THE BEST TOOL FOR OUTLAWS IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE CINEMA: THE FILMS OF JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO

Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s stirring futurist cinema creates paradoxes and brand new philosophical inquiries by subverting expectations of African cinema. Blurring external pre-conceptions and internal understandings of what African cinema is or should be, Bekolo’s aesthetic mode is one that “merrily tosses it all together.” Bekolo’s experiences have led him from a bachelors in physics, to the Cameroonian television industry, through the mentorship of Christian Metz and into the world of academia and auteurism. His vision is two-fold, like the French artists and critics of Cahiers du Cinema with a particular artistic vision rooted in a wealth of filmic knowledge and criticism. Each of his films are interventions in knowledge, complicating a history of Western representations of African people and places and more broadly proving that cinematic representation is itself an illusion with real life implications. His interventions remain freshly relevant to the medium as he continues his work as both a scholar and artist.

The Beacon is honored to be hosting Jean-Pierre Bekolo in person May 7-9 for three Q&A’s!

This series is promoted in partnership with Black Cinema Collective, a group of multicultural artists and scholars who examine and celebrate works of African and Afro-diasporic filmmakers.