African Stories Deserve a Place on Our Screens

There is something special about an African story told by an African filmmaker.

It can be the way a grandmother speaks to her grandchildren. The sound of a taxi stopping outside a house. A conversation between friends on a street corner. A story about a young person trying to make something of themselves. A community fighting for change. A family holding on to traditions while the world around them changes.

Sometimes, these stories may look ordinary to someone passing by. But when they are captured on film, they become part of our history.

African filmmaking has never been short of stories. If anything, we have too many stories and not enough spaces for them to be seen.

Across the continent, filmmakers are creating documentaries, short films, feature films, experimental work, music films and community stories with whatever resources they can find. Some are working with professional cameras and large crews. Others are shooting with a phone, editing on an old computer and learning as they go.

The equipment may be different, but the desire to tell a story is the same.

Our stories are more than entertainment

Film has a way of showing people who we are without having to explain everything.

A filmmaker can take us into a village we have never visited, introduce us to someone we have never met, or show us a side of Africa that rarely makes it onto mainstream screens.

That matters.

For a long time, many African stories have been told from the outside. There is nothing wrong with people from other parts of the world being interested in Africa, but there is something powerful about Africans documenting their own lives, communities, cultures, struggles and dreams.

We know the details.

We know the languages. We know the humour. We know the places. We know the silence between two people having a difficult conversation. We know what it means when an old photograph is taken out of a drawer. We know what a particular song means at a funeral, a wedding or a community gathering.

Those things may seem small, but they are often what makes a story feel real.

You don't need to wait for permission to start

One of the things I have come to appreciate about filmmaking is that there is no perfect time to begin.

You may not have the camera you want.

You may not have a large production budget.

You may not have famous actors.

You may not even know exactly where your film will end up.

But you can still tell the story.

Start with what you have.

If you have a phone, start with the phone. If you have access to a camera, use it. If you have a story about someone in your community, sit down with them and listen.

Sometimes the most important part of filmmaking happens before the camera is switched on.

It is listening.

It is asking questions.

It is noticing things that other people walk past.

It is understanding why a story matters before trying to turn it into a film.

There are stories around us every day

The next great African film does not necessarily have to come from a big production company.

It could come from a filmmaker sitting in a township tonight thinking about an idea.

It could come from a student who has just finished their first short film.

It could come from someone documenting their community for the first time.

It could come from a filmmaker who has been making films for years but has never had the opportunity to put their work in front of a wider audience.

This is one of the reasons we created Township Cinema.

We want it to be a place where African filmmakers and African stories can have a home.

Not every film needs to look the same. Not every filmmaker needs to tell stories in the same way. Some films will be polished and cinematic. Others will be raw, personal and experimental.

That diversity is part of what makes African filmmaking interesting.

Your film does not have to be perfect

If you are a filmmaker reading this and you have a film sitting on your computer, perhaps this is your sign to take it out.

Maybe you made it two years ago.

Maybe you think the sound could have been better.

Maybe you wish you had a better camera.

Maybe you are still wondering whether anyone would actually want to watch it.

Submit it.

A film does not have to be perfect to be meaningful.

What matters is that there is something you wanted to say.

There is someone you wanted us to meet.

There is a place you wanted us to see.

There is an experience you wanted people to understand.

There is a story that you felt needed to be told.

Those are the things that give filmmaking its purpose.

Let's build a home for African stories

Township Cinema is about creating more than another place to watch films.

It is about creating a space where filmmakers can contribute to the growing record of African storytelling.

A place where a filmmaker from a township, village, city or anywhere else on the continent can say:

"This is my story. This is how I see it. This is what I want you to see."

Your story might inspire another filmmaker.

It might make someone see their own community differently.

It might introduce an audience to a culture they have never experienced.

It might preserve a moment that would otherwise disappear.

And perhaps, years from now, someone will watch your film and realise that the story you decided to tell mattered.

So if you have a film, don't leave it sitting on your hard drive.

Bring it to the screen.

Submit your film to Township Cinema and let your story become part of African cinema.