happiness...

Chronique d'un été directed by Jean Rouch
The second film I watched (see the post welcome to treichville)  from this director, which I borrowed from the Alliance Française in Cape town.
They have one of the most amazing films collection there, I am loving it.

For those who might not have the possibility to watch movies by this fabulous director, here is a snippet from Chroniques d'un été:

The movie opens with a dialogue between Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin about the possibilities offered by cinema-verité and whether the presence of the camera doesn't distort the true behavior of the people they film. Follows a scene where they ask people in the street of Paris whether they are happy or not, the tone is light. Eventually the camera leaves the street to get to the core of the debate, and concentrates on a couple of people that we will then follow throughout the movie. The intensity of the characters sublimates the simple frame of the film. The testimonial are touching sometimes very poignant, but what makes it so vibrant is that the concerns are similar to today's concerns in many ways: Love, racism, wars, education, work, finding a place in society, the possibility, the liberty to better yourself, to better your condition as a human being. The conscience of a human condition similar around the world brought by the socialist ideals had spread consequently since the beginning of 21st century, the movements for independence resulting in the end of the colonial empires bringing these social beliefs closer to reality.

But what about today?

"In all of us brought up in a western democracy, wrote Doris Lessing, there is this built-in belief that freedom and liberty will strenghten, will survive pressures, and the belief seems to survive any evidence against it."

The world reeks middle age and we are pushed to hold on to old beliefs, victim of groups in their last effort to resist, too scared to accept the unavoidable changes that today's societies are submited to. 

I lived most of my life in Europe, French, strongly attached to my country I revendicate my heritage, but I refuse to accept that same heritage as immutable,  and want to move into the future by embrassing the paradigm of multiculturalism.

The idea is not the acceptance of a pluri-monoculturalism but of true multiculturalism. 

"vivre ensemble".

pauperization

pau·per·ize (pôp-rz)
tr.v.
To make a pauper of.

pau·per (pôpr)
n.
1. One who is extremely poor.
2. One living on or eligible for public charity.

The term is employed abundantly in today's global landscape.

I hadn't uncountered this word until recently when I heard Aminata Traoré on a radio show called Eclectik on France Inter, with Rokia Traoré as guest of honour.

The show was centered around multiculturalism, new developments on the African continent, and the relationship between China and Africa.

The introduction for Rokia Traoré couldn't set the tone better:
"Neither a princess nor a griot.
She doesn't were a boubou but a shaved head façon Grace Jones.
She may be born in Bamako, but her parents are neither poor nor polygamous.
In short, she has everything to annoy those who support the clichés of the good African savage.
Not quite exotic for whites and too white for blacks, she is now of the right color.
Rokia Traoré leads her boat and her black velvet voice on the road of prejudices, of Mali and blues.
A voluntary exile who had set up her small inner world where the north and south are nomadic like her."

During the show Rokia and Rebecca speak about the different influences that nourish her art, how to embrace different cultures whilst staying essentially Malian, and of course gave a bit of insight into the economic and social conditions of Africa, with the return of the young generation who wants to invest in the continent.

This is where we get to Pauperization. This plea from Aminata Traoré is an excerpt from Bamako. For those who understand french, you can listen to her by clicking on the track in the playlist, on the right hand side of the page, otherwise this is a traduction of her speech.

"Africa is victim, not of its poverty, but of its wealth. When a woman is dying in a village where the chemist has got the medication that could save her, but refuses to treat her because she doesn't have the money to pay, this system of pay or die, this is what the west teaches and what Africa is inflicting herself. Africa is embarked in an ideal of society that it can't afford. What is needed of Africa today is to regain possession of its destiny."

There is also an audio track of Rokia Traoré, about Nelson Mandela, available in the playlist, again it's in french.

This is what she says about him:

"With all the power Nelson Mandela had, he could have made things explode, it's so easy to damage everything rather than build. But he didn't do it, and instead he used his power to build. His gesture is a real lesson for the world and for Africa, and everytime there is a war in Africa I wonder if they thought about him, what he did for this Africa he believed in and fought for, do they think of the greatness of this gesture, that each african should have such a gesture once in his life, so that one day Africa can stand up again. Africa is in need of such grand gestures."

The show ends on the tightening relation between Africa and China to bring new investment. A lot of Africans also choose to go to China to import cheap stock in their home countries, but caution remains in regard to what we exposed above: will Africa benefit more from this new partner than with Europe?

At least things are clear with China, when they invest somewhere they don't come for charity.

talking about clash

I miss the good old european Hip Hop scene these days, the dizzee rascal, roots manuva, Dj Mehdi, TTC, the exhilarating sense of danger and urgency that comes from their music.

Justice has released a Video for Stress, that has made a lot of noise recently.

Produced by Romain Gavras for Kourtrajmé, this video is gritty, violent, disturbing, and ultimately very controversial.

Some people say it reminds them of Man bites dog, personally I think it's more The Warriors meet Clockwork Orange, revisited sauce 2008.

Romain Gavras takes his film making to new heights, without any compromise, the quality of the image and the editing are amazing.

Don't stop at the realism and the violence of the image because you'd be cheated.

If you haven't seen the video, have a look 

here for some screen grabs and an analysis of the action and characters.

JR posterises London

JR is an artivist who is reinventing the possibilities of street art and of exhibition at the same time, by sticking up his gigantic black and white pictures on walls.

I discovered his work 2 years ago, through Kourtrajmé.

His 28 millimeter project his at its 3rd stage, starting in Paris and the Israelo-Palestinian border, he has now taken is camera to post-conflictual areas of Africa.

I am really interested in cultural clashes, and JR's work, explores this idea in a huge way, exposing the viewer and at the same time giving him the space to rid of his preconceptions and stereotypes.

He is exhibiting is work all over London, here is a video showing the installation at the Tate Modern.

CARNET DE RUE PAR JR - 2004
Uploaded by JR

This guy is claiming new territories, watch your space.

welcome to treichville

A group of young Nigerians come to Ivory Coast to find work. They end up in Treichville, a poor quarter of Abidjan, lost and rootless in modern civilisation. The hero, who narrates his own story, calls himself Edward J. Robinson in homage to the American actor. Like him, his friends have adopted pseudonyms intended to create, symbolically, an ideal personality.

Work, friendship, music, sports, leisure, girls, love, violence, this film counts the occupations and aspiration, rocked in american movies, of this displaced youth, who came to Abidjan seeking a better future.

Jean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist who died in 2004 leaving behind him more than a hundred movies.
He is considered as one the pioneers of visual anthropology and the father of ethnofiction.

taking chances

Taking Chances.

There is an incredibly widespread, common accepted attitude in this country: people take chances… but in a way that I had never witnessed before.

 We were once walking from cape town to camps bay, in the middle of Kloof neck, and were approached by a mini cab. Asked us if we’re you going to Table Mountain? No, Camps Bay. Ok I’ll take you there no problem. 

We jump in and ask how much is the fare. 60 Rand he said.

The normal fare for these taxis is 5 rand. We jumped out, and continued on foot, and I’m telling walking up there is really rewarding, the view of camps bay is incredible.

Then on another occasion, our friend Dennis told us he approached a car rental company, the only downfall was you had to give a deposit that would be given back to you, half as you give the car back and the other half 2 months later.But I will be out of the country by that time. We will send it to you. Yeah right.

Now maybe they would have sent the money but mmh…

 

This deposit thing seems to be the trend as a lot of shops ask you for a deposit before the actually do the job.

You give your shoe to have the sole repaired. They tell you it will be ready in the afternoon, and ask for a deposit. You wonder whether you could pay the all price once the job is done.

Don’t complain if the job is not done by today, then.

 

Another time you go to the locksmith to get a copy of your key done. It breaks the same day. You go back and tell him.

Tough luck! He says, do you have money to pay for a new?

 

At a party, you are getting some drinks, the barman yeah yeah don’t worry I don’t have the change right now but as soon as I get it I’ll bring it to you.

Of course you’re enjoying yourself and drinking a bit so by the time you leave the place you forgot they owed you money. Turns out we were not the only people in the club it happened to.

 

That’s what taking chances is.

 

Everytime it happens I’m thinking damn man how stupid. But I won’t budge, it's become a game now, next time I won’t fall for it man, I won’t.

Radiography

Having to apply for a long term visa in South Africa you have to submit yourself to a series of Medical tests.
This is my perfectly healthy, Tuberculosis free, pair of lungs.

design aesthetics

Our two latest second hand acquisitions.

who's down for cleaning

Imagine if you had to do that everytime your mum sends you to clean your room?
Hein, would you still moan? 

Peace=good business

The Global Peace Index for 2008 has been released (see here).

South Africa is 116th on this ranking -6 from the previous year, underneath USA 97, France 36.

To take with a pinch of salt as per any statistics, especially these days.

Cuba: an African odyssey

Directed by Jihan El Tahri

Che Guevara in Africa.

300,000 Cubans fighting amongst african revolutionaries, from Congo to Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and Angola between 1965 and 1991.

The priceless contribution of the Cuban doctors, who set an example for the future. 

The geopolitical issues of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, and the liberation of Nelson Mandela.

This documentary explores a widely unknown area of the relations between Cuba and Africa, in the struggle for Independence. 

The Cuban put a lot of military forces in this actions, but where their real strength reside is that contrary to the Western rulers, they were able to appreciate what could be done with the resources that were always available locally, and to develop these resources in a rational way, working alongside the African revolutionaries rather than trying to impose themselves onto them.

It also gives credit to Jorge Risquet, formidable master of negotiation, and a plethora of other legends.

Only deception is the relations between Castro and Mandela, which I hoped they would elaborate more on, as I saw a picture of Mandela in guerilla outfit in his Museum house of Soweto.