Gaze Regimes. Film and Feminisms in Africa

Abstract

Gaze Regimes is a bricolage of essays and interviews showcasing the experiences of women working in film, either directly as practitioners or in other areas such as curators, festival programme directors or fundraisers. It does not shy away from questioning the relations of power in the practice of filmmaking and the power invested in the gaze itself. Who is looking and who is being looked at, who is telling women's stories in Africa and what governs the mechanics of making those films on the continent? The interviews with film practitioners such as Tsitsi Dangarembga, Taghreed Elsanhouri, Jihan El-Tahri, Anita Khanna, Isabel Noronhe, Arya Lalloo and Shannon Walsh demonstrate the contradictory points of departure of women in film – from their understanding of feminisms in relation to lived-experiences and the realpolitik of women working as cultural practitioners. ; Katharina von Ruckteschell: Foreword Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann: Introduction: By Way of Context and Content Beti Ellerson: African Women in Cinema: An overview Ines Kappert: 'I am a feminist only in secret'. Interview with Taghreed Elsanhouri and Christina von Braun Christina von Braun: Staged Authenticity: Femininity in photography and film Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann: 'Power is in your own hands': Why Jihan El-Tahri does not like movements. Interview with Jihan El-Tahri Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry: Aftermath – A focus on collective trauma. Interview with Djo Tunda wa Munga and Rumbi Katedza Antje Schuhmann: Shooting Violence and Trauma: Traversing visual and social topographies in Zanele Muholi's work Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry: PUK NINI – A Filmic Instruction in Seduction: Exploring class and sexuality in gender relations Nobunye Levin: I am Saartjie Baartman Jyoti Mistry: Filmmaking at the Margins of a Community: On co-producing ELELWANI Jyoti Mistry: On Collective Practice and Collected Reflections. Interview with Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo Max Annas and Henriette Gunkel: 'Cinema of resistance'. Interview with Isabel Noronha Anita Khanna: Dark and Personal Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry: 'Change? This might mean to shove a few men out'. Interview with Anita Khanna Katarina Hedrén: Barakat! means Enough! Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann: 'Women, use the gaze to change reality'. Interview with Katarina Hedrén Dorothee Wenner: Post-colonial Film Collaboration and Festival Politics Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann: Tsitsi Dangarembga: A Manifesto. Interview with Tsitsi Dangarembga