RED AFRICA

Alexander Markov | Documentary
Co-production with ukulelefilms.com

Red Africa is a whirlwind overview of the views, desires, and policies embodied in the systematic work of Soviet film crews in Africa from 1960 to 1990.

I see no point in duplicating and promoting propaganda. My idea is to deepen the poignancy of Soviet newsreels and documentary films about Africa, to render the propaganda even more propagandistic, and thus сall its bluff in certain excerpts and extinguish its “bold flame” in others.

Red Africa involves shifting the emphasis by undertaking a fast-paced review of the entire corpus of Soviet film footage about Africa in which I identify the most important and recurrent themes and motifs. In the process of this research, I trace how Soviet views of Africa and plans for Africa evolved over three decades, finally vanishing into oblivion altogether.

The nonlinear soundtrack combines excerpts from official speeches by Soviet and African leaders, punctuated background noise, and African music, as recorded by Soviet filmmakers during their African expeditions.

I would thus like to propose a critical rethinking of the era and the language of Soviet political film.

- Alexander Markov