely perceived and understood as referring to every person that is away from their homes.
Therefore, identity very similar to diaspora has come up from a specific psychological idea and into something that is a crucial part of the social sciences and humanities. Additionally, the black diaspora concept has over and over nearly lost its meaning. It sees people individually or by far as a group may have perceived it as a vague idea (Brubaker 18). The early composition of identities, whether for one person or an entire community, successfully promotes a homogenous concept that may have a similar representation as in human anthropology, whereby an individual’s character develops as time passes. This is also to say that the same culture is bound to undergo constant changes now and then. Notably, people may share a specific character that, at the end of the day, identifies them as from the same cultural background, like with the black diaspora (Erikson 22). Anthropology has somehow proven to people that culture is not bounded, and identity is but a couple of characteristics that, when brought together, can be used to define a group of people or an individual.
When discussing the black Diaspora cinema in a more contemporary context, identity can be brought out as an aspect that a community or an individual can identify by. Black diaspora cinema is, therefore, very well distinct but still quite unstable. It is used to bring out the idea of self-identity for the Africans living in the diaspora, and the realities of their lives. Through the entire diaspora concept, the people can distinguish themselves from the rest of the population, and at the same time, their culture remains constant and unchanged.
SECTION B
Question 4
The night of truth is a film based on ten years-long periods of civil war in a country somewhere in Africa that comes to an end after the opposition leader and the president come to an agreement to reconcile. They agree that after they have both signed a peace agreement, the armies from each side will lay down their weapons and end the war. Reconciliation comes as a challenge considering the two sides have been at war with each other, committing hideous atrocities for as long as ten years and overcoming this challenge. They have to come together as a nation, get over the trauma and replace the bad with good memories.
In a period as long as ten years of pure atrocities, loss and pain, there are bound to be numerous people undergoing massive pain. Anger and feelings of revenge can come in the way of a reconciliation process. For instance, on the night when the two opposing parties are having a reconciliation dinner, a woman who is still very much aggravated by the death of their son seizes a man and roasts him over an open fire. She may have been undergoing the trauma of losing her young son to a period of war and hatred that, in the first place, had nothing to do with herself. The Night of Truth brings out characters that represent real people, and their different experiences in that, while one is ‘tormented by their past activities and wrongdoings, another one is driven by her thirst for revenge (Phillip). They are somehow forced to take a look at their true selves, as their darker sides are exposed, as in the title, which refers to individuals rediscovering their true inner self.
The woman, Edna, beforehand begs her husband to let her not attend the party, claiming that she is afraid of the fear and hate. However, it is clear that she is fearful of facing her own emotions, owing to the fact that she cannot overcome the pain of losing her son. Similar to her situation, the colonel is also haunted by the massacre he was involved in, the same slaughter that saw to the murder of Edna’s son (Fanta). Their trauma, pain and memories, as well as the fear they both hold, draws them to each other, and Theo feels the need to seek the woman’s forgiveness. However, unfortunately, Edna believes that God is the one who does the forgiving business, and not herself and still decides to affect her vengeance. In this case, their trauma and prospects of healing, which include acknowledging their pain, do not bring them to reconcile, but they are able to face up to their truths and real identities.
The conflict, as depicted in the short film, was mainly tribal, to mean that the presidential side and the rebels were from entirely different tribes, and so, their language may also have been a barrier. However, both teams found great victory in dehumanizing and killing the opposite side and belittling them, for instance, the Nayaks being referred by the Bonande as cockroaches. One Tomota makes this situation worse when they decide to spread rumours that the Nayaks are only half-human and half-snake, and this strengthens the rivalry and retaliation. These rumours come out as racist, and foster more loss of lives, anger and increased hatred. As such, more traumas arise from the sequential occurrences, that when it comes to the night of truth and reconciliation, will bring both sides together and promote this move to lay their weapons down.
When it comes to the prospects of healing, it is necessary for people from both sides first to accept whatever pain and suffering they may be going through, or may have gone through, so that they can master the strength to get through it. This is where the role of women in the film comes in. The reason is that men tend to be more firm, undeterred about such things as emotions, and they can quickly become angry as opposed to women, who, on the other hand, are more restrained and can control their anger and emotions more (Philip). Also, women are able to restrain men and make peace when men have created war.
For instance, even after the wife of Theo, Soumari says that men make war and peace and it has nothing to do with herself and her children, one can see her every once in a while trying very hard to ensure that the truce the rebels and the president created will hold water (Fanta). In an effort to make that happen, she bans one ritual drum that may evoke memories of the loss and pain that people endured in one way or another. She ensures to pour out a libation with respect to both sides, appeasing the dead for both parties and also, she tries to persuade the president to help her push for peace by encouraging the soldiers to down their arms and come together as brothers despite their differences. In another twist, the woman promotes the idea of truth and reconciliation when she comes to terms with her reality that although it was painful seeing the man that tortured her father not get what he may have deserved, it was much more important to make sure that the cycle of revenge would have to be brought to an end, seeing as if everyone with a loss to avenge were to do so, then the war would still hold.
The nation as a whole is suffering from the trauma that has no doubt ensued from a decade of war, terror, slaughter and hatred. This aspect is portrayed through the glimpse once too often of women making mutilation and killings graphic paintings on the walls, to express their pain and what they have been going through. Children of different ages and walks of life gather around in groups to discuss jokingly the amputations and various injuries they may have suffered (Phillip). These happenings show how, as a nation, these people have had to ensure the terror that had somehow started to become a common occurrence and an essential part of their lives. Some of this pain is not even enough to heal with a ceremony such as the tree-planting ceremony that is purposed to facilitate further their reconciliation. To the people, truth and reconciliation meant the soldiers downing their arms completely, and their lives going back to normal, as a harmonious nation.
The night of truth film shows the aftermath of war and what it takes to bring people to face up to the truth and hopefully reconcile. Reconciliation comes as a challenge considering the two sides have been at war with each other for the longest time, so much so they have gotten used to the new normal. For the president’s and the rebels’ sides to formulate a truce and have each one of them hold their end of the bargain, such aspects as nationality, the trauma they all went through, the disturbing memories of blood loss and the prospects of healing have to be factored. In the end, everyone comes face to face with the truth, their inner self, and they can put their differences aside.
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