How to Film in Africa!

Jan Rousek / Czech Republic / 2024 / World Premiere / 7 min.

synopsis

This film essay about cinematographic methods of conquering the African continent uses excerpts from letters exchanged between Zlín and Nairobi between the head of the film group Jaroslav Novotný and the travel and filmmaking duo Miroslav Zikmund and Jiří Hanzelka. The subtle manipulation of the footage from their film Africa I. – From Morocco to Kilimanjaro (1952) highlights the subversive potential of the gaze fixed directly on the camera.

biography

Jan Rousek (1984) is a director, cinematographer and editor. He studied history at the University of South Bohemia and documentary filmmaking at FAMU, where he continues his doctoral studies and is writing his dissertation on the ideology of colonialism in Czechoslovak film. He has prepared the section Into History: The Expedition of the Colony for Ji.hlava IDFF in 2020. In 2022, he presented his film Empty Location / And What About You, Mireček?