Meyer
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  • Light, my brother

     

    “Almost never shown in Africa itself, African cinema either slumbers in Europe’s cinematheques or decorates international festivals”.
    Such is the saddening conclusion of Professor Samba Gadjigo in L’Afrique et le centenaire du cinéma.

     

    Since 2001 the CNA – Cinéma Numérique Ambulant (“Travelling Digital Cinema”) – has been trekking the roads of Benin, Niger and Mali, bringing African films to their most remote villages. Designed by Christian Lambert, the venture is aimed at setting up independent, local, mobile structures to take advantage of the relative cheapness of digital projection. The CNA offers ten screenings every few months to villages for which, in many cases, this is the first contact with the moving image. Screenings include a feature-length African film, but there are also shorts and films on social issues. Each screening is a festive occasion and a time of contact with the outside world. Screenings are free and as it follows its circuits, the CNA contributes to information and prevention campaigns, in collaboration with the governmental and non-governmental organisations that help finance it. With six organisations in three countries, the CNA has drawn over two million spectators in four years.
     
    Meyer followed the work of CNA teams for two years and offers here a close-up of the spectators and an account of the magical encounter between African cinema and its audience.
     
    3rd World Press Photo Prize 2006
     
    More info about the exhibition