Oulia Adzhoa Sika Makkonen

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They will call me the black god

THIS THESIS EXPLORES the ways in which African filmmakers have historically addressedChristianity and the Bible on the continent. It begins with the premise that on the Africancontinent, marked political films (Mazierska) are embedded in transnational dynamics involvingmovements of economic and symbolic capital, ideas, discourses and multiple publics. Withinthese movements, questions of identity, and questions, of the cultural, political or religious areexplored in conversation and encounter with Others. With this premise in mind, I ask howthe films address Christianity and interpret the Bible; how they frame the religious in relationspecific historical, cultural and political contexts; and what are the potential implications ofthe transnational dynamics and circulation of films. Although much research has focused onthe representation of religions in African video and screen media especially in the 2000s,surprisingly little has been dedicated to earlier cinematic expressions and political cinema. Tocontribute to the history of the cinematic treatment of religion on the continent, four fictionalfilms were chosen as case-studies: La Chapelle, (The Chapel, dir. Jean-Michel Tchissoukou,1980, Republic of Congo), Au Nom du Christ (In the Name of Christ, dir. Roger Gnoan M’Bala,1993, Côte d’Ivoire), La Génèse (Genesis, dir. Cheick Oumar Sissoko, 1999, Mali) and Sonof Man (dir. Mark Dornford-May, 2006, South-Africa). The analyses reveal that filmmakershave portrayed and interpreted the presence of Christianity and the Bible in relation to legaciesof colonialism and decolonisation. Their attitudes narrate the presence of Christianity and theBible in terms of resistance, suspicion, negotiation, and appropriation. In doing so they oscillatebetween distancing from and rapprochement with developments in African Christianity andtheology. The films’ narratives and aesthetics reflect tensions around the creation of discoursesof African authenticity, but also around religious modernity. The political framing roots thecontextualisation of biblical narratives in social and historical analyses that strive to provideresponses to local instances of oppressions as well as a platform for a more universalist readingaddressed to global publics. Finally, the films contribute to the construction of African religiousrealities and imageries and to the broader image of Africa.

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Humaniora Religion & esoterika Film

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