The range of winning entries reflects a snapshot of the remarkable work coming out of the continent over the past decade, particularly in the documentary field.
This year, African documentaries were at the forefront of world cinema, highlighting stories – both personal and political – that demonstrated extraordinary courage and remarkable bravery.
The filmmakers boldly spoke truth to power, demanded accountability from self, family, and institutions, and deconstructed the ways and forms in which documentaries are routinely presented. In addition, they are now recognized for their efforts.
Bobi Wine: The People’s Presidenta profile of the Ugandan pop star turned opposition leader, took the organization’s top award for best feature documentary, beating nine other nominees from around the world.
At the same event, Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir won Best Director for her family documentary The Mother of All Lies while Tunisian Oscar-hopeful Kaouther Ben Hania took home the award for best writing for her experiment with hole-punch documentary, Four Daughters.
Africa Report presents 10 of the richest and most memorable stories of the year.
10. Music is My Life — Joseph Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo — South Africa
For the first time in history, South Africa’s selection committee submitted a documentary to represent the country at the Oscars in the international feature film category. Music is my life is directed by Mpumi ‘Supa’ Mbele and celebrates the life and career of the late musical icon Joseph Shabalala, founder of the Grammy-winning band, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The film chronicles his complex story isicathamiya music and puts Shabalala’s legacy into context.
9. Calvinia — South Africa/Switzerland
Rudi van der Merwe’s Calvinism named after the small town in which he grew up and to which he returns years later to compose this lyrical and powerful personal essay composed of family vignettes, social media conversations and the weight of his own memories. Even when some progress has clearly been made, the city appears like a time capsule, a legacy of apartheid stuck somewhere in the past. Van der Merwe has pledged to investigate the injustices that have fueled this conservative enclave ever since.
8. 1001 Days — South Africa/UK
In Alexandra, a municipality in Johannesburg, two-thirds of the women are survivors of sexual or domestic abuse. In a moving example of community intervention, a group of local mothers – some survivors themselves – embark on a quietly radical mission. In this intimate and feminist documentary, filmmakers Kethiwe Ngcobo and Chloe White follow a trio of sympathetic health workers as they provide essential support to new mothers in their community during the first 1001 days of birth.
7. The Cemetery of Cinema — Senegal/Guinea/France/Saudi Arabia
For his debut feature, Guinean director Thierno Souleymane Diallo invites the audience on his quest Muramani, a 1953 film by Mamadou Touré since lost and believed to be the first film ever shot in Guinea. Diallo’s search takes him from Guinea to Paris, France. Equipped with his recording equipment, he begins a conversation about Guinea’s film history and the tragedy of abandoned film libraries. He also goes on a protest drawing attention to the dangerous state of cinema in his country.
6. The Mother of All Lies — Morocco/Egypt/Saudi Arabia/Qatar
In The Mother of All LiesAsmae El Moudir uses handmade figurines and models to create a replica of the Casablanca neighborhood where she grew up in order to reconnect with her past. Searching for some truth in the tangled web of lies in her family history, El Moudir weaves together personal and national history as she reflects on the bread uprisings of 1981, making connections to modern Morocco.
5. Bobi Wine: The People’s President — Uganda/UK/US
Directed by Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, this film follows superstar musician-turned-opposition political leader Bobi Wine’s (real name Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) attempt to overthrow the repressive regime of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during a general election. of 2021. Acquired by National Geographic following its 2022 Venice Film Festival premiere, Bobi Wine: The People’s President follows Wine and his wife Barbie over several years, culminating in his unsuccessful bid in 2021.
4. Between the Rains — Kenya/USA
Co-directed by Moses Thuranira and Andrew H. Brown, Between the Rains is a compelling and stark look at the immediate effects of climate change on a Turkana pastoralist community in the mountains of rural Kenya. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June where it won the award for Best Documentary Feature plus another for its breathtakingly stunning cinematography. “We wanted to make a film that we could take to America, but also set in East Africa, and have the local audience feel that this is their story,” says Brown. Africa Report.
3. Le Specter de Boko Haram — Cameroon/France
Cyrielle Raingou won the Tiger Award – an award previously claimed by Christopher Nolan – at the Rotterdam International Film Festival for her first feature film, Le Specter de Boko Haram (The Specter of Boko Haram). It is a deeply sensitive account of the impact of the terrorist group Boko Haram, as seen through the eyes of some of the child victims. Raingu spent most of the year touring the international festival circuit, as her film’s celebration of innocence in the midst of tragedy struck a nerve, speaking to audiences around the world.
2. Milisuthando — South Africa/Colombia
“I knew I was telling a story that hadn’t been told before, in this way and by someone from my generation,” says Milisuthando Bongela. Africa Report for her self-titled debut feature, which rocked the world at the Sundance Film Festival where it premiered in January. The film, striking and almost radical in its approach to the form, details Bongela’s unique experience growing up in the Transkei, a rural, segregated region established in 1976 as an apartheid-era experiment.
1. Four Daughters — Tunisia/Saudi Arabia/France/Germany
In this thrilling documentary experiment, director Kaouther Ben Hania calls on professional actors to reenact real-life scenes of a Tunisian family torn apart when two daughters leave home to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. The two missing daughters are played by actors and share scenes with the real daughters left behind. The result is an occasionally confusing but deeply powerful dig at family ties, trauma memory, and liberation.
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