Featured, Movies about Africa
Live and Become (2005)
“Don’t chase me away”: The crisis of social belonging in tumultuous times A desperate mother makes a painful sacrifice: she sends her son away to an uncertain future in order to spare him from an almost certain death. The last thing she tells him is “Go, live and become” and these words will resonate heavily throughout [...]
Featured, Suggested
Life is beautiful with Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo is one of my favorite African singer along with Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora. Of those who are no longer among us, I also love Miriam Makeba, Lucky Dube and Brenda Fassie. Last night, Angelique Kidjo had a concert in Chicago and I obviously went to the performance. The ticket was 30 dollars [...]
Featured, Suggested
Ok, this is just naughty!
New scam email got into my inbox today. And it’s pretty disgusting. However, one can only wonder how people fall for this in the first place. One day I’ll tell you the story about the first scam email I ever received way back when I was a 15 year old student in Galati, Romania. And [...]
Featured, Movies about Africa, Movies about South Africa
Sarafina (1992): making a musical about apartheid or a swing and a miss
The idea that you can make a musical about apartheid gives me chills. To see it on my laptop screen seems even more inappropriate. In recent times, some wise directors tried to give a new perspective on the Holocaust by using movie genres other than dramas, and they succeeded. I cannot say the same about [...]
Featured, Suggested
On a new episode in Romanian politics and witchcraft connections
On February 10th Victor Ponta, a young member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies was elected President of the Romanian Social Democrat Party (SDP) during an extraordinary party congress that took place in Bucharest. He narrowly defeated Mircea Geoana, the candidate who lost elections against Traian Basescu in the recent presidential elections that took place [...]
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Featured, Movies about Africa
White Hunter, Black Hurt (1990): layers and layers of scenes signifying nothing
Posted on 18 February 2010
After I reviewed Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Invictus, an anthropologist I care deeply for sent me an email with her insights on the movie. She had this to say at the time: “I have complex feelings about Eastwood and his libertarian politics: for me, he has never understood social processes, and works with lone, heroic figures [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa
Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998): a pure heart in a corrupt world
Posted on 17 February 2010
Somewhere in West Africa, Karaba is a mean sorceress who has killed almost an entire generation of warriors. She is so loathed and feared that she lives away from the village, on top of a hill, where her only friends are dreadful walking trees and little robot-like spies that keep her informed at all times. [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Suggested
From Zanzeland to Washington DC: Timeless Anxieties, Familiar Challenges
Posted on 16 February 2010
This is what I consider a food-for-thought essay. It’s a little long (3.5 pages single-spaced) but I think it’s worth reading it. “New Situations Demand New Magic…”[1] In Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande, E.E. Evans Pritchard analyzes a society which is broadly characterized by unchanging traditions. However, various events that are out of the immediate [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa, My Africa Journey
Blood Coltan: What Congo has and Western companies would kill for
Posted on 14 February 2010
A French team of journalists traveled to Congo, Brussels and Paris in order to reveal to the general public some of the reasons why the Democratic Republic of Congo is still a war torn zone. Instead of providing the audience with a larger picture, something I would have done instead, they focused on one commodity [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa, Movies about South Africa
State of Denial (2003): The Age and the State of Betrayal in the battle against AIDS
Posted on 13 February 2010
The State of Denial is a heartbreaking documentary that explores the difficulties HIV-infected South Africans face on a daily basis. And their inspiring struggles. It provides an insider’s view, South African born director Elaine Epstein, into the complicated factors that allow HIV/AIDS to spread at such an alarming speed. The documentary focuses on what used [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa
Blood Monkey (2007): this movie is so bad it can make you cry
Posted on 12 February 2010
Blood Monkey is a movie set in Africa which is not even worth the envelope Netflix used in order to ship the DVD to me. It is so bad that I find it is my civic duty to write this movie review and convince you never to borrow or buy the movie. Blood Monkey features [...] Continue Reading
Movies about Africa, Movies about South Africa
Senator Obama goes to Africa (2007)
Posted on 11 February 2010
Senator Obama goes to Africa is a travelogue / movie propaganda made by Bob Hercules and Keith Walke. The directors follow the then senator Obama through this short African odyssey. In this documentary, Barack Obama visits the city of Kisumu in western Kenya, the capital of the country, Nairobi, as well as South Africa and [...] Continue Reading
Current Affairs, Suggested
You have to watch this
Posted on 05 February 2010
Who’s your hero? A Swedish company created one of the most popular viral short clips in history. It’s a customizable one, that is you can choose who will have the honor to be represented in it. I chose one of the obvious characters and the result is here. Just click here, watch it and then [...] Continue Reading
Suggested
New CSA project going live today: African wisdom on Twitter
Posted on 03 February 2010
Hi guys In the last week or so I have been going through my interview notes from my Africa travels, spanning over the last five years of my life – the best five years I would say. I was also going through my old diary – yeah, at one point I had a diary, now the [...] Continue Reading
Movies about Africa
Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls (2008) – just about the worst movie I have ever watched
Posted on 30 January 2010
Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls Is a 2008 direct-to-DVD movie loosely based on H. Rider Haggard’s classic novel King Solomon’s Mines. It stars South African actor Sean Cameron Michael as Quatermain. The movie was actually shot in South Africa, with mostly local actors and the story is somewhat similar to the original book. Quatermain is [...] Continue Reading
Notable Articles of the Day 02.16.10
Rogue States and Rogue Presidents make the news this week.
- Libya denies visas for Schengen Visa Passport Holders.
- The European Union extends Zimbabwe sanctions for another year citing lack of progress in the power-sharing agreement. Ironically, this will reflect bad on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as he is the one who has campaigned for sanction removal.
- Kenyan ministers threaten to boycott the government after Prime Minister Odinga’s attempt to suspend two ministers was reversed by President Kibaki.
- Gambian President Yahya Jammeh expels UNICEF country representative amid accusations of human rights abuses.
Angelique Kidjo talking and singing in the memory of her father. “It takes from Africa to make a different in the world father champions…”
Given the charade going on in Kenya these days, Prime-Minister talks about the tensions between him and the President. Guess where? In Japan. Click and watch:
One of my fellow citizens had an amazing idea: he decided to sky in the capital of Bucharest, literally in the middle of the road. This short clip made waves in Romania and I think it’s pretty interesting to watch. How would you like to sky in the heart of your city?
90 people lost their lives in a EA plane crash two days ago. My most sincere condolences go to the families affected by this tragedy. It is only the third fatal accident in Ethiopian Airlines’ history, the largest airline in Africa.
Antena3.ro, one of the main news sites in Romania comes up with a second political promo which is worth mentioning both for its political message and its quality. The message is simple: Romania has been abandoned by its leaders who are only fighting for power instead of dealing with the read problems Romania is facing (political crisis, the economic crisis, deficit etc). This is also the message stated at the end of the promo. The rest can be appreciated by anyone looking at this promo whether you speak Romanian or not. In addition, this product can be extended to a large number of African states where those in power have abused their prerogatives in similar ways. And, with similar consequences.
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A Romanian in Africa by Codrin Arsene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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