Africa is here

The idea arose in 1985, at a time in which Western exotism and the negative me-dia images of Sub-Saharan Africa, or black africa, mainly emphasised misery, poverty, dictatorship and corruption. In Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, meanwhile, African film-makers were showing their own Africa in their own films at Fespaco, the pan-African film festival which had been a meeting place for African film-makers for years. There, stories were shown from an African point of view, something that had to be seen! That’s how Africa in the Picture was born — it was the dream of the festival’s founder and director until 2005, Mariët Bakker.
So the films came to the Netherlands, to be shown at Filmhuis Rialto, which has been the beating heart of the festival since 1987. It became a meeting place in the West where African cineastes could come to present their work in direct dialogue with the audience. And now, movies from the African Diaspora are shown too from North and South America, Europe, Suriname and the Caribbean
And of course the world is evolving, globalising and with it, opinion on art and culture. Africa in the Picture also evolved with a sizeable enlargement of content, subjects and films. The digital camera entered and young African film-makers took the chance to puttheir stories into pictures.
The torch has now been passed on to Heidi Lobato, who has more than one continent — including Africa — in her blood. And like her, many people with different cultural backgrounds live in the West and they want to recognise themselves in film. An important focus of the festival therefore still is the relation between here and there — with this year an emphasis on then and now.
This way, the tradition of Africa in the Picture is continued, through the medium of film and through people. The festival is one in which Africa is literally projected from all angles, for an audience full of differences and similarities, in no fewer than five cities and six areas of Amsterdam alone. The interaction and clashes between culture and tradition and also reflection on the role offilm in modern society will continueto inspire AITP to (re)view the image of Africa through ever-changing themes. “Africa is here!”