African School
Ìý
This ground-breaking series captures the daily lives, concerns and personalities
of young Africans and their teachers in the Ugandan town of Masindi.
Ìý
Captured on film are the stories of celebration and challenge that will
strike a chord with anyone who has ever been to school: teenage romance,
exam pressure, football tournaments, special needs teaching, prefect elections,
religion and sex education.
Ìý
But in Masindi, school life is played out against the tough environment
of Uganda.
Ìý
Despite this, the series shows the extraordinary enthusiasm and openness
of the pupils and teachers, and gives an entertaining, refreshing and
uplifting insight into understanding what life is really like in Africa
today.
Ìý
Building Africa
Ìý
The acclaimed young architect David Adjaye travels through
Africa to unravel the secrets of the continent's surprising architectural
history.
Ìý
In a journey that takes him from the eerily beautiful mud buildings of
Mali to Mussolini's experiment in architectural modernism in Eritrea,
Adjaye untangles the cultural and imperial influences which have shaped
African architecture.
Ìý
After visiting Rwanda (a country still rebuilding itself after the genocide
of the Nineties), and Ghana (the country of his own roots), Adjaye concludes
his odyssey in South Africa, where a new High Court building is being
constructed out of bricks reclaimed from the old apartheid-era prison.
Ìý
TV Africa
Ìý
Cultural critic Ekow Eshun goes on a journey through
Africa to discover the state of television in Africa.
Ìý
His first stop is South Africa, which has only had TV since 1976 – he
meets the winner of African Big Brother; the cast of the hard-hitting
soap opera Soul City, which regularly features challenging storylines
on HIV and domestic violence; and talks about the new phenomenon of celebrity
with a hot new reality TV host.
Ìý
In Ghana, Ekow discovers the booming world of TV evangelism, and the
new commercial world of HipLife videos.
Ìý
And in Kenya, he finds a society discovering the benefits of a relatively
independent news media since the change of government – and takes part
in a hit comedy series featuring a succession of Kenyan tribespeople.
Printable version