Lamokowang

‘Cinema Calebasse’, is a 50 year-old genre of cinema depicting Africa from the perspective of foreigners fixated on the
‘exotic,’ with plots and characters shackled by clichés. The calabash (gourd) is the metaphoric reduction of diverse African cultures that came to represent this genre, a genre that depicts both embodied practices and the power of dominant ideology in media, a genre that – historically speaking – has contributed to the oppression of the continent. Yet, the problem is not the calabash itself, or even the media per se; the problem is how to adapt this genre of cinema to present-day reality, how to reclaim the history of images from a perspective that fosters dreams for the future. Lamokowang is a meditation on history, imagination and potential, a refreshed and reified Calabash full of questions, reflections and dreams.
Released 2004
13 minutes

Festivals and Awards


Best Short Film – Zanzibar International Film Festival (Zanzibar)
Special Jury Award – Festel (Cameroon)
Official Selection – Amiens (France)