African cinema in the 1960s originated mainly from Francophone countries. It resembled the art cinema of contemporary Europe and relied on support from the French film industry and the
French state. Beginning in1969 the biennial Festival panafricain du cin矇ma et de la t矇l矇vision de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), held in Burkina Faso, became the major showcase for these films. But
since the early 1990s, a new phenomenon has come to dominate the African cinema world: mass-marketed films shot on less expensive video cameras. These “Nollywood” films, so named because
many originate in southern Nigeria, are a thriving industry dominating the world of African cinema.
Viewing African Cinema in the Twenty-first Century is the first book to bring together a set of essays offering a unique comparison of these two main African cinema modes.
