Paper short abstract:

African Women filmmakers are growing in numbers both on the continent and in the diaspora. They are consciously unsettling stereotypical narratives on and about woman and womanhood, initiating a cinema of redress, one which aims at repositioning African woman of the future. How do they do this?

Paper long abstract:

In a previous study, I argued that African films were strategically used in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, to define, shape and stereotype women into a mould which appealed to male gaze and aligned with patriarchal dictates of the society. In the study, I had tried to determine the impact of growing numbers of women filmmakers on the continent, and had concluded that they are countering stereotypical representations of women through narratives of redress. In this present study, I test my deductions and submissions on African women filmmakers. At the 2023 Afrykamera film festival in Poland, I hosted a discussion panel and a series of post-screening question and answer sessions with female filmmakers. In our discussions, we talked about the precolonial, postcolonial and contemporary African woman, with a focus on how films have represented, but importantly shaped her. This study draws insights from important points raised during our interactions to determine how female filmmakers are attempting to use the film medium to define, shape and position African women of the future. This qualitative research conducted within a feminist framework, attempts to establish how the presence of African women filmmakers, on the continent and beyond, is unsettling existing narratives on/about women. Through data collected via content analysis of 6 films, discussions and interviews (in-person and online) with 5 filmmakers, this study discusses how popular narratives about women have been formed and what contemporary narratives, especially those told by women, mean for African women of today and the future.