11 classic African movies worth celebrating year-round

4 June, 2018 - 06:05

Africa Month may have ended but Showmax has just released a collection of 11 classic African movies that are worth celebrating year-round, having been praised everywhere from Cannes to Ouagadougou, Sundance to Toronto.

Touki Bouki

Djibril Diop Mamb tys Touki Bouki is the story of two lovers - a cowherd and a university student - who dream of escaping to Paris from Dakar.

For a film originally released in 1973, Touki Bouki has been in the headlines a lot this year. In March, Beyonce took to Instagram to announce her On The Run II' stadium tour with Jay-Z with a striking poster image of the couple on a bull-skull-trimmed motorbike, inspired by the classic Senegalese road trip movie. Her Instagram post racked up over 3m views in under 24 hours.

Then in April, Touki Bouki topped the Tarifa-Tangiers African Film Festival's list of the 10 best African films of all time, as chosen by 10 well-respected critics and authorities on film. Of course, Touki Bouki is no stranger to lists like this, having been included in Sight & Sound's 100 Greatest Films Of All Time and Empire's 100 Best Films Of World Cinema.

Beyonce's not the first celebrity to celebrate it either. Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese (The Departed) hailed Touki Bouki as a cinematic poem made with a raw, wild energy, while TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe similarly praised it as A favourite. Beautiful. Fully punk.

Watch Scorsese talking about Touki Bouki: https://youtu.be/o555EiqRC10. Stream Touki Boukionly on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/n3u9ub5x-touki-bouki.

Kati Kati

When Kaleche (Nyokabi Gethaiga), a young amnesiac, wakes up in the middle of the wilderness, she has no idea how she got there. She makes her way to Kati Kati, a nearby lodge, where she meets a motley crew of residents under the leadership of Thoma (Elsaphan Njora).

At Toronto International Film Festival, the Kenyan film won the FIPRESCI Critics Prize, with the FIPRESCI jury hailing director Mbithi Masya as an exciting and unique new voice in cinema. Kati Kati was also named Best East African Film at the 2017 Africa Movie Viewers Choice Awards and won the New Voices/New Visions Award Special Mention at the Palm Springs International Festival, among other accolades.

Watch and embed the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORXo9AtKqEk. Stream Kati Kati on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/7ii5bvnm-katikati.

Yaaba

When Burkina Faso filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo passed away in February, Variety hailed him as a towering figure of African cinema and The New York Times described him as legendary. Ouedraogo came to international attention in 1989 with Yaaba (Grandmother), the story of two children who make friends with an old woman who has been outcast as a witch by her village. Yaaba won the FIPRESCI Critics' Prize and a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, among other accolades. Watch and embed the trailer: https://youtu.be/z2swWIqEA3s. Stream Yaaba only on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/vzg9ikuw-yaaba,

Nairobi Half Life

In David Tosh' Gitonga's debut feature film, an aspiring actor moves to Nairobi with big dreams of becoming a star, but quickly discovers why the city of opportunity is nicknamed Nairobbery. The Hollywood Reporter called it a dynamic crime drama shot through with fresh social and stylistic energy. Nairobi Half Life won the Breakthrough Audience Award at AFI in 2012 and four Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards in 2014. Lead actor Joseph Wairimu also picked up Best Actor at Durban International Film Festival and Most Promising Actor at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. Watch and embed the trailer: https://youtu.be/jF5HdlI84g8. Stream Nairobi Half Life on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/48wfzimm-nairobi-half-life.

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Of Good Report

Infamously banned just before it was due to open the Durban International FIlm Festival in 2013, Jahmil XT Qubeka's Of Good Report is the story of an obsessive affair between an introverted high school teacher (Mothusi Magano) and a 16-year-old pupil (Petronella Tshuma). The Guardian called it an edge-of-your-seat thriller a sensational noir thriller in black and white. Watching this brazenly shocking and gripping film, I remembered the feeling I had on seeing Christopher Nolans low-budget black-and-white debut, Following. Here is a director who is going places. Of Good Report won five awards, including Best Film, at both the South African Film and Television Awards and the African Movie Academy Awards in 2014. Watch and embed the trailer: https://youtu.be/6HkWNZq-6u0. Stream Of Good Report only on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/yyi4s8kn-of-good-report.

God Grew Tired Of Us

Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance in 2006, this documentary follows three of the Lost Boys of Sudan after their arrival in America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan African in search of safety. Directed by Americans Christopher Quinn and Tommy Walker, God Grew Tired Of Us has a 91% critics score and a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Watch and embed the trailer: https://youtu.be/ZSTDZMXpzhA. Stream God Grew Tired Of Us on Showmax in Africa: https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/20rw487n-god-grew-tired-of-us.

Soul Boy

Fourteen-year-old Abila (Samson Odhiambo) awakes to find his father feeling so ill that he's unable to open their grocery shop. When his father says his soul has been stolen, Abi confronts the Nyawawa (Krysteen Savane), a spirit rumoured to steal men's souls. Admiring the boy's bravery, the Nyawawa gives him seven chall

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