With stars like Rita Dominic and Ramsey Noah, Africa's film sector is slowly gaining prominence in the international entertainment industry. Hits like South Africa's District 9 have changed how the world perceives the continent's movie industry, once associated with cheap, poor quality camcorder shot films. Nigeria has Africa's most prolific sector, and its movies are rapidly snapped up by audiences hungry for home grown content. African movies for sale can be bought at virtually any local market in the bustling continent, peddled by hawkers who sell them for a song.
Themes revolving around the occult, romance and action are very popular with audiences in Africa. However, unlike Hollywood studios, which have the cash to invest in spectacular stunts, big name actors, cutting edge animations and high tech post processing facilities, the land mass cinemas tend to rely more on great plots and superb acting to drive the point home, an approach that has kept audiences asking for more.
Fantasy films suffer from the same problem; there is simply no money to produce epics similar the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Instead, the continent's movie makers tend to base their stories around something that most Africans can readily relate to; witchcraft. This enables them to create compelling story lines without using a lot of money. This approach has worked very well, and movies based on this theme tend to draw large audiences across the landmass.
Romance flicks are a favorite of movie goers all over the world, and Africa is no different. Producers in the landmass explore themes that are familiar to most people, with forbidden love being especially popular. This may range from relationships between lovers with different ethnic, racial or socioeconomic backgrounds to unfriendly in laws. Movie makers also explore the pressures that modern marriages face, the clash of traditional and contemporary cultures among other themes.
The British have their Rowan Atkinson, whom most people know as Mister Bean, while America has Cedric the Entertainer among others. Africa has a large number of funny men too, cracking ribs from the Cape to Cairo. They are regularly featured in comedies, and are some of the most watched movie categories in the continent; only romantic films are more popular. Because of limited budgets, producers place great stock on good acting and great plotting rather than a myriad of special effects and scenic locations.
As a category, adventure flicks remain relatively rare, the result of limited financing, not a lack of interest from audiences. This situation is likely to change as studios get increasingly wealthier. African audiences can look forward to a plethora of home grown adventure flicks rivalling Indiana Jones.
Another popular category of movies in this vast continent are the so called detective cinemas, better known as crime flicks. These tend to reflect some realities of daily life; corrupt politicians, serial killers, crooked policemen, armed robbers and the like. These cinemas also tend to eschew the special effects common in Hollywood crime flicks, and focus instead on the acting and plot.
Another popular category of cinemas are horror flicks. In the West, these films may involve vampires, misshapen creatures, aliens, zombies and the like. A significant number of Africans are unfamiliar with such creations, and the continent's producers tend to focus on the supernatural instead; resurrected people, ghosts, devils, gods, witchdoctors, curses and blessings are a common elements in African movies for sale.
Themes revolving around the occult, romance and action are very popular with audiences in Africa. However, unlike Hollywood studios, which have the cash to invest in spectacular stunts, big name actors, cutting edge animations and high tech post processing facilities, the land mass cinemas tend to rely more on great plots and superb acting to drive the point home, an approach that has kept audiences asking for more.
Fantasy films suffer from the same problem; there is simply no money to produce epics similar the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Instead, the continent's movie makers tend to base their stories around something that most Africans can readily relate to; witchcraft. This enables them to create compelling story lines without using a lot of money. This approach has worked very well, and movies based on this theme tend to draw large audiences across the landmass.
Romance flicks are a favorite of movie goers all over the world, and Africa is no different. Producers in the landmass explore themes that are familiar to most people, with forbidden love being especially popular. This may range from relationships between lovers with different ethnic, racial or socioeconomic backgrounds to unfriendly in laws. Movie makers also explore the pressures that modern marriages face, the clash of traditional and contemporary cultures among other themes.
The British have their Rowan Atkinson, whom most people know as Mister Bean, while America has Cedric the Entertainer among others. Africa has a large number of funny men too, cracking ribs from the Cape to Cairo. They are regularly featured in comedies, and are some of the most watched movie categories in the continent; only romantic films are more popular. Because of limited budgets, producers place great stock on good acting and great plotting rather than a myriad of special effects and scenic locations.
As a category, adventure flicks remain relatively rare, the result of limited financing, not a lack of interest from audiences. This situation is likely to change as studios get increasingly wealthier. African audiences can look forward to a plethora of home grown adventure flicks rivalling Indiana Jones.
Another popular category of movies in this vast continent are the so called detective cinemas, better known as crime flicks. These tend to reflect some realities of daily life; corrupt politicians, serial killers, crooked policemen, armed robbers and the like. These cinemas also tend to eschew the special effects common in Hollywood crime flicks, and focus instead on the acting and plot.
Another popular category of cinemas are horror flicks. In the West, these films may involve vampires, misshapen creatures, aliens, zombies and the like. A significant number of Africans are unfamiliar with such creations, and the continent's producers tend to focus on the supernatural instead; resurrected people, ghosts, devils, gods, witchdoctors, curses and blessings are a common elements in African movies for sale.
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