Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts

Friday, March 11, 2022

The Post on animation - Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ and ‘I Am Here’

Pixar's 'Turning Red' is a brilliant, hilarious follow-up to Oscar-winning short 'Bao' [in print as Nothing fuzzy about coming-of-age flick]

Domee Shi's semi-autobiographical first feature film is audacious, funny and sweet.

(4 stars)

Documentary tells a Holocaust-survival story in simple animation

'I Am Here' is a bearing of witness, by 98-year-old Ella Blumenthal [South Africa]

(2 stars)
 

What to watch with your kids: ‘The Adam Project’, ‘Turning Red’ and more [Big Nate; animation]

Washington Post March 11, 2022  p. Weekend 21

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/what-to-watch-with-your-kids-the-adam-project-turning-red-and-more/2022/03/09/7c5e7252-9b3b-11ec-adfd-da5e159009e0_story.html

 

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Tamba, Child Soldier

by RM Rhodes

One of the appeals of the French comics industry is the sheer variety of genres that are available on offer. English-speaking comics publishers like NBM have been translating comics originally printed in French for decades for exactly this reason. For its part, the English-speaking audience has responded well what the French call Reportage - comics based on real events that straddle the line between non and fiction. Books like Tamba, Child Soldier by Marion Achard and Yann Degruel.



The creators deliberately chose to not identify a single nation in this book because the practice of using children as soldiers is so widespread that people could identify it pretty much everywhere. To that end, the story's visuals rely on the cultural similarities across the continent, presenting an anonymized landscape filled with generic people for the main characters to wander through. This is a good thing.

The story that the main characters tell is horrific - the book's title lets you know exactly what you're going to get. The art does a great job servicing a harrowing story, which starts with the main character telling his story to a tribunal of some kind. It's easy to tell the flashbacks from the interrogation because the flashbacks use a full color palate, while the interrogation panels have a muted, monochrome color.




Given the weight of the subject matter, having such clear, non-challenging art that communicates scene transitions so subtlety really allows the experience of the main characters take center stage and just exist. The life of a child soldier is heavy enough that it needs no extraneous embellishment, which might have been a temptation in more commercial-minded hands. Fortunately, the French language comics industry is robust enough that not everything has to meet a hypothetical set of arbitrary requirements merely to be considered by the marketplace.

Both the writer and artist are white, which is interesting because they managed to produce a book with almost no white characters. In fact, the only white people in the entire story are silent, unnamed Non-Government Organization (NGO) workers, who are referenced as the bellwether for how dangerous things really are. They show up on half a page near the end of the book, barely have faces and, if you blink, you might miss them.

Marion Achard was a circus performer and wrote several novels before writing this graphic novel. Yann Degruel, the artist, is well known for his children's books, which makes him an interesting choice to illustrate a book about child soldiers.

If you have a deep and abiding interest in the issue of child soldiers, this is absolutely the book for you. There are a trio of short essays in the back of the book about the topic, with URLs for sites that will give you more information. If you are even marginally interested in the issue, this book will absolutely convince you it should be addressed.

Tamba, Child Soldier by Marion Achard and Yann Degruel will be published by NBM in December 2019. https://nbmpub.com/

__________________________________________________________

ComicsDC received a free review copy of this book from NBM.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Local cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga is fundraising for a Mobile Clinic Project to Cameroon

From: Issa Nyaphaga

Dear Friends,

We're not going to go have fun in South Africa.

I hope this message finds you well. On June 25th, we will be taking medical care to a place it's never gone before—the remote, indigenous villages of Tikar country in Cameroon, West Africa.


Soulful Presence and HITIP (Hope International for Tikar People) are partnering to bring Dr. Georges Bwelle, a local Cameroonian surgeon, and his team of 25 medical volunteers to remote, marginalized communities where most people have never even seen a doctor.

 

By supporting our Mobile Health Clinic, you will help provide critical health services and much-needed medical supplies to children, women, families, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly in the equatorial rainforest.


By donating just $10, you can send an indigenous Tikar villager to the doctor for the first time. Your donation will cover the cost of the doctor's visit and any necessary medication.

 

Will you please help us? The more donations we receive, the more people we can serve during our trip. You can donate online at http://www.soulfulpresence.org/donate.php or call us at 505.982.1977.

 

It only takes a few seconds to help us change a life. We deeply appreciate your generosity and your sense of shared humanity!

Thank you,

 

Marcie Davis, Jenny Sanborn, Anita Woodley, Ceci Tchakounte Tadfor and Issa Nyaphaga

www.soulfulpresence.org

www.hitip.org

Catch me in facebook if you can
Issa Nyaphaga - www.hitip.org
"Think Local... Act Global!"  
Or inverse these words, it works as well.
nyaphagart@gmail.com is my current email.

Monday, March 30, 2009

OT: Cartooning in Africa book now available

I saw John Lent yesterday and got a copy of his new book, Cartooning in Africa. It's an edited volume of essays on Africa as a whole, Angola, Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Southern Africa, South Africa, Tunisia and Tanzania. Here's the description lifted from Amazon's site:

Product Description
This volume documents from historical and contemporary perspectives, the situations, trends and issues of cartooning in a number of African countries, and profiles the individuals, forms and phenomena that stand out. All types of cartooning are covered, including comic books, comic strips, gag and political cartoons, and humour magazines.
Product Details

* Paperback: 383 pages
* Publisher: Hampton Press (October 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1572735546
* ISBN-13: 978-1572735545

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Cameroonian and Marylander cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga's exhibit in NYC


Issa's sent me the following press release about his new exhibit:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ARTBREAK GALLERY presents
BARACKUDA: POST-ELECTION CARTOON SHOW
by ISSA NYAPHAGA

January 4 - February 6, 2009
Opening reception Friday, January 9th from 5 to 9 PM

ARTBREAK GALLERY is proud to present the work of ISSA NYAPHAGA, an international artist/activist who is working on global issues with FREEDIMENSIONAL here in NYC.

ISSA began his career working as a political cartoonist and reporter in a weekly satirical newspaper in his home country of Cameroon, Le Messager Popoli. His opposition to the political regime in Cameroon led him to several trips to jail in 1994 for his publications. In 1996 he escaped from his country to seek asylum in France, where he began collaborating with the famous photographer Jacqueline Hyde, a former assistant to Man Ray.

Being known as an activist devoted to the issues of refugees and immigrants, ISSA NYAPHAGA was invited on June 16, 2001 to20speak before the French National Assembly on the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees for the U.N.H.C.R. He also co-founded the organization JAFE (African Journalists in Exile), which defends and protects journalists in danger, and in 1999 he co-authored Comment la France traite l'asile politique (L'Harmattan ed.), a book
that deals with political asylum in France and analyzes the exile experience.

As a way of remaining in contact with his native country ISSA founded the Association "HITIP" (Hope International for Tikar People), which contributes to the development of rural areas in Cameroon, especially in the cultural exchange, health and education sectors.

ISSA NYAPHAGA is currently participating in a three-month residency program in NYC with the HARLEM STUDIO FELLOWSHIP. He is one of many emerging black artists who followed the last presidential election campaign in the US very closely, which then inspired him to produce the body of work in this show.

"As a political cartoonist I was censured and jailed. Today, after 12 years in exile, I seek to examine contemporary society with an expression that transcends the primary function of caricature. For me, drawing cartoons has always been about examining current events in newspapers, and transferring this expression onto a huge canvas or into an installation gives me immense pleasure," explains ISSA.

As part of his 'URBAN WAY' project, on the night of the reception ISSA will be performing on stage with live music.

The show will run from January 4th to February 6th.

For more information go to www.artbreakgallery.com , www.freedimensional.org or www.nyaphaga.com

ARTBREAK GALLERY
195 Grand Street
2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718 302 1021
www.artbreakgallery.com
info@artbreakgallery.com

Friday, September 12, 2008

OT: Zapiro's editorial cartoon controversy in South Africa

Obviously South Africa is a bit off this blog's usual beat, but reader Lorrainne Thompson wrote in a few minutes ago, "I was wondering what you thought about the recent caricature done by Zapiro (and the resulting furor) in South Africa?"

Since we're in America and I'm a First Amendment absolutist, here's the cartoon:



Now that's a strong and unpleasant cartoon. However, editorial cartoonists don't view their job as making a politician's life sweetness and light, and god bless them for that. Neither do I.

Secondly, Zuma and Zapiro have a history of going at each other. Last year when Zapiro was at the Cartoonists Rights Network to accept an award, it was because Zuma was suing him over another cartoon. This was reflected in the press release from the CRN which said:

Two of Shapiro's three "Zuma" cartoons are cited in a US$2 million defamation suit ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma has brought against the cartoonist, editors and South African publishers. Zuma's political pedigree includes resistance organizer, 10-year Robben Island prisoner, exile, ANC negotiator, party official and former deputy president of South Africa. In recent years, Zuma has drawn criticism from the press due to his in-fighting for ANC leadership and the company he keeps. There are allegations of tax evasion, corruption and rape.

The rape case did go to trial and was deemed consensual sex by the court 8 May 2006. However, Zuma's own testimony outraged HIV/AIDS educators. This former chair of the National AIDS Council testified that he did not use a condom. He said he minimized the risk of infection from the 32-year-old HIV positive woman by taking a shower.


So we can see some of the same issues and motifs of concern to Zapiro popping up in this drawing - the shower head on Zuma's head, the rape threat, the complicity of South African political parties in the scandal. At this point, Zuma's a leading candidate for President, filling a seat once held by Nelson Mandela, in spite of being on trial for corruption charges. For more details, see
"Zuma's Cartoon Character,"
by Barrett Sheridan, Newsweek blog Wednesday, September 10, 2008.

Earlier this year in "Freedom of expression in Jester's space," April 15 2008, Zapiro defined his idea of an editorial cartoonists responsibility and rights: "The line stops when you make a tangible connection between what you are saying and instances of people going out and doing violence or causing physical hurt or death because of what you say," he said.

"Its about taboos, about whether a cartoonist has the right to go beyond a certain point. I am a freedom of expression junkie. I don't gratuitously go out of my way to piss people off."


In conclusion - I think Zapiro was perfectly right to draw what he wanted to, and I applaud his newspaper for standing behind him. Many of the articles I've seen have been generated by complaints from the parties depicted in the cartoon. If they, and Jacob Zuma, had ignored the cartoon, it would have been forgotten in a week. Instead it's being blogged about in Washington, DC. I welcome any comments others (or Lorraine) would care to make.


For those with a continuing interest, here's another article on Zapiro's career, followed by much of what I've compiled for the Comics Research Bibliography on this:

"Shooting Sacred Cows: A POLITICAL CARTOONIST DISCUSSES THE PERILS OF RIDICULING GEORGE W. BUSH--AND WHY HE GOT A PERSONAL PHONE CALL FROM NELSON MANDELA," Arlene Getz, Newsweek Web Exclusive, Oct 17, 2007.

Alan Gardner of the Daily Cartoonist found this interview - "Times Q & A with South African cartoonist under attack; Zapiro defends his cartoon depicting ANC chief and presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma as about to rape the justice system, which has drawn criticism from his supporters," By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, September 12, 2008.

IOL polled its readers and in 'Zapiro's cartoon was very much appropriate', By Fundile Majola, September 10 2008, reported:

With the cartoon having been a central theme of the international media this week, Shapiro himself has expressed shock at the volume of response. "I've had some pretty huge responses, but nothing has come close to this," he said.

Following the uproar, IOL decided to engage their readers on the issue, asking if they thought the picture was indeed inappropriate. Of the 548 readers who responded, an overwhelming 76 percent (412 votes) thought the cartoon was in fact the most appropriate reflection of what the judiciary is going through under the Zuma camp while a not-so-convincing 17 percent (94 votes) thought it was inappropriate and the remaining 6 percent (32 votes) just couldn't care less.
I don't know who IOL's readers are - perhaps literacy is another unspoken issue in this - but that's a pretty lopsided vote of confidence in Shapiro.

This is typical of the press releases from parties pictured in the cartoon - "YCL calls on SAHRC to investigate Zapiro cartoon - Statement issued by National Secretary Buti Manamela," September 11 2008.

"Zapiro: cartoonists join the fray," September 10 2008.

"Paper supports cartoonist,"
Port Elizabeth Herald September 11 2008.

This is a good article about what's been going on, without the hyperbole - "Editor stands by Zapiro cartoon," Sapa, 10 Sep 2008.

"South Africa: We Should Draw on Our Humility in Cartoon Saga," Business Day (Johannesburg) COLUMN by Sipho Seepe, 10 September 2008.

"Zapiro cartoon gets SA talking," September 09 2008.

"Zuma camp vents fury over rape cartoon," By Ian Evans in Cape Town, Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Fleminger, David. 2008. "A Zap in the Face," The Times of South Africa' In My Humble Opinion blog 9 September 2008.

"Why, Zapiro? An open letter to Zapiro from Sandisiwe Vilakazi"

"Zuma cartoon: Worth a thousand words?," MAIL & GUARDIAN ONLINE REPORTER AND SAPA, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Sep 09 2008.

and a few older articles:

"Zapiro: 'Strange things happening' in media freedom," by NATASHA MARRIAN, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Apr 15 2008.

Berger, Guy. 2008. Dr Zapiro dispenses his muti. Mail and Guardian (April 2). Online at http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=336076&area=/insight/insight__converse/

Enwemeka, Zeninjor. 2006. Cape Times cartoonist Zapiro wins top award [in South Africa].
IOL (April 7). Online at http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3015&art_id=vn20060407015346380C125851

Thorpe, Lindsey. 2006. Public figures fair game - Zapiro. Saturday Argus (July 8): 10. online at http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20060708103232744C351304

Unknown. 2006. Safm and Independent Newspapers scoop Journalism Awards. Media Online (August 30): http://www.themedia.co.za/article.aspx?articleid=282412&area=/media_news/

Monday, January 28, 2008

Feb 2: African cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga appears

Issa wrote in:

Please join us for a music / painting performance at the opening of Issa Nyaphaga's exhibition, "Mystic Forms" at Mount Rainier’s H&F Gallery on Rhode Island. Mount Rainier residents, Surabhi Shah, Deepak Shenoy, and Silver Spring resident Shareen Joshi will accompany with music and vocals Mount Rainier’s Issa Nyaphaga, while he performs improvisational live painting using the music for inspiration.

Date: Feb 2, 2007, Saturday
Venue: H&F Fine Arts Gallery, 3311 Rhode Island Avenue (next to Artmosphere), Mount Rainier, MD 20712, (301) 887-0080 (http://www.hffinearts.com/)
Reception: 5-8pm
Music/Painting Performance: 7-8pm
Performers:
Live Painting - Issa Nyaphaga (Mount Rainier, MD & Paris, France)
Tabla (Indian percussion instrument) - Deepak Shenoy (Mount Rainier, MD)
Vocals - Surabhi Shah (Mount Rainier, MD)
Vocals & Harmonium (Indian keyed instrument)- Shareen Joshi (Silver Spring, MD)
Presentation by Shivali Shah.


Check out this radio show about Issa.