Shooting Through the Barrel of a Gun: Using Film to Challenge the ‘Single Story’ of Africa

This thesis is an extensive critical examination and analysis of the Ethiopian film Difret (2014). The aim of this study is to examine Difret to seek to answer three specific questions: 1. Does Difret challenge the common Eurocentric/Western representations of Africa and the African experience? 2. Are there ways in which the film perpetuates the dominant story or stereotypes? 3. Is the film successful in decreasing African illiteracy and/or altering the way people in the West perceive Africa/Africans? Since the advent of cinematography, Western filmic images of Africa and Africans have been ahistorical, decontextualized, one-dimensional, and static. Recurring negative representations, that are both Eurocentric and Afropessimistic, have systematically been used as tools of power to exert control and influence, both in Africa and globally, to progress Western interests and agendas. Given cinema’s global reach and Hollywood’s prevailing force in our mass-mediated and interconnected world, often the only experience people have with Africa is through the stories they see in films produced by Western cultural industries. Consequently, filmic misrepresentations of Africa and Africans have produced and continue to fuel what I propose to call, “African illiteracy” throughout the world. Many contemporary African filmmakers recognize cinema as a revolutionary tool for growth and development and set out to create films with the intention to empower and rebuild African society, while bringing about lasting social, political and economic change internally. This critical analysis of Difret relied on a methodological framework grounded in visual culture theory and utilized many common case-study research methods including a review of background and historical information and relevant literature, data collection, interviews, observation and interpretation. The research gathered in this analysis supports my original hypothesis that Difret does challenge common representations of Africa created by the dominant cinemas of the West. Evidence also supports my hypothesis that when taking in to account all aspects that comprise the field of vision framework, Difret both challenges and reinforces the “single story” told by Western cinemas. Finally, some evidence substantiates my hypothesis that the film may decrease African illiteracy amongst Western audiences. However, there is also evidence that suggests that while the film may inform or educate the viewer, it may not necessarily alter ingrained perceptions of Africa and Africans