Cinema Africain 'Cinema is a Woman' Lecture

‘What My Eyes Have Seen, My Mouth Cannot Speak Of’: On African Feminisms

In Nigeria the term ‘What My Eyes Have Seen, My Mouth Cannot Speak’ of is used to describe a situation so troubling or filled with complexity that the person who witnessed it would struggle to describe it. Nadia Denton will use this position to explore the experience of womanhood as depicted in BEYOND NOLLYWOOD content showing how film has been particularly effective in exploring the complexities of the female experience in west Africa.

BEYOND NOLLYWOOD, a term she coined in 2014 to refer to a new wave cinema from Nigeria describes genres such as art house and experimental films which have a distinct filmmaking aesthetic in contrast to the more commercial Nollywood. In this special lecture she will talk about and show examples of BEYOND NOLLYWOOD content to speak to feminine joy and pain showing how these experiences do not neatly fit into a western feminist construct. Attendees will learn how women from this part of the world bear the challenges of everyday adversity to achieve remarkable triumph.