"Illuminates the enduring importance of political and economic dynamics not yet fully explored in the study of African cinema." — AfricaCinema and Development in West Africa shows how the film industry in Francophone West African countries played an important role in executing strategies of nation building during the transition from French rule to the early postcolonial period.James E. Genova sees the construction of African identities and e...

Challenging established views and assumptions about traditions and practices of filmmaking in the African diaspora, this three-volume set offers readers a researched critique on black film.Volume One of this landmark series on African cinema draws together foundational scholarship on its history and evolution. Beginning with the ideological project of colonial film to legitimize the economic exploitation and cultural hegemony of the African continent during imperia...

On August 4, 1983, Captain Thomas Sankara led a coalition of radical military officers, communist activists, labor leaders, and militant students to overtake the government of the Republic of Upper Volta. Almost immediately following the coup’s success, the small West African country—renamed Burkina Faso, or Land of the Dignified People—gained international attention as it charted a new path toward social, economic, cultural, and political development based on its people’s needs rather tha...

In If Jesus Is the Answer, What Is the Question?, Dr. Genova reflects on six important questions, each posed by God to his people in the Hebrew scriptures. God asks these questions because we need to examine our own experiences and to use our reason to gain an improved understanding of God, ourselves, our community, and our interrelationships.The questions are:Who is your Lord?Who are you?What do you need?Do you understand?What will God do?