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A Trip to the Country, June 24

Africa, I Will See You: The Films of Jean–Marie Teno

Friday, June 24, 2005
7:00 p.m. A Trip to the Country
Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon/France/Germany, 2000)

Artist in Person


(Vacances au pays). Teno's cinematic essay is a lyrical, personal attempt to come to grips with what modernity means to Africa—how it seems to be taking a number of forms without addressing the needs of most of the continent's people. In the small village of Bandjoun, Cameroon, we meet men who make their living shoveling sand from a riverbed to make building materials for the city, see a footrace whose winner is awarded some pasta and a Coca–Cola tote, and spend time at a development conference where nobody can agree on what the word "development" means. This is a richly detailed portrait of Cameroon's complex cultural situation and a call for committed, creative responses.

—Jerry White, S.F. Int'l Film Festival 2000

• Photographed by Teno, Moussa Diakité. (75 mins, In French and Bamileke with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Les Films du Raphia)