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the cinema scene in Africa thriving? Are people watching American, Indian
or African films or are they just going to the film houses for companionship
and a shelter for the night. We visited 5 cities around the continent to
find out what kind of life congregates around the film houses. CLICK ON THE CITIES BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE |
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Cinema Liberte - Dakar, Senegal
Diana
Palace Cinema, Cairo, Egypt
Corona
Cinema, Lagos, Nigeria
Fox
Cinema Complex, Nairobi, Kenya
Thari
Cinema, Johannesburg, South Africa
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In
a city of two million inhabitants, not too many can afford tickets to
comfortable and air-conditioned cinemas in downtown Dakar. For most Senegalese
the choice stops at the so-called "cinemas de quartier" or neighbourhood
theatres. These are found all over Dakar and only play Hollywood blockbusters
or melodramas from Bollywood in India. These cinemas are famous for their
cheap tickets and notorious for …….well a whole host of reasons:
 Click
to hear more Egypt for many years had the most prolific film industry in Africa. In the 1960s and 70s it was producing 100 movies a year which were seen all over north Africa and the Arab world. In those days, the country was dotted with cinemas which attracted large audiences. However, both the industry and the cinemas suffered badly as a combined result of a recession and an ill-fated nationalisation policy. Hundreds of cinemas closed or were reduced to a dilapidated state, and the country's film output dropped to 10-a-year. Since the early 1990s though, with the implementation of an economic liberalisation and privatisation program, things have been steadily improving - at least in terms of quantity:
Click
to hear moreA
flourishing video film industry is stifling visits to cinema by audiences
in Nigeria. Many movie theatres have closed down and among those that
remain in business most have fallen on bad days. These show cheaply obtained
Chinese, Indian or American films - mostly on video projectors instead
of proper cinema projectors. The poor state of the Nigerian economy and
the law and order situation are also blamed for the decline of cinema
theatres in the country:
Click
to hear more  Click
to watchThe
story is not too different in Nairobi, Kenya, either. In a city where
more than half the population lives on less than one US dollar a day,
tickets to good movie theatres cost about two dollars. They mostly show
offerings from Hollywood or Bollywood, and most of the audiences are Kenyan
Indians. But, there are some black African faces in the crowd, who say
the emotional content of the Indian films touches a chord in them:
Click
to hear moreUntil a few years ago there were at least a dozen cinemas in Johannesburg's sprawling Soweto township alone. Today, movie theatres have all but vanished from South African townships, leaving only the thriving network of upmarket and rather expensive cinemas in the city's plush suburbs. But, in the inner city of Johannesburg, a new breed of cinemas has taken root. Run by charitable individuals, these theatres are not just movie halls but sanctuaries for the homeless and destitute:
Click
to hear more |
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