Presenting and (mis)representing history in fiction film

Sembe`ne'sCamp de Thiaroyeand Attenborough'sCry Freedom

Bibliographic Data

ID2172863
AuthorsNjeri Ngugi
Year2003
Volume16
Issue1
Pages57-68
Publication date2003-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369681032000169267
OpenAlexW2062993967
LanguageEN
Citations received3

This article will explore what happens when it is the director who calls on historical fact in the production of fiction film. I will argue that in taking on the dual role of director and historian, Ousmane Sembe`ne in Camp de Thiaroye and Richard Attenborough in Cry Freedom ‘control’ history, that is, they depict their vision of a particular set of historical facts – in the hope of persuading their audience that this is the ‘true’ or ‘correct’ representation of what occurred. Sembe`ne tells us, ‘I control the entire film process and I feel completely responsible for it’ (Pfaff 1984: 78). The selection of film as the medium through which to depict a story has several implications which shall be examined in some detail and it is in the product of this selection and representation that the ideology of the directors may be discerned as it is they who select which facts to present and the light in which they shall be cast

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Control (management · Ideology · Media studies · Political science · Product (mathematics · Representation (politics · Selection (genetic algorithm · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Cinema and Media Studies · Computer Science · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism · South African History and Culture · Artificial Intelligence · History · Law

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