Imagine, Experience, Articulate

Almost 20 years ago,on the 9th November 1989, civilians crossed over the formerly forbidden boundary between East andWest Berlin with a host of television cameras on site to beam the pictures around the world. These became the images of the fall of the Berlin Wall, taken to symbolise the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe and more generally an end of ideological history. Taking the fall of the Berlin Wall as a case study, Sunil Manghani's Image Critique & the Fall of the Berlin Wall presents a new critical visual theory. Image critique is a dual procedure combining analysis and interpretation of images, with a consideration of how images can be used to critically examine and engage with our contemporary culture. The author uses the fall of the wall as a means to place a complex interactive account of history, politics, human action, freedom, the media and visual culture. The book asks why the dominant interpretation of the fall of the Wall has only ever been about the...

South Africa’s premier music industry gathering, Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition that marks its fifth year in 2008, is ready for serving. Arnold Mabunda, the Moshito '08 chairman, says: “I think that if you look at the programme you will see how seriously we are taking the business of music. There is no better forum in South Africa where good quality business intelligence about the music industry is disseminated so effectively and accessibly than at Moshito. We have a very impressive line-up of international speakers drawn from so many different countries including Brazil, Mali, Tanzania, France, Sweden, and Australia – and they are all the top experts in their field. Add in our South African experts and I think that delegates are going to be hard-pressed to select just which sessions to go to!” Mabunda attributes much of the programme’s strength to Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition’s new relationship with WOMEX – widely acknowledged as the world’s foremost platform a...

The 29th Durban International Film Festival (July 23-August 3, 2008) came to a conclusion on August 3, 2008, having drawn impressive audiences across the 12-day event. Open seminars and workshops also registered good attendance, indicating the heightened interest in filmmaking processes in KwaZulu-Natal. These programmes included participation by some of the many filmmakers attending the festival, as well as sessions hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), and others, on a range of industry focus areas. A selection of festival films were honoured on Awards Night, with a total of 19 prizes being awarded. The Best Film prize, which carried a cash prize of R30 000, went to Foster Child (Philippines), directed by Brillante Mendoza. The International Jury praised the film for *delving with remarkable skill into the everyday lives of its extremely well-developed characters, and for fusing documentary and drama to create a br...

This article is a response to Homosexuality Comes To East Africa, an article published on ArtMatters.Info (( http://artmatters.info/?articleid=117 ) and that says, in part: "Same gender sex is currently raising moral and legal hairs in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Coupled with often confusing notions like human rights, freedom of expression, and democracy, homosexuality is becoming a thorny issue in this part of the African continent where largely conservative cultures are clashing with sexual liberalism in a world galloping headlong towards urbanisation." Now, Sean Beaton, who declares that he is homosexual, responds: Hello... Just felt the need to comment on your article in ArtMatters.Info on homosexuality ( http://artmatters.info/?articleid=117 ), and your description of how one "becomes" homosexual. Despite it's attempts at appearing academic and impartial, this article clearly has a negative slant against homosexuality, and uses a lot of uncredited 'fact...

By Tony Mushoborozi Are you one of those people that have always hoped to see some home-grown film and television shows for children? Shows that your children would more closely relate to, like those they themselves helped to make? Your dream could come to pass. The whole of the second week of August (11-16, 2008) children from all over East Africa participated in necessary audiovisual training in Nairobi. Tristan Kayonga a 14-year old Uganda boy attended. Together with several other kids from East Africa, Tristan attended intensive production workshops that could change the face of children’s television in East African. Lola Kenya Screen, the organization that hosts the course each year, opened its third film festival on Monday in Nairobi. “It is a platform for placing audiovisual skills in hands of children around East African,” said the director Ogova Ondego. “It is not just an annual event. It is a movement to change future TV.” Hands-on production skills like camera handling, 3D (...