LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jan

20

2024

Excitement mounts for the sixth Jo’burg Film Festival

NEWS, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, WHAT'S HAPPENING

THE vibrant city of Johannesburg is gearing up to welcome film lovers to the Jo'burg Film Festival, set to take place from Tuesday, February 27th, to Sunday, March 3rd. One of Africa's most popular film screening events, this much-anticipated annual celebration of cinema brings together a diverse community of filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinema enthusiasts for a week-long extravaganza dedicated to the art of storytelling through film. https://twitter.com/JoburgFilmFest/status/1740038632218730953?s=20 One of the highlights of this year's festival is the Youth and Audience Development Programme, which has just unveiled its schedule and venues. As part of the festival's commitment to nurturing young…

Jan

18

2024

By MMAPULA MOLAPONG, BIRD STORY AGENCY

She’s tapping traditional food culture to grow business for herself and her country

FOOD

"MY memories of food are very powerful. My earliest memory dates back to when I was about eight years old. I absolutely adored going to the farm with my grandmother, we used to get up really early in the morning on weekends to harvest vegetables, sorghum and maize,” said Ompelege Moreosele, who is better known both in Botswana and South Africa as a food entrepreneur and author, Chef Cathy. So powerful were those memories that finding herself working as a receptionist after studying advertising, she chose to quit and start again, this time following her passion. Today, gathering ingredients from…

Jan

18

2024

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

bird TenX: Africa’s 10 ‘most open’ countries for travel

TRAVEL

IN the past eight years, 35 countries have improved their visa policies and, since 2016, five countries have abolished all visa requirements for African travellers. As a result, citizens of at least five countries can now enjoy visa-free travel in 42 different countries, compared to just three in 2020. According to the Africa Development Bank's Africa Visa Openness Report 2023, most countries are making progress towards simplifying entry processes and dropping restrictions for other nations. The report also indicates that the free movement of people has advanced within Africa’s regional economic blocs. In the past year, six of the eight…

Jan

14

2024

By ELISA ANZOLIN and MIMOSA SPENCER

Gucci opens Milan Fashion Week with De Sarno’s dressy looks for men

BEAUTY AND FASHION

GUCCI creative director Sabato De Sarno kicked off Milan Fashion Week with a lineup of refined tailoring for men, adding touches of sparkle to a sombre colour palette for his aesthetic reset of the Kering-owned label. Models strode down a sparse, concrete runway on chunky-soled loafers, parading floor-sweeping overcoats with long slits up the back, double-breasted suit jackets stripped of buttons and trousers cut above the ankles. Accessories included shiny Jackie handbags in burgundy, beige or pea green -- often clutched with matching gloves -- and chunky jewellery worn over bare chests. De Sarno's second catwalk outing comes as products from…

Jan

11

2024

By LISA RICHWINE

Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks accept honorary Oscars at Hollywood gala

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

ACTOR Angela Bassett was celebrated for a lifetime of memorable roles from Tina Turner to the Queen of Wakanda as Hollywood's film academy handed out honorary Oscars. Comedian Mel Brooks also received a golden statuette at the annual Governors Awards in front of a crowd of top stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper and Natalie Portman. On stage accepting her trophy, Bassett paid tribute to the 10 Black women who have won Academy Awards - naming each one - and said she hoped the film industry would provide more opportunities for people of colour. "My prayer is that we leave…

Jan

09

2024

By The African Mirror

Five years on the road in Africa: how Lerato Mogoatlhe became a travel writer

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOUTH African journalist Lerato Mogoatlhe set off for three months in West Africa. She ended up drifting across the continent for five years. In 2019 she wrote a book about her travels, called Vagabond: Wandering Through Africa on Faith. As a scholar of, among other areas, African travel writing and mobility, I chatted to Mogoatlhe about travelling solo, queer and black. JANET REMMINGTON, Research Associate, Humanities Research Centre (and African Literature Department, University of the Witwatersrand), University of York Janet Remmington: In reflecting on the book, you write that your first encounters with countries that would become the story of…

Dec

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Black Panther, Wakanda Forever and the problem with Hollywood – an African perspective

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BLACK Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were global hits that played out in an imaginary African kingdom and featured a universe of black creative talent. What’s not to love about the franchise? Quite a lot, reckons cultural and literary studies scholar Jeanne-Marie Viljoen. We asked her to explain. JEANNE-MARIE VILJOEN, Lecturer, Creative Unit, UniSA, University of South Australia What are Black Panther’s limitations when it comes to diversity? Even though the Black Panther films didn’t represent Africans on their own complex terms, they’re still a major cultural phenomenon. They bring issues of racial representation into the spotlight for Hollywood’s…

Dec

27

2023

By The African Mirror

4 must-read books from east Africa in 2023: from Tanzanian masters to Ugandan queens

LITERATURE

EAST African literature continues to grow and reshape itself in exciting new ways – and 2023 was no exception. The world really did take notice of the region when Tanzanian-British author Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. Interest in Gurnah’s work continued last year when he made a homecoming to East Africa. PETER KIMANI, Professor of Practice, Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC) But it is in Tanzania that Gurnah made a proper homecoming in 2023 – through the first ever Kiswahili translation of Paradise, now out as Peponi. I am an…

Dec

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Hollywood’s first major Black female superhero: how Wakanda Forever broke the mould

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BLACK Panther: Wakanda Forever rewrote Hollywood’s script for superhero movies. English professor Diana Adesola Mafe was recently involved in an academic roundtable that offers a critical conversation about it and another film set in an African kingdom, The Woman King. She argues that Wakanda Forever is a breakthrough film. We asked her why. DIANA ADESOLA MAFE, Professor of English, Denison University Why are these two films such talking points? As big-budget productions with Black female heroes, The Woman King and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever invite discussion and debate about Hollywood representations of Africa and the kinds of roles that women…

Dec

22

2023

By The African Mirror

Nollywood set new highs in 2023: here are four of my favourite films of the year

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE Nigerian film industry, popularly known as Nollywood, was once seen as a mass producer of poor-quality “home videos”. It’s now become known for increasingly slick films that can attract big budgets and compete at film festivals across the world. EZINNE EZEPUE, Lecturer, University of Nigeria As a critic, scholar and lecturer in Nigerian film, I regard 2023 as another impressive year for the quality of Nollywood output. I saw a number of great films both at film festivals and on subscription video platforms, particularly Netflix and Amazon Prime. I enjoyed the diversity in themes and the “un-Nollywood-like” experience each…