Posibilidades abiertas por las nuevas tecnologías en el desarrollo de los cines africanos contemporáneos

From its beginnings with the wave of independence that swept the continent in the middle of the previous century, African cinema has remained subordinate to and dependent upon Western aid. Barring a few prominent exceptions, the effects of this phenomenon have been visible, with films made catering to the tastes of occidental critics and cinephiles while African viewers have been left thirsting for images and sounds of an autochthonous character. Since the 1990’s, thanks to new technologies, African cinema has achieved a previously inconceivable vitality and autonomy. The democratizing effects of the reduction in the cost of production, distribution, and exhibition, as well as the easier accessibility of new technologies to non-professionals, has made of Africa a creative flashpoint, where myriad voices work to create a nuanced and polyphonic imaginary leagues beyond those prejudices and stereotypes of occidental provenance that have overshadowed this continent’s cinematography for more than five decades.