A bit of Africa in Edinburgh

I have to admit I have almost no knowledge about African history and the images of Africa in my mind remains pretty much of the stereotype.
1. News about war, hunger, illness and poverty.
2. The soccer nations and the teams in World Cup every 4 years.
3. Documentary films about African tribes and tribal culture.
4. The wildlife on African lands on the cable channels.

It was an unknown world to me. So it was really out of curiosity and a keen interest in world cinematography that lured me to buy 6 tickets at the Edinburgh African Film Festival.

If last night's premiere movie gave the audience a light-hearted insight into the struggles of a 3-generation African immigrant family in France, and how they learn to deal, as a family, with similar issues which would also arise in any Western or Asia society, then tonight's screening of the 1992 documentary, Africa, I Will Fleece You, is essentially a guide to African's violent history and postcolonialism problems. The film was based on Cameroon's history and according to the director, who hosted a Q&A session after the disturbing film, 18 years on, many issues raised in the film still remains. Interestingly, CIA's World Factbook stated that "Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability", which was definitely not the impression one leaves with after watching the film, which featured precious interviews with elders who had been through the pre-independence days. Perhaps, it was a statement made in comparison to the other African nations?

The most enlightening part of the documentary for me was when the narrative brought the audience back to school to hear the story of the Cameroon writing system. A visionary king from the pre-colonial days had envisioned that for his people to progress further, their oral tradition has to be aided by a writing system. Hence, King Njoya went through several stages to invent a writing system for their language in the beginning of 20th century and started educating his people in their own writing system. (And I've learnt that it's definitely a misconception that the African traditions is a purely oral one.) But history has it that things are not to be. Today, the Cameroon land speaks French and one of the director's lament would be on the lost of the native language(and writing), culture and identity.

The film has definitely opened up a new world of knowledge awaiting my exploration. And, it adds another dimension to my understanding of my Prof lectures on language and identity.