Flaherty at MoMA: Cinema & History
June 27, 2005

The annual Robert Flaherty Film Seminar focuses on the art of nonfiction film. Each year, MoMA presents a selection of titles that were discussed. This year’s seminar, the fifty-first, was held at the Claremont Colleges, in California. Organized by guest programmers Jesse Lerner and Michael Renov, it centered on the theme of Cinema and History. The Museum’s program looks at two films by the Cameroon filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno. Born in 1954, in Famleng, Cameroon, Teno studied communications at the University of Valenciennes, France, worked as a film critic for the magazine Bwana, and was an editor at FR3 (the French national television station). Since his first film in 1983, Teno has moved effortlessly between documentary and fiction. The program is introduced by Margarita De la Vega-Hurtado, director of the Robert Flaherty Seminars.

Organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film and Media.

Afrique, je te plumerai (Africa, I Will Fleece You). 1992. Cameroon. Directed by Jean-Marie Teno. In this signature work, Teno reflects on one hundred years of cultural imperialism in Africa, and on the means by which Africa can overcome its sociopolitical difficulties. Written language is here considered a tool of liberation. In French, English subtitles. 88 min.
Monday, June 27, 6:00 (introduced by Teno). T1

Le Malentendu colonial (Colonial Misunderstanding). 2004. Cameroon. Directed by Jean-Marie Teno. A look at European colonialism in Africa through Christian evangelism, examining the role of German missionaries in Namibia. The film reasons that current aid policies follow the missionary paradigm, forcing Africa to follow Europe’s developmental paths. In French, German, and English, English subtitles. 73 min.
Monday, June 27, 8:30 (introduced by Teno). T1

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