This book argues that the construction of modern African identity in all spheres of life, including the cinematic institution, is a product of the Euro-African contact that started in the fifteenth century. Traditional African institutions, which were overlaid with European substitutes during the period of colonialism, were transformed by this contact; and although the post-colonial period, especially the earlier years, sought to romanticize traditional African institutions with its politics of cultural re-awakening, a pragmatic marriage of the institutional practices of both continents emerged over the years, resulting in new practices that could be considered hybrid in nature. Many of these new hybrid practices are presented through cinema, one of the modern institutions inherited from colonialism.

This book attempts to define the cinematic institution in Africa and argues that its pluralistic nature, which covers the broad spectrum of the people of the continent, needs to be explained. Furthermore, it argues that modern African subjectivity and social experience as they are manifested in institutional practices, especially that of the cinema, should be put in proper perspective. The author also maintains that these theoretical explanations are crucial since film scholarship involves a tripartite dialogue among film scholars, their aspiring students, and the general reading public.