Le malentendu colonial/Colonial Misunderstanding

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Le Malentendu Colonial ( 2004, Cameroon, 73 minutes, In French, German and English with English subtitles) carries forward the thesis director Jean-Marie Teno so eloquently began in Afrique, je te plumerai where he argued that Africa could only find its way forward into the 21st century if it affirmed its own traditions. The film looks at European colonialism in Africa through the lens of Christian evangelism, indeed as the model for the relationship between North and South even today. Teno’s often droll commentary scrutinizes in particular the role of German missionaries in Namibia on the centenary of the 1904 German genocide of the Herrero people. It reveals how colonialism destroyed African beliefs and social systems and replaced them with European ones as if they were the only acceptable routes to modernity. Teno writes “The humanitarians of today have replaced the missionaries of yesterday. Colonization has turned over a new leaf of globalization but in Africa there is nothing new on the horizon; a little more charity and less and less justice.”

Jean-Marie Teno will be teaching a Master Class at Scribe on Friday, February 15 starting at 6:00 pm on New African Documentary. Click here for details.

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Jean-Marie Teno

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Jean-Marie Teno, born in Cameroon, is an acclaimed filmmaker, whose works have been centerpieces at the international art exhibition, Documenta, the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and at film festivals on five continents. He studied communications at the University of Valenciennes (France), and then began work as a film critic for the magazine "Bwana". In 1985, he was hired as an editor at FR3 (French National Television) where he worked until 1997. In 1983, Teno made his first film, the documentary short Schubbah. He has continued filmmaking, moving effortlessly between documentary and fiction. His feature documentary Afrique, je te plumerai (1992) is one of the most insightful examinations of the cultural damage created by Europe’s colonization of Africa. His other films include: Le mariage d’Alex (2002), Vacances au pays (2000) and Chef! (1999) and La tête dans les nuages (1994).

For more information about his work visit Les films du Raphia website.