Popular Cinema: A Panacea for African Cinemas?

This article argues in favour of a serious scholarship and academic
valorisation of African popular/ commercial cinemas. It has been
observed that there is a dearth of studies of African popular or
commercial cinemas, and this is largely due to a belief within academia
that popular cinema is generally of low quality, with hardly any innovative
aesthetics or teachable lessons for individual and societal transformation
compared to arthouse films. This paper hinges on the premise that
popular cinema is a solution for the survival of an emerging African
cinema. In this regard, we used the works of Alphonse Béni, one of the
most successful African commercial filmmakers in the early years of
African cinema, as a case study. This study reveals that popular cinema
is employed by the West to assuage their domination over the rest of the
world, as well as to foster their imperialistic agendas. Furthermore, it is
also noted that Béni used popular cinema to encourage change in the
mentality of the masses and display the modernity of developing nations.

Keywords: Popular Cinema, commercial cinema, aesthetics, african cinema