Curating Africa in the Age of Film Festivals

Film festivals have been tied to issues of colonialism, imperialism, fascism and inter-national competition, however very little attention has been paid to film festivals in Africa, the representation of African film and African filmmakers at international film festivals, or African film festivals beyond the continent. In addressing these issues, Dovey moves the conversation away from questions of spatiality and geography to questions of temporality, arguing that the question scholars should be asking is not simply "what is a festival?" but "when is a festival experience occurring and for whom?" This question allows for a critique of the greater attention film festival scholars have paid to festival "experts" (festival directors, curators, film critics, jury members) rather than "ordinary" festival audiences. Tracing the history of Africa's relationship to film festivals and exploring the festivals' impact on the various types of people who attend festivals (the festival experts, the ordinary festival audiences, and the filmmakers), Dovey reveals what turns something called a "festival" into a "festival experience" for these groups.