Author: Tambay A. Obenson

Can ChatGPT watch a film? And if so, what can it already “see,” “hear,” and process, and what might it soon be able to interpret? Akoroko ran a real-world experiment using ChatGPT’s live camera input and discovered more than expected: not just current functional limitations, but weighty questions about memory, aesthetics, and labor. The future […]

Before diving into this, I want to be clear: this is not a complaint. I chose this path willingly and remain deeply passionate about my work. The complexities and difficulties I’ll discuss are part and parcel of a job I love and a field I’m committed to. My goal in sharing these reflections is not […]

This year alone, I’ve sat in multiple rooms, both in person and virtual, on the continent and in the diaspora, where literary adaptations were discussed. And almost every time, a central question asked was: Why aren’t there more? So I started pulling threads, grounded in my past coverage, current conversations, and recent data like the […]

Prefer to listen? This newsletter is now available in audio format—an AI-generated version of my voice (5 minutes) In late April, Burkina Faso’s state newspaper Sidwaya published a long, wide-ranging, and revealing interview with Moussa Alex Sawadogo—the former Delegate General of FESPACO and now Director of the newly created Agence Burkinabè de la cinématographie et de l’audiovisuel (ABCA). […]

(En français ci-dessous) “My grandfather died in the resistance during the independence war so that this country would be free, so that you and I could walk freely today,” a father tells his son in the opening moments of “Indomptables” (Untamable). He warns his son about living in dangerous times, then asks matter-of-factly: “You know […]

For the first time, I’m formally capturing African presence at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, widely regarded as the world’s premier event dedicated to animation, combining a high-profile festival with a major industry market. – One feature film in official competition (“Allah Is Not Obliged”) – Six Africa-linked shorts across sections – A Nigerian […]

On June 2, a Facebook post from FESPACO linked to news of a rare African film archive that had just been handed over to its institutional partner, the Cinémathèque Africaine de Ouagadougou. The news was captured by Canada’s Cinémathèque québécoise, confirming what is—by any measure—a rare act: a Western institution deferring long-term archival responsibility for African historical memory […]

From Sundance Through Cannes 2025, Here’s Where the Deals Are (and Aren’t) for African Films. What’s sold, what hasn’t, and why most African titles are still waiting for distribution. Includes updated data across four key festivals from the first half of 2025 and over 25 titles. – Cannes leads in post-premiere distribution – Sundance, Berlinale, […]

Six feature projects + six producers selected for the first edition of Locarno’s new Africa-focused cycle (2025–2028). Selected Projects + Teams:• “Les Bilokos” — Erickey Bahati & Giresse Kassonga (DR Congo)• “Journal Intime d’une Femme-Chèvre” (“Diary of a Goat Woman”) — Azata Soro & Nameita Lica Toure (Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso)• “The Fortunate” — Habtamu Gebrehiwot […]

Subscribers received this newsletter during the festival last month. What it says hasn’t changed: African film activity is real, ongoing, and resourceful, but fundamentally under-supported locally, operating largely within informal networks, through personal sacrifice and collective effort, with little institutional infrastructure to sustain it in the long term. The risk isn’t lack of creativity, ambition, […]