K3, School of Arts and CommunicationMalmö University, Sweden

C I N E M A N U M É R I Q U E A M B U L A N T

A case study of the medium term impact on the audience in Niger, West Africa.

Dominique ThalyMay 2007

Masters in Communication for Developpement

Supervisor: Florencia Enghel

REMERCIEMENTS

Ce projet n'a pu être possible que grâce à la collaboration et avec l'aide des équipes du

Cinéma Numérique ambulants de France, du Mali, du Bénin et du Niger. Leur engagement et

leur excellent travail ont fait que je n'ai eu aucun problème à accéder aux villages. Le CNA a

laissé un souvenir impérissable dans tous ces villages ce qui a beaucoup facilité ce projet. Je

voudrais tout particulièrement remercier Hadjara Thoguyéni, la directrice générale du CNA

Niger, pour m'avoir donné les documents relatifs à la première tournée du CNA au Niger ainsi

que les copies des films. Je voudrais aussi remercier Mariama Daouda, Issoufou Djinguiri

Thoguyéni et Moussa Ousmane pour m'avoir accompagnée lors du repérage.

Je voudrais aussi remercier les personnes suivantes sans qui ce projet n'aurait pas pu voir le

jour:

• Ado Saleh Mahamat, Halima Boubacar, Moussa Souleymane et Ousmane Infi pour leur

excellent travail d'enquête;

• M. Nouhou, le chef de village et toute sa famille pour leur chaleureux accueil et notre

hébergement;

• MM. Alberti et Petuelli, mes employeurs, pour leur patience et pour m'avoir donné le

temps libre nécessaire pour la finalisation de ce travail;

• Mes deux superviseurs, Florencia Enghel et Achille Kouawo, pour m'avoir aidée à éviter

bien des écueils;

• Et enfin tous les habitants et toutes les habitantes du village de Hondey Koira Tégui qui

ont bien voulu prendre le temps de répondre à nos questions parfois indiscrètes malgré

leur travail très prenant.

Ce mémoire est dédié à Mme Louise Hassane Rahinatou, comptable du CNA Niger, qui nous

a quittés en mai 2007. Paix à son âme.

A tous et toutes, merci.

NIAMEY, LE 20 MAI 2007

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Contents

ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................... 2

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 3 The presentation of Niger ....................................................................................................................... 4

Cinema in Africa in general and in Niger in particular .......................................................................... 6

The project: The Cinéma Numérique ambulant...................................................................................... 9

OVERVIEW OF EXISTING RESEARCH AND THEORY.............................................................. 12 Existing research................................................................................................................................... 12

Discussion of theories ........................................................................................................................... 16

The research question ........................................................................................................................... 23

METHODOLOGY AND FIELDWORK ............................................................................................. 23 Choosing the village ............................................................................................................................. 24

Getting ready for the field work............................................................................................................ 26

Carrying out the survey......................................................................................................................... 30

Focus groups ......................................................................................................................................... 31

Individual interviews ............................................................................................................................ 31

Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 32

FINDINGS AND RESULTS .................................................................................................................. 32 General information about the sample.................................................................................................. 32

Understanding and interpretation of the feature films .......................................................................... 36

Individual changes ................................................................................................................................ 38

Changes at the village level .................................................................................................................. 40

ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................................. 42 Planned effects ...................................................................................................................................... 43

Unplanned effects ................................................................................................................................. 44

CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 45

LITERATURE ........................................................................................................................................ 50

APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................................. 54

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ABSTRACT

Mobile cinema has a long tradition in Africa, and the Cinéma numérique Ambulant project in West

Africa is one of such latest attempt using this time modern and light technology to reach out to remote

rural communities in Africa. This French project exists since 2001 and it has national chapters in Benin,

Mali and Niger. Its primary objective is the screening of the African cinematographic patrimony in

African countries where there are almost no movie theaters anymore. It's secondary objective is the

screening of educational films. After now nearly 6 years of existence, it is time to take a look back to see

if and how the CNA has reached its objectives, especially on a medium to long term time span.

This research examines the impact in terms of planned and unplanned changes the Cinéma numérique

Ambulant has had in a particular village in Niger in order to know for the very first time in its young

history what it is the CNA project has reached, as compared to what it wants to reach. It is based on

different theories: audience theory, media effect theory, African film theory and communication for

development theory. As there seems to have been no research so far in this area, this work is also an

attempt to devise a theoretical framework for the analysis of the medium-term impact of mobile cinema.

The methodology used consisted of a case study based on a survey, focus groups and individual

interviews as well as informal conversations with resource persons. The results and analysis focus on

individual changes and changes at the village level as well as on the reached planned and unplanned

effects.

Of the 80% of the interviewees who had at least attended one screening of the CNA in this village,

86.2% said they learned something new through the CNA, 88.6% said that the films changed something

in their own life, and 91.8% said that they follow the pieces of advice given by the films. About 60% of

the respondents who saw at least one film said that they felt that there has been a positive change in their

village. Most of these changes are about changes in knowledge, attitude and behavior pertaining to the

topic dealt with in the educational films. Regarding African feature films, they seem to have been

principally highly appreciated for their entertainment value. There seems to have been little analysis of

them by the audience. Among the unplanned effects reached, the social effect of the gatherings around

the CNA events has, according to the respondents, contributed to a greater coherence within the village

and to collective action and forms of social change.

These results, although impressive, should be handled with care and should be crosschecked with other

similar case studies in order to get some generalizable results. Whereas the theoretical framework used

for this study seems to be adequate, the methodology used failed to yield conclusive results regarding

the awareness raising function of the audience through the African films: They might as well have had

little impact, but the methodology used could hardly allow for the drawing of such a conclusion.

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INTRODUCTION

As part of the final examination of the master course "Communication for development" at Malmö

University in Sweden, the students are required to do a project that gives them "an opportunity to apply

and develop the knowledge you have gained from previous modules of the course".1 This project should

deal with "one or more of the central themes of Communication for Development; that is culture, media,

ICT, globalization, and international development cooperation".

Since I've been stationed in Niger, West Africa, for the last five years, and in my spare time, I have been

working with a project of mobile cinema for development, I thought that this would be a good

opportunity to explore the impact of this project on its intended target group, the rural population in

Niger. Niger is, according to the UNDP's Human Development Index the least developed country in the

world.2 Many organizations, be they governmental or non-governmental, are present on its soil to work

with the population to find ways forward. This developmental work also includes communication for

development, especially since the adoption by the Nigerien government of the document of national

policy of communication for development in 2003, which makes communication a compulsory element

of any development project3. Among the many media available, film is and has always been, since the

colonial time, one of the favorite media of both the developmental organizations and people. Since the

1920's, films shown through mobile structures in Africa have had the reputation of having a great impact

on the population. According to Bourgault,4 Niger went even further as it was "the first Black African

national to launch a project designed to give children complete instruction through television". 'Télé-

Niger' was launched in 1964, long before the actual national TV station started (in 1979). By 1972, when

the project was terminated, it was used in 800 schools. The 'Télé-Niger' project was terminated not

because it was not successful: quite the contrary, it was shown that the pupils learned French much

better than their counterparts in 'regular' schools and there were no dropouts. It was terminated for

question of durability (no more fundings available) and for questions of quality, especially regarding the

scientific curricula,5 There has always been many mobile cinema projects throughout Africa, at the

beginning with heavy technology, making it hard to carry along, then, with the advent of digital

technology, projects such as the Cinéma Numérique Ambulant (CNA) project came along. This project

1 Project work handbook. 2 Human Development report 2006. Niger. Retrieved January 3, 2006, from http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_NER.html. 3 FAO (2003). La situation de la communication pour le développement au Niger (Etat des lieux). Tome 1 et 2. Collection Politiques et stratégies de communication pour le développement. Rome: FAO. 4 Bourgault, L. M. (1995). Mass media in Sub-Saharan Africa. Boomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. P. 128. 5 FAO (2003). P. 25.

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was started in 2001, and since then, it has been all over Benin, Niger and Mali, showing African feature

films and educational films to millions of people.6

This project deals with culture, media and of course the Third-World developmental discourse. It is now

one of the media used in Niger by organization in their communication and education work. By

measuring the impacts this project has had on the rural population in Niger compared to its intended

impact, I would like to concretely show what the project has achieved, where it has succeeded, where it

has failed, and where and how it could improve. This has become necessary as there is a growing

pressure from the organizations that use it or from donor organization for the CNA to show results and

impact of the it's work. This study should also lay one of the first stepping stones of a body of

knowledge about results and impact of the CNA. It would be interesting to compare it with other future

studies of the CNA in other countries but also of similar projects.

In this work, I have chosen to explain the context, including an overall presentation of Niger (main

economic and social figures), a brief introduction about cinema in Africa in general and Niger in

particular, and of the Cinema numérique ambulant project (CNA), then to discover what other research

has already been conducted on this topic and to elucidate the theoretical backdrop of the Cinema

numérique ambulant. There is surprisingly little research in the area of mobile cinema in Africa or

impact of film on African audience. We'll also see that it is at the crossroad of many theoretical currents,

and, because of space constraints, I will discuss only the most relevant of them. For example, the

technological aspect of this project has not been taken into consideration. The theoretical section will be

followed by a description of my methodology and the methods used to gather information in the field as

well as a description of the fieldwork itself. My findings will then be analyzed on the basis of the criteria

derived from the aforementioned theories, especially the media effect theory. This analysis and the

conclusion are of course quite specific to the particular case study, and not everything will be

generalizable, but this work should give an initial insight into the medium-term impact of the CNA

project, which until now has never been done. It could also serve as a basis for further comparative

studies. Last but not least, it could help improve the work of this project.

THE PRESENTATION OF NIGER

Niger is a semi-Sahelian, semi-desertic landlocked country of 1,267,000 square kilometers located in

West Africa bordering Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Chad and Libya. It has a population

of about 12.9 million people as of 2006.7 Most of this population is concentrated in the Southern

Sahelian part of the country, and two-thirds of the country is the Saharan desert. The main economic

activity of the population is related to agriculture (in 2006, it made out 46.7% of the Gross Domestic 6 The CNA website advertise 3 million people (www.c-n-a.org). 7 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). Enquête Démographique et de Santé et à Indicateurs Multiples du Niger 2006. Calverton, Maryland: INS et Macro International Inc. p. 3.

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Product – GDP, whereas the secondary sector made 13.7% and the tertiary 39.6% of the GDP).8 There

are nine ethnic groups in Niger, but four of them don't make out more than 1% of the whole population.

The main ethnic groups are Haussa (55.4%), Djerma (21%), Touareg (9.3%), Peul (8.5%) and Kanouri-

Manga (4.7%).9 According to the 2006 Human Development index, Niger is the lowest level of human

development in the world10. Although French is the official language, very few people actually master

this language, and most people speak one of the five main local languages in their daily life (see

footnote nr. 23). According to the statistics of the United Organizations Program for Development

(UNDP) of 2003, only 17% of the population lives in urban areas and the population growth rate is

among the highest in the world (8.4%) with around 7 to 8 children per women. The people in the

country are mostly Muslim (about 99% of the population)11 and 36% of the women live in a polygamous

household (with a polygamy rate, that is the proportion of polygamous men compared to the total

number of married men, of 22%).12 Less than 2% of the rural population has access to electricity and

90% of the rural population still get water from wells.13 The main issues faced by the country are

chronic food shortage due to climatic conditions (in 2005 the country experienced a food crisis), the lack

of health services (in 2000, there was one medical doctor per 33 102 inhabitants), lack of access to

sanitary water, a weak educational system (the literacy rate among adults is 28.7%), and a high

unemployment level (there are no statistics in this area). Nevertheless, the political situation is quite

stable,14 with a multiparty system in place since 1990, a democratically elected government, a national

assembly since 1999, and a decentralization process under way since 2004, when 265 municipalities

elected their councils. Still, the country heavily depends on development aid for its survival (for

example, in 2000, on a budget of 217.6 billions FCFA, the public development aid amounted to 110

billions FCFA).

Regarding the mass media, the first medium in terms of number of people reached is by far the radio,

followed by television and newspapers. About 47% of rural households declare owning a radio set,

whereas only 0.5% declare owning a television set.15 64% of the rural population has no access to any

media whatsoever and 35.1 of the same population listen at least once a week to the radio. Officially,

8 Institut National de la Statistique (2007). Comptes Economiques de la nation. Rapides 2006. Provisoires 2005. Définitifs 2003-2004. Niamey: INS niger. p. 16. 9 CIA (2007). The World Factbook – Niger. Retrieved on May 18th, 2007 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/niger.htm. 10 Human Development report 2006. Niger. Retrieved January 3, 2006, from http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_NER.html. 11 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 3. 12 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 95. 13 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 27. 14 The last coup was in 1999, when President Ibrahim Maïnassara Baré was killed at the airport. After a short transitory period with the military, a civil president, Mamadou Tandja, was elected in the same year, and has been reelected in 2004. There was a Tuareg rebellion at the beginning of the 90's (1990-1995) that seems to be resurging now, at the beginning of 2007. 15 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 29.

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there is one national radio which broadcast all over Niger, 16 private radios that focus mainly on rural

areas and about 66 community radios spread unevenly over the territory. There is one national television

with two channels and 4 private broadcasters. Due to the decaying of the transmitting facilities, only

people living in urban areas can actually get the television. Regarding the newspapers, there is only one

daily governmental newspaper, and about 10 private newspapers issued either weekly, bimonthly or

monthly. Except for one newspaper that is printed in Agadez,16 all others are printed in Niamey, and

only two or three make it out of Niamey to other main cities. Due to the high illiteracy rate, very few

people have access to the newspapers, and therefore they are hardly a means of mass communication:

the daily governmental newspaper is printed only in 1 000 copies for a population of over 11 millions.

To reach people, especially rural people is and remains a challenge for governmental and non-

governmental organizations, and they have to rely on proximity media such as group discussions, village

meetings, theater or video, using diverse supports like posters, leaflets, image boxes and so on. Film is

one such support, and it has a long history as an educational tool.

CINEMA IN AFRICA IN GENERAL AND IN NIGER IN PARTICULAR

The period when cinema was invented in 1895 coincides with the European colonial enterprise: Britain,

France, Portugal and Belgium had decided on their future engagement in Africa, agreeing both to end

slavery and facilitate free-market imperialism during the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. Very early,

the potential of cinema as a propaganda instrument was recognized: “Along with colonialist tendencies,

the original film […] became inextricably linked with ideology, thus promoting increased divergence

from reality” (Ukadike, 1994, p. 32). According to Thakway, “Bertholt Brecht was amongst the earliest

theoreticians to insist that the cinematic image was not an innocent photographic reproduction of reality,

but an ideological tool.”17 The propagandistic value of films in Europe as well as in Africa, especially in

the cause of colonialism, was particularly recognized by colonials: In 1897, Major A. Thys from

Belgium set up, together with important members of a pressure group for colonial matters, a society

called L’Optique Belge18 whose purpose was to use cinematography as a propaganda instrument for the

Belgian colonial cause: “En Europe, c’est probablement le milieu colonial qui introduisit le

cinémagographe dans la vaste gamme des moyens d’information et de propagande”19 (Convents, 1986,

p. 64).

16 This newspaper, 'Aïr Info' has just been banned at the beginning of May 2007 for supporting the resurging Tuareg rebellion. 17 Thackway, M. (2003). Africa shoots back. Alternative Perspectives in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Film. Oxford: James Currey Ltd. Footnote nr. 5, p. 31. 18 Convents, G. (1986). Préhistoire du cinéma en Afrique. 1897-1918. A la recherché des images oubliées. Bruxelles: Editions OCIC. P. 65. 19 “In Europe, colonialist were probably the ones who made cinematography one of the many propagandistic instruments.” [my own translation).

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Film screening in Africa started almost simultaneously with filmmaking in general: For example, “As

early as 1900, the Lumière brother’s L’Arroseur arrosé was […] first publicly screened in Dakar”.20

Missionaries seem to have also played in big part as they used films as part of their "conversion’ and

"civilizing" work (Ukadike, 1994, p. 31).

It seems that in Niger, cinema appeared relatively late: According to Aliou Ousseini, the audio-visual

director of the French-Nigerien Cultural Center in Niamey, silent cinema existed since 1930 and was

screened in schools in Niamey.21 The first movie theatre in Niger was built in 1939 in Zinder, the former

capital city of Niger, about 1,000 km east of Niamey, the current capital (Ousseini, 2000, p. 26).

Educational filmmaking also has a long tradition in Africa. In fact, as early as 1929, the first educational

film that was made on African soil was aimed at combating the plague and was produced in Nigeria

(Rouch, 1961, p. 112).22 Similarly, using mobile trucks as a way to show these films is even older;

According to Ukadike, “in 1905 mobile cinemas started showing animated cartoons in Dakar, Senegal,

and its suburbs” (Ukadike, 1994, p. 31). This tendency to use mobile cinema for an educational purpose

was used more often in English-speaking Africa than in French-speaking Africa:23 “In 1957, while the

Ivory Coast was economically comparable to its neighbor, Ghana, all it had to compare with the

20 Thackway, M. (2003). P. 7. The views differ here. In another source, it says: “The French African territories were introduced to film activities as early as 1905, ten years after the invention of the Cinématographe, when L’arrivée d’un train en gare de Ciotat and L’arroseur Arrosé by the Lumière Brothers were exhibited by a circus group in Dakar (Senegal).” Diawara, M. (1992). African Cinema. Politics and culture. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. P. 104. This opinion is confirmed in Ukadike, N. F. (1994). Black African Cinema. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. P. 31. 21 Ousseini, A. (2000). La problématique de la distribution cinématographique au Niger. [electronic version]. Mémoire pour l’obtention du diplôme du niveau supérieur de l’Institut de formation aux techniques de l’information et de la communication (IFTIC). Not published. Niamey, Niger. P. 25. 22 Rouch, J. (1967). The situation and tendencies of the cinema in Africa. Part II [Electronic version]. Studies in the Anthropology of visual communication, 112-121. Another source cited a film made by Dr. A. Paterson of the Kenya Department of Medical and Sanitary Service who made Harley Street in the Bush, an educational film as part of a campaign against the hookworm on the Kenya Coast. See Smyth, R. (1979). The Development of British Colonial Film Policy, 1927-1939, with Special reference to East and Central Africa [electronic version]. The Journal of African History, 20 (3), 437-450. P. 440. 23 The reference to “French speaking” Africa is very controversial. Taken literarily, it refers to African countries whose official language or mother tongue is French. In the case of Africa, none of the countries have French as mother tongue. But many adopted French, or the former colonial language as an official language in the course of the independence in the 1960s. Therefore it is common to see in the literature references to Francophone, Lusophone or Anglophone African countries. According to Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thingo’s (1986) cited by Thackway (2003, p. 2), it “demeans African languages and encourages Africans to identify with the former colonial powers, reinforcing neo-colonial subordination.” It also gives the wrong impression that in those countries, the former colonial language predominates, which is rarely the case. For example, the official language in Niger is French, but according to Gordon (2005), only 6 000 people among the around 11 millions inhabitants of Niger actually do master the French language. There are officially five vernacular (also called national) languages in Niger: Haussa (five millions speakers), Zarma (2.1 millions), Fulbe (850,000), Tamajaq (720,000) and Kanuri (410,000). (Gordon, R. G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/). In this particular paper however, the use of francophone Africa or francophone African films is relevant in socio-cultural terms. As Thackway (2003, p. 2) writes, “References to ‘Francophone’ Africa […] reflect the real convergences in the region that arise from common linguistic ties, a shared legacy of French colonization, and the inheritance of convergent political and economic structures and continuing (neo-colonial) ties with France. The term ‘Francophone’ here reflects this common socio-political heritage, rather than suggesting the primacy of France/French as a cultural reference in any form.”. Furthermore, as we will see later, in our case study, the choice of features films is linked to the Agence Inter-gouvernementale de la Francophonie, which gives authority to our use of this term.

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Ghanaian fleet of 20 mobile trucks was one beat-up power wagon in almost unusable condition, and an

old 16mm projector belonging to the Cultural Center which was death to nay film projected through it.”

(Rouch, 1961, p. 114).

Not until after independence did filmmaking by Africans actually develop in French-speaking Africa.

The very first film made by an African on African soil (outside of North Africa, where the first full

length feature film was Ain el Ghezal (The Girl of Carthage), made in Tunisia in 1924 by Albert

Samana24), was made in 1962 by Nigerien Moustapha Allasane and is called Aouré.25 Since then, many

names have reached international recognition, such as Sembène Ousmane (Senegal), Med Hondo

(Mauritania), Souleymane Cissé (Mali), Kwaw Ansah (Ghana), Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso),

Gaston Kaboré (Burkina Faso), Safi Faye (Senegal), Djibril Diop Mambéty (Senegal), Henri Duparc

(Côte d’Ivoire), Dani Kouyaté (Burkina Faso), Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauritania), Cheick Oumar

Sissoko (Mali), Regina Fanta Nacro (Burkina Faso), or Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroon), to quote just a

few.

Niger has a special place in the history of African cinema, as the cinema there got a head start thanks to

Jean Rouch, a French engineer turned ethnographic filmmaker. Rouch and Serge Moati, a French

development expert, created a club called “Club culture et cinéma” in Niamey from which came the first

and to this day only big names of Nigerien cinema: Oumarou Ganda, Moustapha Alassane, Inoussa

Ousseini and Djingarey Maïga, the only Nigerien who is still trying to make 16mm films. Other names

like Moustapha Diop, Abdoua Kanta or Ramatou Keita can also be mentioned. Ramatou Keita is one of

the few Nigerien female filmmakers and she made a film in 2003 called Al’lèèssi : une actrice africaine

(Al’lèèssi: an African actress).

While there had been quite a few movie theaters in Niger in the 60s, 70s and 80s, in Niamey today only

one semi-functional commercial movie theater exists, the Jangorzo, which projects mostly videos from

Nigeria, Kung-Fu movies and, surprisingly, pornographic movies.26 The second place where one can

watch movies in Niamey and in Zinder (a city that is situated about 1,000 km East from Niamey) is the

French-Nigerien Cultural Center, where mostly French movies are screened and sometimes African

movies. But since it is the French cultural center, it attracts mostly expatriates or the elite in the Nigerien

society.

There have been a few, unfortunately not documented, attempts at using mobile cinema as a way to

show Nigerien feature and educational movies: Mustapha Alassane, one of most well-known

24 Vansina, J. (1998). Les Arts et la Société depuis 1935. In UNESCO, Histoire générale de l’Afrique. Vol. VIII. L’Afrique depuis 1935. Edition abrégée. (pp. 366-394). Paris : Présence Africaine / Edicef / UNESCO. P. 389. Gugler, J. (2003). African film. Re-Imagining a Continent. Oxford: James Currey Ltd. P. 2. 25 Ukadike, N. F. (1995). African films: A retrospective and a vision for the future. In FEPACI (Ed.), L’Afrique et le Centenaire du Cinéma. Africa and the Centenary of Cinema. (pp. 47-68). Paris: Présence Africaine. P. 49. 26 Own observation from the posters hanging out at the Jangorzo movie theater in August 2006.

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filmmakers27, has gone throughout Niger to show movies with a truck28. There seems also to have been

a mobile cinema truck at the Ministry of Information, probably financed thanks to the Japanese

cooperation, but it's now long gone.29 There are now two new phenomena since the 90's that competes

with movie theaters and has certainly led to their decay: the advent of video players and the nollywood

phenomenon. The video players are getting cheaper and cheaper, and the giant neighbour of Niger,

Nigiera, even manages to manufacture and sell video-CD players at even cheaper prices. In many

households, especially in the urban area, there is now a video player.30 In rural areas, there are more and

more video clubs operated by generators. They usually show pirated Karate and action movies, but also

Nigerian movies. Nigeria has become the third biggest movie producer in the world after Hollywood and

Bollywood, therefore this phenomenon is called Nollywood, Nigeria-Hollywod. Between 1992 and

2005, no less than 7 000 videos have been made in Nigeria.31 These videos are not of a good quality, but

there is a huge demand for them within Nigeria and also in neighboring country. Haussa video are very

appreciated in Niger, having contributed, according to some people, to behavior changes along Nigerian

ways of life.32

THE PROJECT: THE CINÉMA NUMÉRIQUE AMBULANT

The Cinéma Numérique Ambulant (CNA) project was set up by the French filmmaker Christian Lambert

and French film stage designer Laurence Vendroux from the suburbs of Paris. They had made a film in

Benin, and upon showing it there, they realized that there was a high demand for such screenings and so,

they started this project in 2001. Because more and more movie theatres are closing down in Africa, and

the new information technologies (lighter projectors, DVDs) offer solutions to the lack of movie

distribution infrastructure,33 the CNA project was set up with the objectives of distributing and diffusing

mainly African feature films in Africa, in areas where there are no infrastructure or organizations that

already accomplish this task. On its website, the CNA project (www.c-n-a.org) argues that it contributes

to the fight against poverty by giving everybody access to culture, creating a window to the world in a

festive atmosphere. Beside distributing these films, the CNA project takes part in informational and

educational campaigns together with governmental and non-governmental organizations on topics like

hygiene, health, HIV/AIDS prevention and malaria. As their website claims, "The CNA project is part of

27 An homage is being currently (May 2007) given to him at the French-Nigerien cultural center in Niamey, and he is a special guest at the 60th Cannes Festival(May 2007), where he is to receive the medal of the Legion of Honor. 28 Hennebelle, G. & C. Ruelle (2005). Mustapha Alassane. De la boîte en carton à l'ordinateur. In Ruelle, C. (ed.). Afriques 50. Singularités d'un cinéma pluriel. (pp. 193-196). Paris: l'Harmattan. P. 194. 29 Personal communication from Achille Kouawo, communicator and webmaster of the website clap-noir: www.clap-noir.org. 30 Abdoulaye, I . D. (2005). Niger: les films nigérians au “banc des amoureux”. In P. Barrot (Ed.), Nollywood. Le phénomène vidéo au Nigeria. (pp. 101-108). Paris : L’Harmattan. 31 Barrot, P. (Ed.), Nollywood. Le phénomène vidéo au Nigeria. Paris : L’Harmattan. P. 5. 32 Abdoulaye, I. D. (2005). P. 106. 33 Le CNA, une association, des objectifs (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.c-n-a.org/cna.html

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the communication for behavior change paradigm, aiming at development through a program of

animation and African educational and feature film screening toward rural people.”34

Among its strategies, the CNA project intends to: install screening units in Mali, Benin, and Niger; set

up working relationships with local ministries, donor organizations, NGOs, and private partners in order

to make the CNA units a permanent structure in each country; participate in poverty alleviation and rural

exodus by combating boredom and the lack of entertainment and information.35

As of December 2006, the CNA project has three chapters: one in Benin, with two units, one in Niger

(two units) and one in Mali (three units). All chapters have become non-profit associations under their

respective national laws and they are autonomous in their management. A unit is a completely equipped

car with a staff that can show movies all over the country autonomously. Each unit is composed of a

four-wheel-drive car, a projector, a DVD and VHS player, a silent generator, a 4x3 meter screen and a

sound system. Each unit has also a complete set of African feature and educational movies, either on

DVD or on VHS. The team consists of a female animator (she translates the films and she facilitates the

dialogue on educational topics) who is also the leader of the team, a driver, and a technician

projectionist. Each member of the team is trained so that he/she can take over anybody else's task.

Decisions are made collectively, but the female animator is the main person responsible, who, among

other duties, manages the money, supervises the organization, writes up projects and the project reports,

and meets with the authorities). The whole team has been thoroughly trained in the handling and

maintenance of the material, in the whole concept of the CNA project, as well as in the topics discussed

during the educational part. Each unit is located in a mid-size city that allows it to work around this city

and to have a place to store the material and the car. In Niger, both units are based in the capital city,

Niamey.

On the premise that most villages that receive the CNA project have never seen a movie, the CNA has

chosen to go to villages not just one time but ten times, in order for the inhabitants to get used to it and

to go beyond the novelty effect of this new technology. So it chooses ten villages in a 50 km perimeter

and visits each village ten times over a period of five months. The coming of the CNA truck becomes a

regular event and people from nearby villages have also the opportunity to come and watch the movies.

A CNA evening

A typical CNA evening has roughly four to five parts, depending on whether the CNA is working on its

own or on behalf of an organization:

34 [my own translation]. Le CNA, une association, des objectifs (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.c-n-a.org/cna.html 35 Le CNA, une association, des objectifs (n.d.). Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.c-n-a.org/cna.html.

11

1st part: After having installed everything, the shows starts at around 6:30 p.m. (depending on the time of

the year) with African music video clips in order for the people in the village to know that the CNA is

there.

2nd part: Slapstick comedies like the films made by Buster Keaton are shown. This is a way to wait for

other people to arrive after the last prayer (usually 8 o’clock).

3rd part: Screening of the educational short film(s). This part can take up to an hour, depending on how

many short films are shown.

4th part (optional): The debate. During this time, people in the audience have the opportunity to speak

up, either by asking or answering a question or to make comments. Sometimes, a first educational film

is screened, then there is time for a debate, then a second one is screened, also followed by a debate.

This part can take between 30 and 60 minutes.

5th part: Screening of the African feature film. A CNA evening ends at around 11 p.m. or midnight.

Finances

When the CNA project started, it received a subvention from the European Commission that enabled it

to install two units in Benin, one in Niger and one in Mali. With this subvention, the CNA Niger, which

actually started in July 2003, managed to function for a year. After that, it had to look for its own

financial resources. The CNA Niger doesn’t have any subvention whatsoever, so it sells its services to

national and international organizations and with the money saved from these projects, it continues to

function until the next project. Concretely, it carries out projects in the name of organizations like

UNICEF, UNFPA, Plan International, the National Program for the Fight against HIV/AIDS, the Comité

des Jeux de la Francophonie, the GTZ and so on. It charges those organizations for its services, and

when it doesn’t have a contract with one of them, it does its "regular" work running about 100-screening

campaigns in ten villages. By selling its services, the CNA project still tries to respect the most

fundamental objective, namely the showing of African movies. But some of its principles might not be

respected depending on the demand set by the donor organization. Sometimes, the CNA does shows in

urban settings and it rarely goes back ten times to the same village. But for the time being, it is the only

way the CNA has been able to survive, even to expand. Since it is a non-profit association, all the

earnings pay for the costs of operation or are put aside as a reserve for when the CNA works without any

contract. This strategy has so far paid off, as the CNA Niger was able to set up a second unit at the end

of 2005 and a third unit will be created by mid-July 2007. As of the end of 2006, it has made 3 whole

100-screening campaigns around Niamey and has done numerous shows for other organizations all over

Niger. As a whole, by the end of December 2006, the CNA Niger had done 723 screenings over 239

different sites and had entertained 1,017,790 spectators.

12

My role in the CNA Niger project

I got acquainted with this project when it was launched in 2003 in Niger. I was then working as the

coordinator of a theatre-for-development association. In July 2004, Jean-François Meyer, who was

managing the CNA Niger project for CNA France, asked me personally to take over, as he had to go

back to France. Since I was very interested in this project, I accepted to manage it on a voluntary basis

without getting paid for it. So I managed it directly as the representative of the CNA in Niger between

July 2004 and December 2005, succeeding in setting up a second unit in Niger. The work was becoming

too much for me, so I decided by January 2006 to withdraw from direct management, becoming a

technical adviser. Since then, I’ve been helping the teams raise funds, writing up projects, and visiting

potential partners. The local teams manage the day-to-day work and the money, and they carry out the

projects. My name appears nowhere anymore on any CNA document. I believe that I can quite

objectively do the present research on the CNA Niger, since I now have enough distance from it and I

have a sincere interest in better understanding its impact and offering a more accurate presentation of the

CNA to other partners.

OVERVIEW OF EXISTING RESEARCH AND THEORY

EXISTING RESEARCH

Film literacy

Surprisingly, there is little recent research on the impact of films on rural audiences in Africa in general.

It seems that during the colonial time, while films were purposefully used as propaganda instruments,

there were some attempts to study their impact. James McDonald Burns wrote a thesis on “Cinema and

Empire in colonial Zimbabwe” in 1998 that analyses the history of cinema in British Colonial Africa,

especially in Zimbabwe.36 According to Burns the British Empire started to study the influence of the

cinema on African audiences in the 1930s (Burns, 1998, p. 58). They wanted to “measure the abilities of

Africans to make sense of motion pictures” (Burns, 1998, p. 58), introducing the notion of film literacy.

By the Second World War, they came to the conclusion that the African audience was slower to

recognize and comprehend the cinematic image.37 Later, in 1951, a study of the impact of cinema on

36 Burns, J.M. (1998). Cinema and Empire in Colonial Zimbabwe. Diss. University of California, Santa Barbara: UMI database. 37 Dr. William Sellers, a prominent colonial filmmaker who was one of the first filmmakers to make an educational film for Africans in 1929 in Nigeria, had even elaborated a set of rules that would define the protocols of colonial films for the next two decades. Parson37 calls the four rules: the chicken rule (“Africans do not see the whole screen, but notice a chicken in one corner which distracts them from the main plot”); the mosquito rule (“Africans are confused by camera tricks and flashbacks, thinking the close-up mosquito is a monster”); the familiarity rule (“Africans grasp only what is familiar to them, and are confused by the unfamiliar because they cannot imagine any context not previously known to them”); and the laughter rule (“African laugh at inappropriate moments if the films are not made by ‘experts’ who understand 'native psychology'”).

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rural audiences was conducted by the British anthropologist P. Morton Williams in Nigeria.38 Burns

writes that Williams' "report refuted much of the prevailing orthodoxy of colonial cinema and provided a

stunning indictment of the Sellers’ method" (Burns, 2000, p. 206).

It rejected the idea that an illiterate audience could not properly see the image on screen and concluded

that the audience understood the language of cinema quite quickly, even the sophisticated techniques.39

Unfortunately, I could not get hold of this study or excerpts of this study.

African film audience in a colonial setting

Another anthropologist made a systematic survey of African audiences watching movies in a colonized

society. Hortense Powdermaker went to former Northern Rhodesia (today’s Zambia), to the Copperbelt,

an industrial area in the North of the country engaged in the mining, smelting and refining of copper.

She was there from September 1953 until June 195440 to study leisure activities as an index of social

change in the mining community. She studied the reaction of the audience to radio, movies, and

newspapers. For her audience research she used questionnaires, she had her assistants “move about in

the audience and recorded what people were saying” and she herself observed the reaction of the

moviegoers (Powdermaker, 1962, p. xx). Her conclusions about the reactions of the audience focus on

three issues: movie going as an individual or social experience; distinguishing between reality and

fiction; and the question of wrong interpretation of images due to the foreignness of the content. For

Powdermaker, the movie going experience was both individual and social: The experience was individual through identification with the cowboy hero and in the expression of strong emotions, particularly during the fighting when men (and women, too) flexed their muscles and shouted. […] The individual’s enjoyment was heightened by the sharing of his feeling with a thousand or more others, who were shouting their reactions. (Powdermaker, 1962, p. 260)

The audience believed in what the films showed, and if a character who had died in a previous film

reappeared in a later one, they felt cheated: “Yet, the concept of acting was slowly making its way. [...]

There were others who knew and sensed that films were ‘pretend’. [...] But for many in the movie

audience the film was either real or 'cheating'; in the latter case the European who made the film were

‘liars’.” (Powdermaker, 1962, p. 264)

Her study does not discuss the impact of films on the audience, besides measuring which kind of films

the audience liked best. Her survey showed that most of the audience (56%) liked action films like

cowboy and superhero films as well as cartoons better. The British news was liked by 9% of the

38 Williams, P. M. (1953). Cinema in Rural Nigeria: A Field Study of the Impact of Fundamental-Education Films on Rural Audiences in Nigeria. Ibadan. Cited in Burns (1998). Pp. 80. 39 Williams, P.M. (1953), p. 81. 40 Powdermaker, H. (1962). Copper Town: Changing Africa. The human situation on the Rhodesian Copperbelt. New York and Evanston: Harper & Row, publishers. P. xiii.

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audience. Unfortunately, she does not distinguish between the African Mirror and Northern Spotlight41,

saying that as a whole 4% of the audience liked them (Powdermaker, 1962, p. 338), although from the

audience comments, we can detect a certain pride when they see pictures of people from other villages

or old traditions (Powdermaker, 1962, p. 256), whereas pictures of colonials provoke more disinterested

if not downright hateful comments: “Look, that short white man speaking to many white men? If you

see Europeans talking like that, they are talking about Federation. But they talk to themselves. No

Africans are there. We do not want Federation. Yes, you people there (shouting to those in the film) stop

talking about it. This is our country.” (Powdermaker, 1962, p. 270)

Westerns were also, according to Burns, a favorite of African audience: “Over the course of the 1930s

and 1940s Westerns had become the favorite films of audience throughout the region, becoming

synonymous with motion pictures for most African film-goers” (Burns, 1998, p. 196). Whereas so-

called African films, namely films made by Europeans for the colonial audience, were rejected: African audiences on occasion objected vigorously and vocally to the representations of themselves and their culture or to attempts by the government to promote unpopular policies through film. Their reaction, however, were frequently subtle, and often characterized by discrete acts such as ironic comment, by laughing at ‘inappropriate’ moments, or simply refusing to attend government shows. (Burns, 1998, p. 138)

A first CNA study

A recent and very interesting empirical study about the impact of mobile cinema on rural audiences in

Africa, focusing in particular on the Cinéma numérique ambulant project in Mali was written in 2005 by

a student in political sciences.42 In her unpublished thesis, Justine Berthau distinguishes between short

term and long term impacts. The long term impacts are, according to Berthau, “access to culture,

education, information, entertainment and public awareness campaign”; the short term impacts are the

“creation of an economic sector and assertion of a cultural identity at a national and international level”

(Berthau, 2005, p. 4). Through interviews, discussions, and observation, but also through letters written

by spectators and listening to debates, Justin Berthau drew conclusions about the impact of the CNA

project in Mali during a screening campaign.

Like Powdermaker, Berthau named the presence of the CNA as a social experience as one of the short

term impacts. CNA allows people to gather in a festive atmosphere, taking over the function story telling

at evening gatherings used to have: “Under such circumstances, cinema can be seen as a way to keep the

story telling tradition alive, and this for two reasons: first of all, it plays a similar social function and

second, at least regarding certain types of African films, it takes the same form and immortalizes their

41 The African Mirror was a African news in form of 'incidents of African life' and the Northern Spotlight was the Northern Rhodesia News. The African Mirror was the only section that showed Africans… 42 Bertheau, J. (2005). Cinéma et développement. Le cas de la diffusion du cinema au Mali à travers l’exemple du Cinéma Numérique Ambulant. [electronic version]. Mémoire pour l’obtention du DESS de développement, cooperation, action humanitaire, Sorbonne, Paris. Not published.

15

content” (Berthau, 2005, p. 29).43 Another short term impact is giving people access to culture, with the

different functions this access carries along with it: it grants access to the outer world; it keeps old

traditions alive or even reminds people of forgotten ones; it gives an alternative, specifically African,

perspective on history; it valorizes the spectator’s own culture as it shows them how people in a similar

culture tackle their problems; and it fulfils the moral function stories used to have: The filmed daily reality of the audience valorizes their culture, their social organizations and their norms. This has also an important poverty alleviation function, as it gives the people the power to believe in their capacities to solve problems and to keep their dignity. As the narrative mode corresponds to the psychological structure of the audience, it makes the stories more understandable and contributes to the building of self-confidence. (Berthau, 2005, p. 37)

This access to culture and its corollaries of conscientization is particularly interesting, since this goes

beyond what previous projects used to do. Earlier projects indeed saw the necessity to make films with

local settings for the audience to better understand the films. But the intentions of the films were not

empowerment and conscientization but rather propaganda and the diffusion of colonial ideas. The third

short term impact of the CNA is, according to Berthau, the access to information and education. The

audience seems to appreciate getting information on different topics such as HIV/AIDS, child labour /

traffic, or education for girls — all topics of high relevance for the audience members. Speaking about

how much a village liked a short film about child labour, Berthau writes: “The reason why people were

so sensitive about this topic was because it was dealing with one of the major issues the village of

Woroni, which is located nearby the border to Ivory Coast, is facing.” Audiences also derive useful

information from feature films; audiences often respond by saying something like, “we like this movie

because it gave us a good piece of advice about…”

According to Berthau, the long term impacts of the project include the economic benefits of the

developmental potential of a cinema industry, but Berthau fails to show the link between the work of the

CNA and the potential of a profitable cinema industry. The second long term impact is, according to

Berthau, the affirmation of a cultural identity and of a collective memory. The fact that African countries

receive more images about other cultures and societies than about their own leads to a devalorization of

their own culture with concrete behaviors like the phenomenon of skin bleaching or identification with

white heroes (Berthau, 2005, p. 47). The third long term effect will be in the cinema and television

industry, since the project will encourage more diversity in TV and cinema, giving alternative

perspectives to the Western one, especially on the political level, as African filmmakers offer alternative

views on social, economic and cultural development. Again, Berthau fails to show the link between the

CNA and this impact.

43 All quotations from Berthau have been translated by myself.

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DISCUSSION OF THEORIES

This project is about what the people who attend the CNA screenings derive from that experience. So,

what needs to be looked at is who these people are (the audience concept), how they experience the

shows and what they get out of them (audience theory and audience research) and what effects the films

are intended to have (African film theory and development theory) and what effect they actually have

(media effect theory).

The audience concept

The central actor of this study is the audience. The concept of audience, even if it seems quite simple at

first glance, is actually quite a complex term. Basically, audience is “the collective term for the

‘receivers’ in the simple sequential model of mass communication process (source, channel, message,

receiver, effect)” (McQuail, 2005, p. 396). But in fact, the concept of audience can be quite abstract like

for example the audience of television or radio. If one is to follow Nightingale’s typology of the

audience (audience as the people assembled, audience as the people addressed, audience as happening

and audience as hearing or audition), the closest type to the CNA experience will be the audience as the

people assembled, that is, the spectators.44 This type of audience is actually very close to the origins of

the audience concept as defined by McQuails as the Graeco-Roman audience, namely a public at a

theatrical or musical performance (McQuail, 2005, p. 397). Since the audience in this case is made of

inhabitants of a specific community made of one or several villages, this does reinforce the notion of

public, that is of a social group with at least one shared identifying characteristic, the shared space

(McQuail, 2005, p. 408).

The cinematic audience study has long been limited to Europe and North America where the cinematic

experience is very different from the African one. The cinema experience in Europe is lived in a

confined, dark, seated place, where each individual takes his pleasure without communicating with

anybody else in the theater. Cinema spectatorship traditionally makes use of psychoanalytic theories of

subjectivities and semiotics with the three processes identified by Christian Metz: identification,

voyeurism, and fetishism.45 But the African experience, or at least the Cinema numérique ambulant

experience of watching African films is completely different. It is a collective event, it operates in a

360° dimension (people can watch the movie from the back of the screen), many don’t sit down, people

talk during the films, looking at the picture without necessarily listening to the sound, and they

participate with the movie. While the Western spectator is in a “dream state, [a situation] underscored by

the darkened movie theatre, which makes acknowledgement of audience members, and discussion with

44 Nightingale, V. (2003). The cultural revolution in audience research in Valdivia A.N. (ed.). A Companion to Media Studies. (pp. 360-81). Oxford: Blackwell. Cited in McQuail, D. (2005). McQuail’s Mass communication theory. 5th Edition. London: Sage Publications. P. 397. 45 Bignell, J. (1997). Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press.P. 180.

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them, difficult,”46 moviewatching in African countries is, as both Powdermaker and Berthau stressed

out, a social experience.

Recently, another kind of cinematic experience has been studied. Lakshmi Srinivas describes the active

audience in cinemas in India47, which is closer to the African experience than the European experience.

Srinivas investigated cinematic reception in public settings using ethnographic methods of participant

observation and interviews in Bagalore in South India between 1996 and 1998. Her conclusions are

quite interesting, as she found that the audience was quite active in the reception of films, taking over

scenes of the film and reconstructing its meaning and impact. (Srinivas, 2002, p. 170): Socializing in the theatre with friends and family takes priority over seeing the film. Rather than the attentive stillness of audiences in the USA, in cinema theatres in India there is a continuous buzz of conversation and sounds of children laughing or crying.[…] Active spectating constructs a particular relationship with the film – for instance, the film is not accepted as an entirety or finished product. Four such practices adopted by audience members are identifiable as: ‘selective viewing’, ‘participatory’, and ‘performative viewing’, and what those in the film industry refer to as ‘repeat viewing’.” (Srinivas, 2002, pp. 164-165)

But still, this Indian experience shows only the reaction of audience to films that the audience has

chosen to go to: it’s an audience who has the possibility of going to any movie theater and choosing any

movie it wants, and it’s mostly about entertaining movies. Although closer to the cinema numérique

ambulant experience, it lacks the 'community' aspect: The CNA shows are really public screenings for a

whole village or community whereas the type of screenings described by Srinivas remains a 'private'

venture, as the audience is made of individuals (clustered in friends and family members) who go to a

closed room to watch a specific movies.

Audience theory and audience research

This study of the CNA audience touches on the alternative tradition of audience theory and research, as

defined by McQuail. While traditional audience research has emphasized the media and was dominated

by the media industry, the alternative and critical perspective takes the side of the audience (McQuail,

2005, p. 402). In these alternative traditions of research, McQuail distinguishes between three

approaches. First is the structural tradition of audience measurement, which is still very much led by

the media industry and that is about obtaining reliable estimates about the size and the social-cultural

composition of the audience. Data gathered in this type of audience research are of a quantitative nature.

This type of data has been more or less systematically gathered by the CNA teams in order to show

results of their activities, including the number of spectators, their sex and their age group (children,

youths and adults men/women).

Second, the behaviourist tradition encompasses media effects and media uses. The media effects

model is about studying what effect an estimated powerful medium is having on a more or less passive 46 Press, A.L. (2001). Audiences [electronic version]. In International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavorial Sciences. 926-931. P. 929. 47 Srinivas, L. (2002). The active audience: spectatorship, social relations and the experience of cinema in India. In Media, Culture & Society, ( 24), 155-173. London: Sage Publications.

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audience who is exposed "to influence or impact, whether of a persuasive, learning or behavioural kind.”

(McQuail, 2005, p. 403). This model will be treated in the section on media effect theory. The media use

model is concerned with the audience’s choice of media and media content, and the audience is

considered to be more active. It is in this tradition that the use and gratification approach has been

developed. This model looks at how the audience will use a specific medium according to “perceived

satisfactions, needs, wishes or motives” (McQuail, 2005, p. 423). McQuail has developed a “scheme of

media-person interaction,” and he proposes four types of interactions (McQuail, 2005, p. 425): diversion

(escape from routine or problems, emotional release); personal relationships (companionship, social

utility); personal identity (self-reference, reality exploration, value reinforcement); and surveillance

(forms of information seeking). In the present case study, the audience might use the mobile cinema

media out of lack of alternatives to it, as media exposure in rural communities in Niger is low. So it will

be hard to draw a conclusion about whether people like cinema more than other media. They also have a

limited influence on media content. But this model might give clues about what they get out of it.

The third approach, the cultural tradition and reception analysis, which is also particularly relevant

for the issues raised by this case study. This approach “emphasizes media use as a reflection of a

particular social-cultural context and as a process of giving meaning to cultural products and experiences

in everyday life.” (McQuail, 2005, p. 403). It introduces the notion of media ethnography that,

according to the definition of Thomas Tufte, “uses ethnography to identify the role of the media –

whether as genre, flow or cultural form and expression – in everyday life.”48 Also, still in this tradition,

the notion of encoding and decoding the filmic text is particularly relevant. This introduces the role of

the receivers in the construction of meaning of the media received. Stuart Hall49 has developed a model

whereby there can be three hypothetical interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a text: 1) the

dominant or hegemonic reading of the text, in which the reader understands and accepts the text as

encoded by the authors (a preferred reading); 2) the negotiated reading whereby "the reader partly shares

the text's code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way

which reflects their own position, experiences and interests" (Chandler, 2002, p. 192); and 3) the

oppositional or counter-hegemonic reading, in which the reader does understand the preferred reading,

but rejects it favoring an alternative frame of reference. For example, Liebes and Katz studied the way

members of different ethnic and religious groups interpreted the same episode of the American soap

opera Dallas and found significant differences in their respective readings: "For example, Israeli Arabs

and Russian immigrants were defensive about the US way of life pictured in the show, and attempted to

48 Tufte, T. (2000). Living with the rubbish queen. Telenovelas, Culture and Modernity in Brazil. Luton: University of Luton Press. P. 26. 49 Cited in Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routlege. P. 192.

19

shield their children from it, while others in cultures closer to that pictured in the show read it more as

nonthreatening, simple entertainment."50

Media effects

Media effects are “the consequences of what the mass media do, whether intended or not.” (McQuail,

2005, p. 465). In the area of media effect studies in general, the magic-bullet theory where the mass-

media was supposed to have a powerful influence on the audience, was superceded by the two-step flow

model, whereby opinion leaders become the target of the mass-media as they influence in their turn

other members of the audience more strongly than the media itself. Then this gave way to the limited

effect model, which “does not necessarily argue that mass media have no impact, this body of research

generally asserts that its effect is primarily to reinforce existing opinions.”51 The changes induced by

media can intended, unintended or minor. Change can be facilitated, what exists can be reinforced or

change can even be prevented (McQuail, 2005, p. 466). Media effects can be defined, according to

McQuail, along two dimensions: intentionality (planned effects versus unplanned effects) and the

dimension of time (short term versus long term effect). Since the CNA project is acting in the context of

development, and the research took three years after the passage of the CNA in the village, it will be

necessary to look at all types of effects, since the three years constitute a medium-length term. So short

term effects like propaganda, individual responses, media campaigns,52 news learning, framing,53

agenda setting, and long term effects like development diffusion, news diffusion, diffusion of

innovations and distribution of knowledge are among the planned effects that can be studied.

Short term effects like individual reaction, collective reaction, and policy effects as well as long

term effects like social control, socialization, event outcomes,54 reality defining and construction of

meaning, institutional change, displacement,55 cultural, and social change, and social integration

are the possible unplanned effects (McQuail, 2005, p. 469).

Since media effect is about measuring intended and non-intended effects, it is important to know what

the intention of the films shown by the CNA project are. The educational films shown by the CNA 50 Press, 2001, p. 928. 51 Press, 2001, p. 927. 52 The media campaign is "the situation in which a number of media are used in an organized way, to achieve a persuasive or informational purpose with a chosen population" (McQuail, 2005, p. 467). In this case, it does not apply, since the CNA used only one media, film, and this was not part of an organized campaign. 53 Framing refers, according to McQuail (2005, p. 467), "to the adoption by the audience of the same interpretative frameworks and 'spin' used to contextualize news reports and event accounts." This probably won't be relevant in the present case. 54 According to McQuail (p. 469), event outcomes refer “to the part played by media in conjunction with institutional forces in the course and resolution of major ‘critical’ events. […] Examples could include revolution, major domestic political upheavals and matters of war and peace. Less significant events, such as elections, could also figure there”. This is unlikely to be the case here but it must be borne in mind as a possible effect. 55 Displacement refers to the consequences of allocating time to media use away from other pursuits, including social participation. In the case of CNA, it should not appear as an impact, since the CNA was not in the village any more. What could be there though is a greater interest in movies and maybe a growing pressure to have video clubs operated with a generator.

20

project are embedded in the communication

for development paradigm, whereas a special

theory has been developed for African films.

Communication for development theory

The diffusion model of communication was the

first model to be developed by international

organizations in development projects.

According to Everett Rogers, one of the main

proponents of this model, “the role of

communication was (1) to transfer

technological innovations from development

agencies to their clients, and (2) to create an appetite for change though raising a ‘climate for

modernization’ among the members of the public.”56 Therefore, it focuses on knowledge transfer

leading to behaviour change.57 A mix of media is used, with mass media used for the diffusion of

information and inter-personal communication used to effect behaviour change. The expected outcome

is an effected change in knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Morris identifies two main practices of this

model: social marketing and entertainment education.

The participatory model of communication “stresses the importance of cultural identity of local

communities and of democratization and participation at all levels.” (Servaes, J. & Malikhao, P., 2002,

p. 121). Participatory communication has two goals. It seeks “to achieve some specific development end

[…] and also to empower communities via participation” (Morris, N., 2001, p. 12). The two trends in

this model include the Freirian approach that emphasizes dialogical communication of oppressed

groups, and the UNESCO approach which emphasizes access to the media, participation in the

production process of media as well as selfmanagement, judged to be the most advanced form of

participation (Servaes, J. & Malikhao, P., 2002, p. 127). The outcome identified with this model is

empowerment, community building, and social equity. Examples of participatory communication are

tools such as participatory action research or empowerment education.

The CNA approach, using the screening of educational films, is part of the entertainment-education

approach. According to Singhal and Rogers, entertainment-education is “the process of purposely

designing and implementing a media message to both entertain and educate, in order to increase

56 Rogers, E.M. (1986). Communication Technology: The New Media in Society. New York: The Free Press. Cited in Servaes, J. & Malikhao, P. (2002). Development communication approaches in International Perspectives. In J. Servaes (ed.). Approaches to Development Communication. Part 1 [electronic version]. (pp. 102-139). Paris: UNESCO. P. 114. 57 Morris, N. (2001). Bridging the Gap: An Examination of Diffusion and Participatory Approaches in Development Communication. Online: http://webzone.k3.mah.se/projects/comdev04/frame/MorrisArticle.pdf, downloaded on the 4th of January 2005.

Figure 1: A typology of media effects (McQuail, 2005, p. 468)

21

audience knowledge about an educational issue, create favourable attitudes, and change overt

behavior.”58 So the educational films generally aim at changing knowledge, attitude and behavior of the

audience on a number of health related and development topics. But the context in which those films are

screened, the public screenings, makes it a participatory experience: The village inhabitants come

together to the show. They have the opportunity to comment on the films in public and to discuss about

them with their friends. The context in which certain educational films were made have also inbuilt

participatory elements: For example, the Scénario du Sahel series was made after a contest among the

youth of several West African countries to develop creative ideas for short films on HIV/AIDS.59 So the

scenarios are derived from the potential viewers’ daily lives as seen through the eyes of their peers.

African film theory

The CNA does not show only educational films, but also African feature films. This makes this project

quite interesting, because the theoretical background of those films is different from the one of

educational films. According to the Niamey Manifesto of African Film-Makers, which was drafted at the

First International Conference on Cinema Production in Africa in March 1982 in Niger, African cinema

aims to “assert the cultural identity of African peoples; be a means for international understandings; an

effective means of education and entertainment; an incentive for development, contributing to national

and regional policies.”60 African cinema emerged in the context of decolonization and liberation, and the

films responded to the call for national culture, “that is clearly situated at the heart of the quest to

reclaim identities and freedom.”61 Important theorists in this tradition include Franz Fanon and Amilcar

Cabral, in the vein of postcolonial studies. One of the first tasks of African cinema was to reclaim “the

right to represent one’s self rather than simply be represented” (Thakway, 2003, p. 41).

Several theorists have attempted to devise a theory of African cinema, such as Teshome H. Gabriel,

Ferid Boughedir, and Manthia Diawara.62 For this particular study, Boughedir's classifications of

African film is particularly relevant in terms of the impact of these films on their intended audience.

58 Singhal, A. & Rogers, E.M. (1999). Entertainment-education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum. Cited in Morris, N. (2005). The diffusion and participatory models: a comparative analysis. In O. Hemer, & T. Tufte (eds.), Media and Glocal change. Rethinking Communication for Development. (pp. 123-144). Buenos Aires: CLASCO. P. 128. 59 Winskell, K. & D. Enger (2005). Young voices travel far: a case study of Scenarios from Africa. In Hemer O. & T. Tufte (eds.). Media and Glocal change. Rethinking Communication for Development. (pp. 403-416). Buenos Aires: CLASCO. 60 Niamey Manifesto of African Film-Makers 1982 (1996). in I. Bakari & M. Cham (eds.). African experiences of cinema. (pp. 27-30). London: British Film Institute. 1996. P. 27. 61 Thackway, M. (2003). P. 40. 62 Gabriel, T. H. (1989). Towards a Critical Theory of Third World Films. In P. Williams and L. Chrisman (ed.). Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory. (pp. 340-358). New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Diawara, M. (1992). African cinema: Politics and Culture. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Boughedir, F. (2000). African Cinema and Ideology: Tendencies and Evolution. In J. Givanni (ed.), Symbolic Narratives / African Cinema. Audience, Theory and the Moving Image (pp. 109-121). London: British Film Institute.

22

Ferid Boughedir, a Tunisian critic and filmmaker and Professor of Cinema at the University of Tunis63

distinguishes five trends: the political (or socio-political) tendency, the moralist or moralizing

tendency, the "umbilical" tendency, the cultural tendency, and the commercial tendency64. This

classification is interesting because it was made "according to the theoretical positions of their auteurs

and their effect on the public… their ultimate fonction."65 The socio-political tendency analyses reality

through a social, political, and economic lens. "The main effect sought is for the viewer to become

aware of the structures which condition and encourage him to demand change and improvement in his

condition" (Boughedir, 2000, p. 112). The moralist tendency focuses on the individual and compels him

or her to change his way of being: "The clash between old and new is placed on the level of moral

choice" (Boughedir, 2000, p. 112). This conservative trend proposes as a solution a refuge in the

tradition. The "umbilical" trend is centered on the director and his personal issues with his own identity.

He doesn't try to change anything in his society, be it at the collective or the individual level, but is in

search of his own identity. He "talks above all to himself rather than addressing his audience, wanting to

give priority to resolving a sometimes too "umbilical" personal problem which doesn't concern the

majority of people" (Boughedir, 2000, p. 113). The fourth trend is the cultural trend that presents a

discussion on tradition. It shows the tradition and culture without idealizing them showing the positive

and negative aspects. It is similar to the moralizing trend without the focus on the individual. In the

commercial trend, films are made with the Hollywood goal of financial gain, "to the detriment of

cultural or social enrichment" (Boughedir, 2000, p. 114). They want to entertain their audience, and if

sometimes they have a moralist or social message, they usually have a happy ending and the purpose

remains the amusement of the audience.

Table 1 classifies the categories according to their intention, the type of audience they are meant to

reach, and whether their purpose is meant to be short term or long term. This will be helpful for the

classification of the films shown by the CNA and for the analysis of the intended impact (intention) and

what has actually been reached.

Classification Denominations (according

to Boughedir) Intention Type of

audience Short term

Long term

Hollywood type films

Commercial trend To entertain The spectators

X

Umbilical trend Author's search for his own identity

The author X

Historical films Cultural trend To show the positive and negative The people x

63 Givanni J. (2000) (ed.) Symbolic Narratives / African Cinema. Audience, Theory and the Moving Image. London: British Film Institute. P. vi. 64 Boughedir, F. (2000). 65 Boughedir, F. (1982). The principal Tendencies of African Cinema." African Films: the Context of Production. Ed. Angela Martin. London: British Film Institute. Cited in Zacks, S.A. (1995). The theoretical construction of African cinema. Research in African Literatures, 26 (3), 6-12; (AN 9509184641). Retrieved September 1st, 2006, from http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&an=9509184641

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Classification Denominations (according to Boughedir)

Intention Type of audience

Short term

Long term

sides of both past and present Individual change films

Moralist tendency To encourage the individuals to change in order to avoid the clashes between old and new

Individuals x

Social change films Social political tendency To make their viewers aware of the structures of society and encourage him to demand change

The people x

Table 1: Classification of African films according to Boughedir

THE RESEARCH QUESTION

Since the films screened by the CNA are assumed to have social effects on their audience, what types of

change occur? Are there changes in knowledge, in frames of references (stories referred to when

thinking about one’s course of action or giving somebody else a piece of advice), in attitudes, opinions

and behavior at the individual and at the village level? Figure 2 shows the expected effects of both types

of films that will be investigated through the case study. Many effects are common to both types of films

(in black fonts). While the expected effects of educational films are more concrete (changes in

knowledge, attitude, behavior and practice), one change in African feature films relate to change in

awareness.

METHODOLOGY AND FIELDWORK

This project is a case study. A case study is a “method of studying elements of the social through

comprehensive description and analysis of a single situation or case.”66 This method will allow an in-

depth study of what the medium term impact of the CNA actually is in a village compared to what the

66 O’Leary, Z. (2004). Essential Guide to Doing Research. [electronic version]. London: Sage Publication. P. 115.

Figure 2: Classification of media effects of educational and feature films

Short term Long term

Planned effects

PropagandaIndividual response

Media campaign

News

learning

Distribution of knowledge

Diffusion of innovation

Entertainment Individual change

Change in knowlege

Change in attitude Change in practice

Change in awareness

intention of educational films

intention of African feature films

intention of both types of films

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CNA and the people hiring its services say it is. But it will also reveals the goals and intentions of the

films shown by the CNA intend on having as a short term or long term impact. The case study format

allowed me to talk with the people in the village to discover together with them what the CNA changed

at the individual and social level in their community, if anything. It was an occasion for them to take the

time to think about it, three years after the passage of the CNA, to see what was good for them and what

was not so good. Of course, this audience's responses are not generalizable to all the villages, and case

studies are not supposed to be so (O’Leary, 2004, p. 115). The choice to undertake a case study was also

motivated by the fact that the time and the financial means I could allocate to this work were very

limited. So doing a case study is, in my opinion, a valid way to balance between a shortage of resources

and the goal of scientific objectivity. It allowed me to combine quantitative and qualitative research. I

did a random sampling of the population and conducted a face-to-face questionnaire that gave me

quantitative and qualitative data.

Informal interviews (both semi-structured and non-structured) were used at the initial stage, especially

with the animators of the CNA and the village authorities. Informal conversations were also conducted

with local people such as a male nurse and a former military man, who gave me background information

on the village. Focus group interviews were carried out by myself together with a translator to

complement the survey and concentrate on how certain organized groups already constituted as such (a

youth group called Fada and a women's group) perceive the impacts of the CNA. In order to

complement the survey and to get more complete and individual answers, I also did four individual

interviews with women. These two last tools concentrate more on the impact of educational and African

feature films as those groups (the women's group, the youth group and the women taken individually)

are mostly the target audience for these films.

CHOOSING THE VILLAGE

Scouting for the village

There are ten villages around the capital city in Niamey that fit the criteria of having had ten screenings

three years ago (in 2003). I chose one using the following criteria: It could not have access to electricity

or water sanitation; it must be hard to reach; it must not, at the time of the screening, ever had cinema

projections before (even preferably not even a video club operated by a generator); it must have limited

access to media; and finally, it had to accept my coming to them and agree to participate.

The reason I have applied those criteria is that I wanted to get a typical setting, considered by the CNA

as being the "ideal" village to receive the CNA. I wanted the village to have access to few media sources

to avoid the interference with the impact of other media. I then asked the female animator, Hadjara

Thoguyéni, who had put together the screening campaign three years ago, to name three villages that fit

the above criteria. Hadjara gave me the daily reports that were filled out when they did the campaign

25

three years ago. Before going to the village, I could already start to familiarize myself with what had

happened there.

Then, I visited all three of them together with a driver and a female translator. As is usual in African

villages, the gatekeepers are the village chiefs, and whenever one comes to a village, one has to go and

pay him a visit. I introduced myself and my team as a research team from the university for a project

aiming to measure the impact of the Cinema numérique Ambulant project. I was very careful not to give

the impression that we were from the CNA and I stated it also very clearly, so as not to raise the

expectation of an imminent return of the CNA. The objective of the visits was to get to know the

villages. In the introduction discourse I did in each village, I exposed among others the purpose of the

study. I asked permission to talk to resource persons. I also asked, in the eventuality that I would do the

research in their village, permission for my team and myself to ask questions to the inhabitants, and to

get accommodation.

Hondey Koira Tégui

I chose Hondey Koira Tégui because it fit most the above-mentioned criteria. In the last three years, one

of the other two villages, Kara Bédji had set up a community radio that also had a video club. This

video-club worked in a similar way as the CNA, in the sense that first part they show educational films

and everybody can come in for free. Then they show feature films, and you have to pay a fee. The

feature films are not African films, but rather American, Chinese, and Nigerian action videos. Regarding

the third village, Sansanne Haussa, the second criteria (being hard to reach) was not fulfilled, as it was

along the asphalt road. It also had electricity (although it had been recently installed). They also had

televisions and video-clubs before the CNA came (all operated with generators).

Hondey Koira Tégui is not as hard to reach as Kara Bédji, but the road is pretty bad and it takes a good

car to get there. This village, which is part of the municipality of Namaro, was created in 1953.67 There

is no electricity and no water sanitation. When I went there, the village chief, who had been there when

the CNA came three years ago, had told me that there was no video club. Later on, I realized that there is

one. It is operated with a generator and has also a two-part program. The first part is the showing of the

news from the national television and it is for free, and the second part shows videos, like in Kara Bédji,

and there is a fee for admission. The village has one pirate radio station managed by young people. It

broadcasts in the evening. They record radio drama from the national radio and re-broadcast it. They

also broadcast discussions among themselves. But right now, the radio doesn’t work due to failing

connections. The village is reachable by cell phones (as the other two villages), which was very

convenient to make appointments.

67 According to the information given by the brother of the head of the village, M. Nouhou.

26

The village has a health care centre operated by one male nurse. It has one primary school with three

classes, and one Medersa, a French-Arabian primary school, where the pupils are taught Koran along

with the regular curriculum. Since the village is located along the Niger river, the main activities of the

village are farming, gardening, stock breeding and fishing. The village has a compost project, and a

project that works to prevent the silting up of the Niger river (financed by the African Development

Bank).

GETTING READY FOR THE FIELD WORK

Before going to the village, I familiarized myself with the films they had watched and how the campaign

had gone. I took this information from the daily reports. Table 1 shows the number of spectators at each

screening, and what films were shown each evening. Every evening, they were shown a slapstick

comedy, two to three educational films and one African feature film. The campaign ran from August 7th,

2003 until January 9th, 2004. There were two cancellations due to rain. The audience grew steadily from

the first evening with 600 people to a peak of 970 people on the eighth evening, then went back down to

800 people on the last evening. These numbers are only an estimation and usually, about half of them

are children. Furthermore, people used to come from nearby villages.

Date Number of spectators

(estimation) Slapstick 1st educational film 2nd educational

film 3rd educational

film African feature

film

7/08/03 Cancelled due to the rain

1 11/8/03 600 Malec forgeron Anna et Basil Camp de Thiaroye

2 18/8/03 650 Frigo et Baleine (Buster Keaton) Moussa Taximan (2) La vie est belle

2/9/03 Cancelled, due to the rain

3 17/9/03 700 Frigo déménageur (Buster Keaton)

Educational song on malaria Moussa taximan 3 Bal poussière

4 2/10/03 700 Malec l'insaisissable Moussa Taximan 4 A vous la rue Le ballon d'or

5 21/10/03 900 La voisine de Malec Souko (Buster Keaton)

Moussa Taximan 5

Kokoa - L'enfant et le caiman (short feature film)

Guimba

6 3/11/03 800 L'épouvantail Moussa Taximan 6 Faune en folie (slapstick) Kirikou

7 19/11/03 950 Buster Keaton Cas sévère de malaria Tilaï

8 8/12/03 970 Malec champion de golf Kokoa Moussa 1 Gito l'ingrat

9 22/12/03 900 Convict 13 (Buster Keaton) Moussa 7 Cahakomay ma

ifo hanse borose? Wênd kûnni

10 9/1/04 800 9ème mari de Léonore (Buster Keaton)

Charlot boxeur (slapstick)

Une volonté de fer - la voix de la raison

Anna et Bazil TGV

accumulated number of spectators 7 970

Average number of spectators 797

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Date Number of spectators

(estimation) Slapstick 1st educational film 2nd educational

film 3rd educational

film African feature

film

Median number of spectator 700

Table 2 : The films watched by the inhabitants of Hondey Koira Tégui68

Watching the films

I made a list of the educational and feature films shown during this campaign and watched them in order

to be able to understand which film the interviewees would be talking about when I would interview

them.69 I watched the films less to analyze them, but instead wanted to identify the main and secondary

characters, the setting, and the plot. I determined what the main social messages of the films were, and I

made notes about what other scholars and the filmmakers themselves said the films intended to say,

especially about their classification as stated in the section on African film theory. Regarding the

educational films, I did a thematic classification.

HIV/AIDS Malaria Hygiene Family planning

Moussa Taximan (1-7) Chanson de sensibilisation sur le paludisme

Anna et Basil Cahakomay ma ifo hanse borose?

Une volonté de fer – La voix de la raison (scenarios du Sahel) Cas sévère de malaria

Table 3 : Thematic classification of the educational films

From tables 2 and 3, we can see that on eight evenings, the audience was exposed to nine educational

films about HIV/AIDS, through the Moussa Taximan series (seven short films), or the Scénarios du

Sahel series (two short films). On two evenings, they were exposed to short films on malaria, on one

evening to a film about hygiene and on one evening to a film on family planning / birth control. All the

themes are related to health communication.

Topic Message

HIV/AIDS Only opportunistic sicknesses can be cured

Pregnant women should get tested.

Even if the father or the mother is HIV positive, they can have a healthy child, provided they are monitored by a doctor.

Resisting having sexual intercourse with a girl is a matter of will.

One should get the HIV test before getting married.

If you're unfaithful, not only might you catch AIDS, but you will be a joke for your friends.

Get tested or use a condom. Do your test especially if you're pregnant. If you meet somebody special, do your test and stay faithful.

Beware of traditional medicine, and there is no cure to HIV/AIDS

68 The sources for this table are the daily reports filled out by the animator after each screenings and kept at the CNA office in Niger. 69 I did not take the slapstick comedies in consideration, as they are not part of this study.

28

Topic Message

If you don't know the serologic state of your companion, use a condom.

Know about the existence of female condom.

Don't be afraid to talk about sex with your children, as they might get the wrong information elsewhere.

You can eat from the same dish as a HIV positive person.

Pregnant women should do the test.

The social obligation of a daughter to obey her father might keep her from acting in a responsible way (in this case, she could not force her father to get her future husband to undergo the HIV test).

Do not reject HIV positive people.

Malaria Go to the doctor if your child is sick or if you're sick and you're pregnant.

Use insecticide treated bed nets.

Hygiene Wash your hand before you eat.

Brush your teeth after every meal

Do not eat unprotected food

Family planning Women should wait at least until their child has stopped breastfeeding before conceiving another child.

Pregnant women should go regularly to the doctors.

Pregnant women should not do hard work. Table 4 : Messages of the educational films

The classification of the messages of the educational films shows that most messages focus mainly on

individual behavior change. Some messages relate to the social context (the social obligation for a

daughter to obey her father and the stigmatization of HIV positive people). The medical approach

perspective is dominant, and there is no space for doubting the ability of modern, Western medicine to

cure illnesses. Of course, traditional medicine, if not completely rejected (in one message, the possibility

of an alliance between modern and traditional medicine to find a cure to HIV/AIDS is mentioned),

Western medicine remains the most advocated medicine ("Beware of traditional medicine, there is no

cure to HIV/AIDS"). Table 5 show the African feature films seen by the audience in Hondey Koira

Tégui, some thematic keywords70 and their classification according to the African film theory. Title of the film Keywords / Classification according to African film theory

Wênd Kuuni (The Gift of God) traditional life in Africa, female emancipation, love cultural tendency

Tilaï female emancipation tradition, polygamy, incest Cultural trend

Gito l'ingrat (Gito, the Ungrateful) alienation, urban life, bi-racial relationships, homecoming, education, love popular comedy / social realist narrative

Guimba, un tyran, un époque (Guimba the Tyrant)

tyranny, tradition, witchcraft, women emancipation Cultural trend

La vie est belle (Life is Rosy) polygamy, urban life, witchcraft, women emancipation, poverty, elite life, love social realist narrative

70 These keywords have been generated through my own reading of the cinematic text and other scholar's reading.

29

Title of the film Keywords / Classification according to African film theory

Bal poussière (Dancing in the Dust) Polygamy, women emancipation, tradition, education, love popular comedy genre / social realist narrative (Boughedir)

Le ballon d'or (The Golden Ball) Football, child abuse, fame, success No classification found / Hollywood type of film / Commercial trend

TGV Politics, traveling, encounters, witchcraft No classification found / Hollywood type of film

Kirikou Witchcraft, water scarcity, childbearing, child education, No classification found : African folktale, mythology

Le camp de Thiaroye Combative phase / colonial confrontation / social political tendency Table 5 : Classification of the African feature films according to African film theory

According to this classification, five films belong to what I called in table 5 the commercial type of film

whose main purpose is to entertain the spectators, albeit with social messages like the consequences of

polygamy, female emancipation or poverty. Three films belong to the historical films category, whether

about the cultural trend or the return to the source. Their purpose is to show the positive and negative

sides of both past and present times and to show historical Africa. Only one film has been classified in

the third phase, the remembrance phase or the colonial confrontation phase, whose purpose is the

decolonization and total liberation of the people and to show the colonial confrontation between

Africans and colonizers.

One last film, Kirikou, falls out of the classification of African film theory, as it belongs to another

genre, African mythology and folktale. This cartoon has a particular history with the CNA project, as it

is the only film with international recognition, and that has been made specifically for a French or

Western audience that the CNA was allowed by the filmmaker himself, Michel Ocelot, to show in

Africa for free. Regarding the function of folktales, Anne Godin, in her thesis about illustrated folktales

in youth books in France, writes that folktales have first of all an entertaining function, but also a

pedagogical, political, sociological, initiatory and fantastic function:71 What is important for the storyteller is to induce reactions from the audience, to raise their awareness and to arouse feelings. Only then will the wise man or the storyteller propose a solution to the problem, in order to make up for the excesses or outpouring of feelings certain members of the audience might get themselves into. This then leads to a moral of the story. (Godin, 2005, p. 19)72

Sampling

Since this is a case study, I chose to analyze the whole population of Koira Tégui over 15 years of age.

Statistics show that 54% of the population in Niger is under 15 years old.73 According to the 2003

survey the village had 2,407, inhabitants 54% of them children, so my size was of about 1,100 people.

According to a sample calculator,74 with a confidence level of 95% and a confidence interval of +/- 5%,

71 Godin, A. (2005). Les contes illustrés Jeunesse d'Afrique noire dans le paysage éditorial et culturel français. Mémoire à l'Institut Universitaire de Technologie. René Descartes. Paris 5. Département Information et Communication. Option Métiers du Livre. Paris. Online, retrieved May, 2nd, 2007. P. 18. 72 My own translation. 73 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 18. 74 Found at www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm.

30

I needed to interview about 285 persons. Since 52% of the population are women75, I needed to

interview 148 women and 137 men. I chose to do a random sample, so the interviewers walked through

the village and interviewed people they met either on the street or at home in the compound.

CARRYING OUT THE SURVEY

To do the survey, I developed a questionnaire guide according to my research questions that were: 1)

Assess the attendance of the interviewee at the screening; 2) getting a general appreciation of the CNA

screenings; 3) understand whether they liked educational films or feature films better; 4) assess what the

audience learned through the educational films; 5) learn what feature films the audience liked most; 6)

Assess if the films have a role model the audience responds to; 7) ask if the audience has learned

something new; 8) measure change at the individual and the village level; 9) give the interviewee a

chance to say something he/she'd like to add.

This was developed in a four-page, twenty-six question survey with thirteen quantitative questions (with

either several levels or with multiple choice answers) and the rest being qualitative. All the quantitative

answers were nominal variables. In order not to make the survey too long, personal information gathered

about the interviewees was minimal: gender, age, educational level, mother tongue, and understanding

level of French. Before starting the survey, the interviewers were instructed to ask three questions, the

answer to which would determine whether the interviewee qualified for the survey or not: the age of the

person, whether the person knew the CNA, and whether the person was in the village at the time the

CNA was there. If the answer to the latter two questions was no, or if the person was under 15 years old,

they would not qualify.

The survey was carried out on a face-to-face basis in the village by four people, three men and one

woman. One man and one woman had been recruited from Niamey, and two men were recruited from

the village. The man from Niamey, Ado Saleh Mahamat, is a person I am used to working with and he

does theater for development work. He is used to being with the rural population and to doing

educational work. I've known him for a long time and I knew he could do good work. I appointed him

the team leader. The woman, Halima Boubacar, is a young person who has studied sociology at the

university and who had applied for an internship with the CNA project. I thought it would be a good

introduction to her internship for her to start with doing a survey about the impact of the CNA. I

recruited two male teachers in the village, so that this project would be a part of the village and so that

the villagers would have a sense of ownership of this study. I selected them during the pre-testing of the

questionnaire, in which five people from the village were also tested as interviewers. Each interviewer

had a follow-up sheet on which he/she would daily write down the number of people interviewed, and

75 Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 17

31

among those people spoken to but not interviewed, how many were not in the village when the CNA

came, how many did not know the CNA, and how many did not want to take part in the survey.

The survey took place between the 18th and the 27th of March, 2007. The two interviewers from Niamey

stayed in the village, as they were hosted by the head of the village. I was not there since I was working,

and since the interviews took place in Zarma, one of the national languages in Niger which I do not

understand, I would not have been very useful.

FOCUS GROUPS

I chose to do two focus groups in order to gather more qualitative material to back up the findings of the

survey. I targeted a youth group, called in Niger a "fada," and a women's group. These focus groups

were meant to find out more about what members of these groups thought had changed in their lives and

in the village's life since the CNA had been there. It was meant also to find out whether the films of the

CNA had become topics of discussion within these groups and if they used them in their daily lives.

The focus groups took place on the week-end of 24 and 25 March, 2007, and I did them with the two

interviewers from Niamey as translators. I recorded the interviews with a digital camera but I did not

film them. I wanted to get quality recordings that I could upload to my computer, without making the

people uncomfortable by filming them. I had asked the interviewers to organize the focus groups for me.

They chose a fada, that is, a group of young men of about the same age who meet regularly to discuss

and drink tea together. They call their group Fada Guemasi haou, which in Zarma means "To work is

good to avoid shame". It had been in existence for only five months and was made up from members of

other fadas. It was not possible to find a fada that had already existed at the time of the CNA. This

group included about fifteen young men ranging from 15 to 25 and the focus group took place in one

compound at 5 pm on Saturday, March 24. It lasted about one hour.

On the morning of Sunday, March 25, the second focus group with women took place. It took place at

the head of village's compound and included about 20 older women of varied ages. The sister of the

head of the village had organized this group. This focus group lasted only about thirty-five minutes, as it

turned out that most of the women had not taken part in the screenings of the CNA, and they had not

really understood what they were there for.

INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS

To complement the survey, I interviewed four women individually. I had asked the interviewers to be on

the look-out for women who would give particularly interesting answers to the interview or were

particularly talkative. The objective of the individual interviews was to find out about ways the

interviewee believed her life changed because of the CNA. I wanted to get more qualitative data on

questions like what she had learned through the CNA, if she implemented any of the pieces of advice

32

given by the films, what movies she liked most, if a particular story was useful for her, and if she had

found any role models in the films. The women were from all age groups (63, 39, 30, and 26 years old),

and the interviews took place on Sunday, March 25. Each interview lasted between forty-five and thirty-

five minutes and took place at the homes of the interviewees. As with the focus group, I used the

camcorder to record just the sound and I asked for permission to take digital pictures. I was

accompanied by one of the interviewers as the translator.

LIMITATIONS

As it turned out, the interviewers could not get enough interviewees for the survey. They did speak to

385 people as a whole, but only 244 questionnaires could be processed. Eighty-two did not want to take

part in the survey, three didn't know the CNA, thirty-eight had not been in the village at the time when

the CNA was there, and eighteen questionnaires were not valid. These non-valid questionnaires often

were ones that people had started but not completed. Furthermore, we could get only ninty-seven men

(39.8%) and 147 women (60.2%).

This situation was partly explained by the time in which we conducted the survey. During the dry

season, which was when the survey was conducted, many men leave the village to go to the city or even

neighboring countries like Ghana and Togo to find a job. They come back for the rain season in July.

The interviewers assured me that they had been virtually in every compound of the village. They said

that there could not be more than 800 to 900 adults in the village. So not only were fewer people in the

village than expected, but women were more numerous than men, as they usually stay in the village

while the men leave to work.76 A better time to carry out this survey would have been July or August,

when everybody is in the village.

FINDINGS AND RESULTS

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAMPLE77

As I said previously, 244 people from Hondey Koira Téguyi were interviewed, out of which 147 were

women (60.2%) and ninety-seven were men (39.8%). About a third of them (27.9 %) were under 25

years old, whereas about half of them (51.2%) were between 25 and 49 years old and only six people

(2.5%) were above 75 years old. The level of schooling is appallingly low, with almost 74.5% of the

interviewees having not been to school at all. 33% the men attended primary school and 2.1 % went to

76 This situation seems to be a national phenomenon. The demographic survey of 2006 stated that in rural areas, there are about 88 men for 100 women, due to the growing rural exodus. Institut National de la Statistique (INS) et Macro International Inc. (2007). P. 18. 77 These results were generated through the processing of data through the statistics program SPSS. Besides the tutorials, I also used the following book to learn how to use this program: Morgan, G.A. & N.J.L. Mahwah (2004). SPSS for Introductory Statistics: Use and Interpretation. [electronic version] Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

33

high school, whereas 17.1 % of women went to primary school and 2.1% went to high school. But it

seems that younger people tend to go to school more than older people. Over 73% of those between 25

and 49 years old and even 93% of those between 50 and 74 years old never went to school, whereas the

number falls to 63% for those under 25 years old. Still, this number of uneducated people is higher than

the national level. As a consequence of the low level of schooling, very few respondents understand

French (only 16,5 %), which still is more than what the online magazine Ethnologue78 claimed. The

magazine said that out of the 11 million Nigeriens, only 6,000 master the French language. On the other

hand, understanding a language is not the same as mastering a language.

The discrepancy between the national statistics and the statistics found in Hondey Koira Tégui could be

explained in the same way as the failure to find sufficient respondents in Hondey Koira Tégui: Many

men had left to find work, and since these are men from the active population, one could expect them to

have been at school or to understand some form of French in order to be able to work in areas where

their local language is not spoken.

Attendance of the CNA screening: the non-attendees are more likely to be women (especially older

women) and non-educated

Out of the 244 respondents, 79.5% said that they had at least attended one screening of the CNA (fifty

respondents, or 20.5% said they had not attended one). There seems to be a direct relation between

gender and going to the movies: Men are more likely to go to the movies than women. A statistical test

(Chi-square) shows a statistical significance (p<.05) indicating that males and females are significantly

different on the issue of whether they go to the movies or not, although the strength of this relationship

is small or smaller than typical (phi = .143). Another interesting result is that respondents who did go to

school are more likely to go to the movies that those who didn't. Only 73.6% of those who didn't go to

school went to the movies, compared to 96.5% of those who went to primary school and 100% of those

who went to medium high school. This is statistically significant (p < .001)79 although the strength of the

relation is medium to typical (Cramer's V = .250).80

Three quarters (74%) of those who said they didn't attend any screenings were female and most of them

(88%) were above 25 years old. 40% said they thought it was for children or that they were not

interested in the movies. 14% said that they did not have time to go. Out of the 46% who gave other

reasons, we can distinguish those who were physically unable to go from the others. Among those who

were physically unable, five women said that they had just given birth and needed to take care of their

78 Gordon, R. G., Jr. (ed.), (2005). 79 According to Morgan (2004, p. 103), a Fisher exact test should be used when the sample size is low and more than 20% of the cells have expected frequencies of less than five. In this present case, 33.3% of my cells had frequencies of less than five counts, therefore the Fisher exact test was more adequate. 80 The Cramer's V test is more adapted for other tables than 2x2 tables. In this case, we have one variable with three levels (the tree levels of schooling) and one variable with two levels (yes or no), making it a table of 3x2.

34

child, one said she had just lost her husband, five said that they were sick, one said that she had just

come back from a long journey and was too tired, and two said that they were owners of a shop and

therefore could not close it to go and attend the screenings. Among the other reasons given, two women

said that as wives of an Imam, they could not attend the screening. One man said that he was himself an

Imam, and at the time when the CNA was screening the movies, he was reading the Koran. This

"religious" reason for not going to the movies was also mentioned by one of the women I interviewed

individually: Hamsatou Seydou, 26 years old, divorced with one 9 year old daughter, said that at the

time the CNA came, she was still in her husband's family and they kept her from going there: "When the

CNA came, I was in a family where there was the Muslim spirit, where we had Imams who kept the

women from going there and watching. Afterwards, my father was not interested by the movies either.

Sometimes, we [the women of the house] pretend to be home and we go around to go and watch just a

little bit and come back."

Some respondents felt they were too old. Two women gave this reason and one woman said that she was

ashamed her grandson would make fun of her if she went there. This was also confirmed by one of the

interviewees. Zeinabou Boureïma, 63 years old and a mother of five sons and four daughters, said that

she could go to the screening only once: I went there only once. On that day, I asked my husband to allow me to go there: today I want to go and see what CNA is all about.[…] The other times, when the CNA came, we want to go there, but people tell us, you, old people, you'll die soon, what do you want to go and watch? So each time, they tell us to go away. So the time I went there, it was the last time, and after that, the CNA never came back.

Two of the women said that their husbands did not allow them to attend.

So it seems that women are more likely not to go to the movies for religious reasons or out of shame for

their old age, or because their husband would not allow them. Out of the eight respondents who would

not go to the movies for other reasons than physical reasons, seven were women. These reasons are

different from alternative answers such as, "I was not interested," "It was for children," or "I did not

have time" in the way that they are imposed by the social or religious order. The person would like to go

to the films, but she is kept from doing so by religion, a husband, or generational convention.

Attendance of the CNA screenings: the CNA movie-goers are more likely to be younger women or

men81

Among the 194 respondents who said they attended at least one screening, eighty-four were male

(43.3%) and 110 were female (56.7%). Most of them ranged between the ages of 15 and 49 (83.5%) and

only one man above 75 years of age went to the movies. Almost all women who went there were under

49 years old (91.9%), and those under 25 years old make up 36.4% of all women. Of the men, 72.6%

were under 49 years old, 26.2 percent only were under 25 years old. Using the Fisher exact test, a

81 All following numbers are based on the number of respondents who went to the screenings at least one time, that is 194 respondents, and not on the total number of respondents in the survey, or 244.

35

statistical significance was found regarding whether males and females from a specific age range were

more likely to go to the movies than others. Women who go to the movies are more likely to be younger

than men (p = .002) but the effect size, which indicates the strength of the association between the two

variables, is considered to be to be medium or typical according to Cohen (Cramer's V = .262).

Out of the 194 respondents, almost half of them (46.4%) said that they attended either nine times or each

time82 and a quarter of them (25.8%) said that they went less than three times or didn't know how many

times they attended. There is no significant difference between the attendance rates according to gender,

but age is a factor. The younger the respondents are, the more likely they will go to the movies. 69.3 %

of respondents under 25 years old said that they went to the movies more than nine times or each time,

whereas 61% of those between 25 and 59 years old said they attended between one and five times or

didn't know how many times they went. This shows that there is a statistical significance (p = .007)83

albeit with a smaller than typical effect size.

All the respondents either liked the screening very much (78.9%) or liked them (21.1%). Most of the

respondents liked the party atmosphere (53.4%), the fact that it put them in a good mood (43.5%), and

the fact that the films taught them a lot of things (35.1%).84 25.7% of the respondents said they liked

being with their family and friends, and only one respondent said they liked the movie because it

allowed him escape from the daily reality. The three respondents who chose another answer all said that

they simply liked watching films. There is no really significant difference in responses according to

gender, except that more women than men (more than 10 points difference) said that going to the

screenings put them in a good mood (48.6 % for women against 36.6% for the men). There is also no

significant difference according to age. Nevertheless, the entertainment factor is what the respondents

remembered and liked best and the access to news and information was second.

The CNA movie goers liked educational films better

Most respondents (61.9%) liked educational films better than African feature films. Even though there is

no statistical significance according to the gender or the age of the respondent and the type of films they

liked, people between 50 and 75 years old particularly liked educational films (74.2%), whereas younger

people tended to like African feature film more than their elders (40% of those between 15 and 49 years

old liked African feature films).

82 I classified the value "each time" among the higher values, because this shows that the respondent tried to attend every time the CNA came, which shows a will to go there as much as possible. But "each time" can also mean that he or she went only a few times. As many as 42.3 % of the respondents said that they had gone each time. 83 Using Fischer's exact test and Cramer's V test again. 84 Since this was a multiple response question, the total percentage is more than 100%.

36

Among the feature films, the CNA movie-goers liked entertaining films better

The feature film the audience liked most is Kirikou (32.9%, or 55 respondents out of 167),85, followed

by Bal poussière (Dance in the Dust, 16.8%, or 28 respondents), and Camp de Thiaroye (15.0%, or 25

respondents). The next two most mentioned films are Tilaï and Guimba (17 viewers mentioned each of

them, 10.2% of all viewers). Life is Rosy was never mentioned, and films like TGV, Wênd Kûnni, or Gito

l'ingrat were mentioned very few times (2, 3, and 4 times respectively). There is a statistically

significant difference between male and female viewers in terms of their taste in films (p<.05, according

to the Fisher's exact test), but the strength of the relationship is smaller than typical (Cramer's V = .023).

Females tend to like Kirikou better (43.0 % of the women mentioned Kirikou against 20.3% for the

men). Just about the same number of men mentioned three films: Dance in the Dust (21.6%), Camp de

Thiaroye and Kirikou (each 20.3%). There is no specific preference according to age range.

Among the most liked films by the audience, we find four types of films: one African folktale (Kirikou),

one socialist narrative or popular comedy (Bal poussière), two historical films (Guimba and Tilaï), and

one film from the combative phase (Camp de Thiaroye).

UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION OF THE FEATURE FILMS

Both of the most preferred films (Kirikou and Bal poussière) have a very high entertainment value and

were liked because of this aspect. While Kirikou did not elicit many interpretations beyond the

entertainment aspect (except for the fact that some respondents said they liked Kirikou because he was

courageous), the other feature films had more room for interpretation. Looking at the different types of

decoding of the filmic text,86 one can say that the audience had globally a preferred or negotiated

reading of the texts, albeit the depth of interpretation is very low.

The movie Bal poussière (Dance in the Dust), reached its purpose in terms of entertainment (eight

respondents said they liked it because it was funny), and in terms of dealing with the topic of polygamy

(eighteen respondents liked it because it dealt with this topic). Polygamy is legal and quite the norm in

Niger and it is a topic that is very close to people's everyday preoccupation. What struck the audience

most was that the main character, Demi-Dieu, could marry six women and that he could manage them.

The film was really about the liberation of women and the rejection of polygamy, but actually only six

out of the twenty-eight respondents mentioned the rejection of polygamy. This is a case of negotiated

reading, as people do understand the coding, but choose to interpret the film according to their own

cultural context in which polygamy is not a contested issue but an accepted reality. For them, what is at

stake is how to manage so many women in an equitable way. One male respondent over 50 years old

85 Twenty-seven respondents did not answer that question as intended in the survey, which means either they mentioned a film that was not shown during the CNA campaign or they mentioned an educational film or they mentioned a slapstick. Others said that they left after the educational film. 86 See the section on theory.

37

said: "We didn't know how to do with so many women, but Demi-Dieu told us." One respondent during

the youth men focus group said: What impressed me is that in order not to trigger any jealousy among his wives, he covered his eyes. He takes randomly one piece of clothes, he gives it to one woman. He takes another piece randomly, he gives it to another woman. He did not chose one piece of clothes to give to a specific woman. When he takes one piece of clothes, he doesn't know to whom he gives it. […]. That's what I've particularly appreciated.

As for the moral of the film, another respondent said: "It is not good to have many women if you can't

manage them." So the issue is not about the rightness of having one or several women, but of being able

to manage as many women as you can. We had a heated discussion in the youth focus group about this

issue in which one man said one should take only as much as he can, while another, quite provocatively,

said he wanted to have even more wives than Demi-Dieu: Demi-Dieu is somehow stupid. If you're clever, you will take only as many women you can manage. Because they showed in the movie one of his wives pounding up together cola nut and ginger87 when it's her turn. And during the night, she puts him to work until he is worn out. So that the following day, he cannot satisfy the next wife. So if Demi-Dieu had really been clever, he would have taken the number of wives he could manage. This is the piece of advice I give to everybody here: take just as many women as you can manage.

Women seemed to accept also polygamy as a fact of life. Female respondents particularly appreciated

the female characters in the film for their patience with Demi-Dieu (five out of the eleven female

respondents who liked Bal poussière). The film showed them ways to be patient and it showed the men

how to handle their women fairly.

In the case of Camp de Thiaroye, most of those who chose this film as their preferred film "rightly" said

that it was a story about a fight between blacks and whites, between their forefathers and the white

colonialists and they saw that the blacks were fighting for their rights. They valued the fact that it told a

real story they had heard about but did not know the details about before. But when asked about a

specific character they liked in the film, most of the respondents mentioned the dumb man who tried to

warn his comrades against the false promises of the general. All women mentioned him as did most men

and the same trend is reflected in the focus groups and individual interviews. The reason why they

mentioned him was either that they said he was courageous (seven respondents) or because he was

funny (four). Only three of them mentioned the Sergeant Chef Diata, who is the main character and

personifies the rising struggle for the liberation of African people. Of the fourteen people (among the

twenty-five who chose Camp de Thiaroye as their preferred film) who gave an interpretation of the film,

five said that this film encouraged the rejection of war, two said that one should always fight for one's

rights and only two talked about colonization. Of the latter group, one person said that the film stood for

the complete rejection of colonization and the other said that one should not accept domination.88 The

fact that the audience preferred the dumb man could be interpreted as a strong identification with the

87 This mixture is reputed to be aphrodisiac. For the record, some of the youths asked me if this was true. I told them they should just try it and come and tell me. 88 The others gave an interpretation that had nothing to do with the film. Few of the answers show that the respondents sometimes mixed up the films, which is normal, since they had been shown three years previously.

38

voiceless yet courageous and cautious people, who, despite not being able to speak and being sometimes

not considered by his comrades, was the only one who guessed that the white general was lying to them

and tried to rescue his comrades.

Regarding both historical films Tilaï and Guimba, the audience's reading of the film belongs to the

preferred reading category, with an analysis about the wrongdoings of the old tradition: five out of the

seventeen respondents who liked Guimba underscored the negative consequences the bad behavior the

chief had. One 36 year old male respondent said that he liked the film "because of the reversing of the

situation of a king who, at the beginning, oppresses people, and at the end, it gets back at him." As the

moral, he stated that "Chiefs should beware of what they do in their life, because one day, the people

will revolt against him." Tilaï also found a great resonance among the viewers, especially the fact that a

father could marry his son's girlfriend. Most viewers condemned the attitude of the father: "If the father

was wise, he should not have married his son's girlfriend," a 25-year old respondent said. One man over

50 years old sided with the father and appreciated his role, arguing that it was a matter of honor and

young people should be respectful. For Hamsatou Seydou, 26 years old, this has even become one of the

pieces of advice villagers give one another: Now, when an old man wants to marry a young woman, people react against this. People don't agree with this. They always say, you, old man, when you take a young girl, she'll never become your wife. The day her boyfriend will come back from exodus, she will be unfaithful. And in the Burkina Faso film where a father married his son's girlfriend, that's the film people take as a reference to educate the old men in the village.

She even went further and said that older men should not marry younger women.

INDIVIDUAL CHANGES

Most remembered topic (190

respondents, 83 males, 107 females)

Most mentioned topic in new learning (160

respondents,89 72 males and 88 females)

Most mentioned topic in most

important change for you (172

respondents, 75 males, 97 females)

Topic of the most followed up piece

of advice (176 respondents, 76

males, 100 females)

Total HIV/AIDS (125 respondents, 65.8% of the 190 respondents)

HIV/AIDS and malaria (75 respondents, 46.9% of the 160 respondents)

Family planning (44 respondents, 25.6% of the 172 respondents)

Malaria (68 respondents, 38.6% of the 176 respondents)

Male HIV/AIDS (64 men, 77.1% of male respondents)

HIV/AIDS (47 men, 65.3% of male respondents)

HIV/AIDS (29 men, 38.7 % of male respondents)

HIV/AIDS (38 men, 50% of the male respondents)

Females Malaria (69 women, 64.5% of female respondents)

Malaria (44 women, 50% of female respondents)

Family planning (40 women, 42.2% of female respondents)

Family planning (44 women, 44% of female respondents).

Table 6 : Educational topics most remembered having taught something new to the respondents, having changed something in their life and being followed up by individuals

89 Out of the 162 respondents who said they learned something new, two did not say what they actually learned.

39

The topics of the educational films the respondents remembered most is HIV/AIDS (65.8%), closely

followed by malaria (63.2%). An equal percentage remembered hygiene and family planning (41.6%).90

The most remembered topic of educational films among the male respondents was HIV/AIDS (77.1%)

and for women, it was malaria (64.5%), closely followed by family planning (61.7%). Whereas as many

as 57% of the female respondents also mentioned HIV/AIDS, only 15.7% male respondents mentioned

family planning. Most respondents (86.2%, or 162 respondents) said they learned something they didn't

know. There is no statistical significance between this variable and the age range or the gender of the

respondents. Out of those 160 respondents, there is an equal number who said they learned something

about HIV/AIDS and malaria (75 persons), and a third (29.4%) mentioned hygiene closely followed by

family planning (27.5%). If we look at the gender distribution, more men mentioned HIV/AIDS,

whereas more women mentioned malaria (50% of the women), closely followed up by family planning

(44.3%). Interestingly enough, regarding malaria, five mentioned that they now knew that malaria had

nothing to do with witchcraft but was a curable disease. One respondent said that before, since they

didn't know about the symptoms of malaria, they used to take the sick person to the witchdoctor instead

of the medical doctor.91

88.6% of the respondents said that these films changed something in their life. There is no significant

difference on this issue according to gender or age, but there is a statistically significant difference

between those who attended just a few screenings and those who went more often. The more often they

went to the screenings, the more often they tend to say that the films changed something in their life

(p<.001, Phi= .348). When asked about the topic of the most important change, only nine out of 172

respondents (5.2%) give an answer that pertains to the feature films. All other respondents discussed

changes related to the educational films. There is clear difference in the answers between the genders (p

< .005 and Cramer's V = .466). Men are more likely to link the most important change in their life to

HIV/AIDS and women to family planning. 38.7% of the men (twenty-nine respondents) said that the

most important change for them related to HIV/AIDS, while 41.2% of the women (forty respondents)

said it related to family planning.

91.8% (178 respondents out of 194) said they follow the advice given in the films. More concretely,

38% of all respondents (or sixty-eight respondents) answered that they protect themselves against

malaria, 30.1% (fifty-three respondents) said they protect themselves against HIV/AIDS, 27.8% (forty-

nine respondents) said they do birth control and 26.7% (forty-seven respondents) do something about

hygiene.92 Only seven respondents mentioned changes at the individual level that pertained to feature

films. All answers are related to the topic of polygamy. Two men (28 and 29 years old) and one woman 90 Four respondents did not answer this question. 91 In extreme cases, people who have advanced malaria have convulsions, and many people believe that they are inhabited by malevolent spirits. 92 The sum of these percentages is higher than 100% because this was a multiple response question.

40

(40 years old) said that they now refuse polygamy. One man (26 years old) said he now knows how to

live with several women.

Similar to the most important change category, there is a clear difference between men and women

regarding their answers about changes in their individual life: 50% of the men said that they now do

specific things to avoid HIV/AIDS whereas only 15% of the women said they do; while 44% of the

women say they have changed their approach to family planning compared with 6.6% of the men (only

five male respondents).93 This means that even though, across genders, protection against malaria is

the most significant change, gender specifically, HIV/AIDS comes first as field of individual

change for the men, whereas family planning comes first for the women. There is also a difference

between men and women regarding malaria. Of the 38% who said that they now take precautions

against malaria, 61.8% are women and 38.2% are men.94 The gap between male and female respondents

is lesser regarding hygiene (46.8% and 53.2% respectively).

CHANGES AT THE VILLAGE LEVEL

While a clear majority of the respondents had said that they saw a change in their individual life after the

screenings of the CNA, a small majority said the same about changes in the village. Only 59.3% of the

194 respondents95 said that they saw changes related to the CNA in their village. Of those who said that

they saw changes, nearly everybody said that they thought those changes were positive.96

Most respondents felt that there had been changes in the area of hygiene (33.3% of the respondents),

then in family planning (30.7%), in HIV/AIDS prevention (25.4%), and in malaria prevention (23.7%).

32.5% saw changes in other categories. While a majority of women mentioned the topic of family

planning (42.2% of the women compared to 16% of the men), there isn't much difference in the other

areas.

Among the thirty-seven respondents who gave a different answer, ten talked about greater fraternity and

solidarity in the village: "People are not hypocrite anymore." (67 yeas old man) "Before, people did not meet each other, but now, they pay each other visit." (29 year old man) "Fraternity has come to the village." (59 year old man) "Fraternity and solidarity. Meanness is no more the order of the day in the village." (19 year old man)

Since the question about changes at the village level is more of a matter of perception , I have classified

those perceptions in four categories. First, those perceptions that lead to a better quality of life thanks to

the perceived changes brought about by the CNA (avoidance of sicknesses, better health, etc.). Second,

the perceived changes in the attitudes and mentality of the inhabitants (having adopted clean habits, use

93 The male respondents said that they now allow their wife to practice birth control. 94 42% of the women said that they now do something to prevent malaria compared with 34.2% of the men. 95 115 respondents said they see changes, seventy-six said they didn't see any and three did not give any answer. 96 112 respondents (98.2%) said these changes were positive, two said that they were negative and one did not answer.

41

of mosquito nets, going to the doctor, doing family planning, etc.). Third, the perceived changes related

to greater fraternity and solidarity. Fourth perceived changes in terms of greater knowledge among the

inhabitants.

Out of the 112 respondents who said that the changes at the village level were positive, forty-seven felt

that there was greater well-being in the village, thirty-three thought that there had been a positive change

in mentality, fourteen thought that people in general knew more thanks to the CNA, and ten felt that

there was a greater fraternity and solidarity in the village. The remaining eight respondents talked either

about the necessity of getting good advice for a good life (five respondents) and three people gave

irrelevant answers.

As corollaries of those findings are two more results that came out of the qualitative research. The

fraternity and solidarity aspect was especially developed by one of the female interviewees who said that

as a consequence of the CNA's visit, a village association was created: Before the CNA came to the village, people did not see one another regularly, they did not come together, they did not like each other. There are people, we are together but everybody stays in his corner, they don't share some realities, there is no fraternity. But when the CNA came, the fact that it gathered people every evening gave room for new friendships between the inhabitants of this village. Some youths came together, some women started to discuss together. And in the movies, they saw how people lived, so people here started to visit one another […] Everybody goes to everybody's ceremony. People help each other. (Hamsatou Seydou, 26 years old).

The creation of this association was confirmed by its president, M. Nouhou. He also confirmed that the

solidarity provoked by the CNA was a founding element of this association. This association meets once

a month. It gathers everybody in the village, old and young, men and women. Only older men above 55

years old don't attend. They meet at the beginning of each month to discuss their problems. They have a

cash desk at which everybody who comes back from exodus has to pay 1 000 FCFA.97 Half of this

money goes into the cash desk, half of it is used to pay for the cola nuts and the dates for the gatherings.

With these proceedings and other monies sent by those people who live in exodus in other countries,

they managed to build their health care center and two classrooms of the medersa school. They also

went to Niamey to get funds from the Kuwaiti to build their mosque. They chose their president

according to the criteria of literacy, being able to speak in public, and being patient.98

The second result worth mentioning is the triggering of dialogue and new friendships among the

inhabitants of the village. Amina Halidou, 30 years old, reports: "I got new friends. The first evening,

when I went to watch [the CNA films], the morning after, when I came, I met other women who had

been at the screening. We have started to talk about the films we had seen the previous night. […] The

friendship lasted until now." […]

97 About 1.5 Euro. 98 This information was given by Hamsatou Seydou, one of the female interviewees, and M. Nouhou, the president of the association.

42

The young men from the youth group confirmed that they would discuss the films in their youth group

afterwards and women who used to be isolated now have topics to discuss. Halima Moumouni, 39 years

old, says that, "Now, I have a lot of women to talk with. Before, we did not discuss about malaria, the

hygiene of children, AIDS. Now, I have found a lot of friends whereas before, I did not have anybody."

ANALYSIS

It seems that there has been an impact of the films in terms of intended changes. On all the topics dealt

with in the educational films, there have been short term and long term changes, whether in terms of

individual responses, propaganda, news learning, diffusion of innovation,99 and distribution of

knowledge. Among the unplanned effects, we have a case of collective reaction that might have lead to

greater socialization and social integration.100

99 In this case, innovations can be the adoption of the birth control pill, the use of mosquito net or even the fact that now, there is a video-club. 100 McQuail, 2005, pp. 467.

Figure 3 : Possible effects of the CNA screenings on the village of Hondey Koira Tégui

Short term Long term

Planned effects

Propaganda Individual response

News learning

Distribution of knowledge

Diffusion of innovation

Entertainment Individual change

Change in knowlege

Change in attitude Change in practice

Change in awareness

effect of educational films

effect of African feature films

effect of both types of films

effect of CNA gatherings

Collective reaction

Social integration

Socialization

Empowerment

Community building

Social change

43

PLANNED EFFECTS

Planned effects of the education films

According to the diffusion model of communication for development theory, education films try to

change individual's knowledge, attitude, and practice. The participatory model tends toward

empowerment, community building, and social equity. These intentions actually belong to the

unplanned effects of media. If one looks at the previous results, there has been a change in individual

knowledge (86.2% of the respondents who went to the screenings said that they learned something new);

attitude (88.6% of the same respondents said that these films changed something in their life); and

practice (91.8% said that they follow the advice given to them in the films). There is nevertheless a

strong limitation to this last change, the change in practice, as it is based on what people say they do and

not on a survey of actual implementation of these practices. Even though these results should be taken

with caution, one can say that there seems to be now a better distribution of knowledge about these

topics, and greater awareness. The exposure of the audience to these topics through the educational films

has likely lead to a greater knowledge of those topics (news learning) and in some cases in changes

(individual responses). These changes are gendered specific, since women are more sensitive to family

planning themes and men are more sensitive to HIV/AIDS messages. In their implementation of

changes, there is a different choice of approaches. For example, while the educational films gave more

proactive advice as to how to protect oneself against HIV/AIDS (getting the test or using condoms),

most respondents said that they are either faithful or they practice abstinence (21% and 27% respectively

of the respondents who mentioned HIV/AIDS). 19% say that they use condoms, 6% say that they are

careful with cutting objects and 27% either said that they protect themselves against HIV/AIDS in

general (twenty-two respondents), or that they avoid women (three respondents). None of the

respondents said they did a test, and when I tried to speak about this issue or the issue of condoms in the

focus groups and in the interviews, I could not get concrete answers as to whether and how people could

get condoms in the village or whether somebody had gotten tested. At the health care center, the nurse

showed me a package of condoms that had never been opened and they had even expired. Regarding

family planning, the nurse told me that from May 15, 2006 until March 24, 2007, seventy-two women

had come to him for birth control, and he felt that is was proportionally quite small. This leads me to the

conclusion that the educational films seem to have an effect in terms of awareness raising, but the

individual ultimately chooses his or her implementation strategy according to his or her beliefs, the

available options, and socio-cultural context. This leads to a functional explanation of influence, that is,

an influence that is "guided by the receiver's own pre-existing needs and values."101

101 McQuail, 2005, p. 474.

44

Planned effects of the feature films

The planned effects of the feature films are entertainment, awareness of the structures of society in order

to demand social change, individual change, and reclaiming tradition. We have seen that the most

successful films are those with high entertainment value. As mentioned previously, the cartoon Kirikou

was the most appreciated film, especially among women. This film has a high entertainment value,

combining a beautiful story that reminds the viewers of African folktales, beautiful colors and pictures,

as well as beautiful music. Children who have watched this movie, whether they live in France102 or in

the very village I have studied, sing the songs of Kirikou. Some youths of the fada told me that

newborns have been named Kirikou. What most people liked in this film is its fantastic dimension. No

fewer than nineteen respondents and some of the interviewees in the focus groups and individual

interviews said that they liked Kirikou because the main character told his mother to give birth to him.

This is a reminiscent of African folktales; according to the filmmaker Michel Ocelot, the story of the

child who speaks in his mother's womb can be found in several African folktales.103

This entertainment value of the feature films seems to be the favorite function of those films for the

audience, tending to occlude the other effects they are meant to have, and limiting the analysis of the

film by the audience. This also limits the effects as intended by the filmmakers. For example, the

audience's thinking about the issues dealt with in the films is very superficial and limited to what is

immediately graspable such as polygamy, rejection of war, and the rejection of so-called bad traditional

behaviors (like the old man who marries his son's girlfriend, or the king who steals his subjects' wives).

The other issues as intended by the filmmakers (women's issues, witchcraft, and modernity vs. tradition)

have not been talked about.

UNPLANNED EFFECTS

The unplanned effects include some form of empowerment and community building that led the village

to take an active part in its own development. There again, this effect is to be taken with a great caution.

Even though the president of the association himself said that the association was created after the CNA

had gathered the people of the village ten times, other factors and pre-conditions certainly led to this.

This creation has actually nothing to do with the content of the films but with the nature of the CNA

audience, a whole community gathered around an event. This refers to the sociable function of the CNA,

namely the screenings become an occasion for a better interaction: "Media-related talk is especially

useful in providing a non-intrusive basis of contacts with strangers" (McQuail, 2005, p. 437). In the

102 Mury, C. (2005). Le gamin déluré enthousiasme l'Afrique. Télérama n° 2885 du 20 avril 2005. Retrieved May 3rd, 2007 from http://www.c-na.org/Telerama_Kirikou.htm. 103 Beelen, C. (1999). Kirikou et la sorcière. Un dessin animé de Michel Ocelot et Raymond Burlet. Collection Ecran large sur tableau noir. Le Centre Culturel les Grignoux et le C.T.L – Liège. Retrieved on May 3rd, 2007 from http://www.auladecine.com/recursos/onparle_pdf/Kirikou.pdf. p. 19.

45

present case, this seems to have led not only to people getting to know each other better and making new

friends, but also doing something together, leading to more fraternity and solidarity, which then led to

building something together for the improvement of the conditions of life in the village (e.g. building the

health care center and of the two classrooms). The new dialogue among the inhabitants and the

exchange of advice related to the topics of the films have a socialization effect. It contributes "to the

learning and adoption of norms, values and expectations of behaviour in particular social roles and

situations" (McQuail, 2005, p. 469). This could lead in the long run to social change, or "shifts in the

overall pattern of values, behaviours and symbolic forms characterizing a sector of society (such as

youth), a whole society or a set of societies" (McQuail, 2005, p. 470). According to the definition

elaborated by the Communication for Social Change Consortium, social change is "a positive change in

peoples' lives – as they themselves define such change."104 One can say that there seems to have been a

social change in the village, since 88.6% of the respondents who had attended the screenings said that

the films had changed something in their life, almost 60 % said that there has been a change in their

village, and of those 60%, 98.2% said that these changes were positive.

CONCLUSION

Has the CNA reached its objectives in Hondey Koira Tégui?

This project has intended to assess what impact the Cinéma numérique Ambulant project has on the rural

population in Niger as exemplified by a case study in a village. We've seen that there are different

objectives: the objectives of the African feature films, and the objectives of films the educational films .

The objectives of the African films, according to African film theory, is that the ultimate African film

should, in Teshome Gabriel's words about the combative phase of Third World cinema, liberate the

viewers from cultural colonization105 and give him or her tools to analyze the world. The results of the

research showed that this objective has not really been reached, as the analysis of the African feature

films by the audience remains quite superficial. Feature films are viewed by the audience as mainly

entertaining and their profound meanings do not seem to be the object of discussion among the

inhabitants of Hondey Koira Tégui.

Interestingly, it is on its secondary objective, the diffusion of informational and educational films

targeting African rural people, that the CNA project appears most successful. In the case of Hondey

Koira Tégui, most people who watched the educational movies saw their knowledge about the different

themes raised, and they claimed to have changed their attitude and behavior. In this particular case

104 Parks, W., Gray-Felder, D., Hunt, J. & Byrne, A. (2005): Who measures change? An introduction to Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Communication for Social Change. South Orange: Communication for Social Change Consortium Inc. . P. 3. 105 Gabriel, T. H. (1989). Towards a Critical Theory of Third World Films. In P. Williams & L. Chrisman (eds.). Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory. (pp. 340-358). New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. P. 346.

46

study, people even tried to change things in their village and there is a greater social cohesion. As

discussed in the analysis section, these changes cannot be completely attributed to the CNA, the nature

of these changes shows that there needs to be some preconditions for them to take place, and the

messages sent out by the films only confirm a pre-existing willingness to change. It seems that the

people in the village have understood the function of the educational films very well and these films are

in high demand among the villagers. These films even seem to be the primary reason for the villagers to

attend screenings, whereas the feature films are considered entertainment 'only' and not necessarily a

reason for coming out at night. Quite a few of the respondents said that they stayed only for the

educational films and went home when the feature film started. This could actually be the reason why

people as a whole got more out of the educational films than out of the feature films: They might not

have thought that they could learn something useful from those films or that it could give them elements

for a better understanding of their world. Since the messages and topics dealt with in the feature films

are not as straightforward as in the educational films, it is harder for a lay audience to decipher them.

There is room for improvement in the work of the CNA in order to help the audience to also see the

feature films as something other than "simple" entertaining films. Recommendations like conducting a

debate at the end of the feature film are impractical because people might be tired after having seen

sometimes three films over a period of three to four hours after a day's work. This issue should be

addressed within the CNA for them to find adapted solutions. Nevertheless, I believe that the first step

would be to make the CNA animators themselves aware of those different layers, meanings, and issues

in the African feature films for them to start presenting and talking about them in a different way when

they translate them in the microphone. They are also the ones who should propose solutions to make the

African feature films also attractive to their audience in ways other than as mere entertainment.

One of the most remarkable and unexpected effects on the village of Koira Tégui was the fact that the

villagers gathered together, spoke with each other, and made some major changes, like finding money

and building themselves the health care center and the classrooms. This partly happened because the

CNA brought together all inhabitants of the village ten times over a period of five months. This social

function seems to have given the impetus for a greater dialogue in the village and for collective action.

Of course, specific conditions certainly played a big role, like the fact that the village has resources

thanks to the numerous inhabitants who have left the village but can still be asked to contribute to its

development. But two factors might have enhanced the importance of the CNA event in the process of

increased 'fraternity and solidarity' in the village. First, the fact that the village really had no other

collective regular and festive activity beside the CNA. Second, they had no access to modern media,

therefore there was no overexposure to images like in urban areas. This is what made the CNA

screenings so special for the village. The lack of modern media is still a common feature in many

47

villages in Niger. Therefore, the CNA should definitely try to stick its principle of coming ten times to

the villages to allow for this social function to develop and bring whatever results the inhabitants will

deem necessary. Many of the development projects that hire the CNA services only see the short term

benefit of individual responses to the films' messages and don't bother to ask the CNA to come more

than once or twice to the same village. Since the CNA relies on these projects to get funding, it will have

to devise a strategy to manage to implement it's own principles in other regions than Niamey if it wants

to achieve similar effects in other villages throughout Niger.

Is the CNA project a communication for development project?

In the realm of communication for development, the CNA project bridges both the diffusion and the

participatory models, as it is the case with the entertainment / education ("edutainment") model. Indeed,

the educational films it shows are developed within the cultural and social context of Niger and West

Africa; it uses the medium of film, and it has a participatory and proximity aspect as it gathers people

around an event and gives them the occasion to speak.106 The CNA is one instrument within the overall

edutainment strategy but it does not in itself follow this strategy systematically. It is based "only" on

films and dialogue through the debate after the film (proximity and participatory media), and it does not

use any other instruments nor does it have as a primary goal development and social change. It reaches

relatively few people at a time, compared to other edutainment strategies like Soul City which show

their films on TV and can reach millions of people each time (Tufte, 2002, p. 113).107 It has nevertheless

the advantage of being quite easy to evaluate and monitor. Many organizations use the CNA to carry out

informational and educational campaigns and they get reliable quantitative and qualitative results as to

how many people watched the movies, how they reacted to them, what they said about the topic dealt

with, and so on. For organizations that need measurable and reliable quantitative and qualitative results,

the CNA has been very useful, especially in a country like Niger, or any other rural area, where most

villages don't have access to any television set.

So the Cinema numérique Ambulant is, in my opinion, not primarily a communication for development

project, but it is a very useful instrument within such a strategy. I am not sure it is interested in

becoming a communication for development project, lest it loses focus of its primary objective.

Organizations which use its services should do so as part of an overall strategy that includes actions

before and after the passage of the CNA movie truck, this event being one of the high peaks of a

communication campaign.

Validity of the theories and methodology used to measure the impact

106 Tufte, T. (2002). Edutainment in HIV/AIDS Prevention. Building on the Soul City Experience in South Africa In Servaes, J. (ed.). Approaches to Development Communication. Part 3 [electronic version]. (pp. 111-136). Paris: UNESCO. 107 The most people the CNA had at one screening was around 10,000. It is not rare for the CNA, depending on the size of the village or the quarter where it screens, to get 3,000 to 4,000 people per evening. As a comparison, the video-club in Hondey Koira Tégui can accommodate about 70 people.

48

It seems that the media effect theory with planned and unplanned effects on a short term and a long term

axis, as well as the search for intentions of the films were useful to measure the impact defined as

changes in individual knowledge, attitude and behavior in the village. The use of questionnaires to

measure these impacts yielded interesting results that were backed up by the focus groups and the

individual interviews (data triangulation). In terms of measuring awareness raising and reclaiming of

cultural identity, as advocated by the African film theory, the methods used might not have been

sufficient: the open-end questions in the survey, in the focus groups, and individual interviews did

uncover the existence of the village association whose creation the villagers identified as being linked

with the screenings of the CNA. It did also uncover that there seems to be more dialogue in the village.

But these two elements seem to be more a consequence of the gatherings than a consequence of the

content of the feature films themselves. Since the question in the survey about the respondents liking a

specific character in the film (issue of identification) did not yield much results, I tried and pushed the

issues during the focus groups and individual interviews, but it did not yield conclusive elements either.

This means two things: either the films did not reach their objective (see the first section in the

conclusion), or the methodology to explore this issue was not sufficient. Methods like participative

observation or participatory action research might have brought more results. Furthermore, if the CNA

is to change part of its strategy to make the African feature films more accessible, it could be interesting

to build in elements of ongoing evaluation of the impact of those African feature films by the audience

itself through the setting up of discussion groups around the film after each screening of the CNA, for

example.

Challenges and the way forward for the CNA project

One of the challenges the CNA has to face is the fact that it is relatively expensive, and only the "richer"

organizations can afford to hire its services. The CNA has high fixed costs (salaries, maintenance of

very sensitive video and audio material that needs to be replaced regularly, maintenance of the car, and

other expenses). Furthermore, since it doesn't have any subvention, it is completely dependent on the

project money to survive. As a solution, there has been some discussion of having the audience pay for

the screenings in order to recover part of the costs. The CNA founders, and I must agree with them,

found that if they were to reach the whole village, and continue to do the screenings outside, it would be

quite difficult to manage. Currently, even people quite far away from the screen can see the pictures and

hear the sound. The money gathered this way would certainly not cover the costs, not even half of them.

It would introduce a monetary aspect that does not exist yet and the CNA could loose its status as a non-

profit-organization.

Another challenge the CNA faces is the lack of ownership by the local community. The CNA

experience cannot really be replicated at the local level. Of course, it is difficult to reproduce at the local

49

level due to the amount of money needed to maintain it, but it is already being reproduced, albeit at a

more modest level. Video-clubs spring up all over the country. It is now up to the owners of these clubs

to introduce educational films, as has been the case in Kara Bédji, one of the villages I have visited. One

of the partners of the CNA in Niger even had the idea to include in the contract with the CNA that it was

to replicate and leave a copy of the educational films on HIV/AIDS in each municipality for them to use

for their own educational work on this topic.

Another issue involves the payment of the diffusion rights for the African feature film. Until the end of

2006, the CNA had an agreement with the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie that gave it

the right to screen thirty great classic African films. Since the beginning of 2007, the number and appeal

of the films it shows have been considerably reduced. The CNA is not a commercial venture and it can

hardly pay fees on its "receipts" since it doesn't have any. This is a real problem that the CNA still needs

to find a solution for, as its core objective, the diffusion of African films, is being threatened. This issue

was one of the main issues the CNA founders discussed during the last African film festival, FESPACO,

in Ouagadougou in March 2007.

Notwithstanding the difficulties, the CNA remains very popular with its audience as well as with its

partner organizations. On the last question of the survey, where the respondents were asked if they had

something to add, they either said that they had nothing to add or they said that they wish the CNA

would come back in the village (35.7%). This popularity is a mandate for the CNA to keep on doing its

work, and this first medium term impact study might hopefully help the CNA project to see what it can

do to improve its work in order to better reach its objectives and those of the African films.

50

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Williams, P. M. (1953). Cinema in Rural Nigeria: A Field Study of the Impact of Fundamental-Education Films on Rural Audiences in Nigeria. Ibadan.

Winskell, K. & D. Enger (2005). Young voices travel far: a case study of Scenarios from Africa. In Hemer O. & T. Tufte (eds.) (2005). Media and Glocal change. Rethinking Communication for Development. (pp. 403-416). Buenos Aires: CLASCO.

Worsley, P. (1999). Classic conceptions of culture. In Skelton, T. and T. Allen (ed.). Culture and Global Change. (pp. 13-21). London: Routledge

Zacks, S.A. (1995). The theoretical construction of African cinema. Research in African Literatures, 26 (3), 6-12; (AN 9509184641). Retrieved September 1st, 2006, from http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&an=9509184641 List of films

Alllakaye, A. (Director) (2003). Cahakomay ma ifo Hanse Boro se? [medium length film on family planning in Zarma]. Niger: Peace Corps.

Doukouré, C. (Director). (1993). Le ballon d'or [Motion picture]. Guinéa:

Duparc, H. (Director). (1988). Bal poussière [Motion picture]. Côte d'Ivoire: Focale 13.

Duparc, H. (Director). Moussa Taximan [series of 11 shortfilms on HIV/AIDS]. Ivory Coast: Partenaire radio.

Global Dialogues (Project coordinator) (2002).Les scénarios du Sahel [series of 28 shortfilms on HIV/AIDS]. West Africa.

Kaboré, G. (Director). (1982). Wênd Kunni [Motion picture]. Burkina Faso: Direction du Cinéma.

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Lamy, B. (Director). (1987). La vie est belle [Motion picture]. RDC: Lamy Films.

Lhoir, P. (Director). (2001). Anna, Bazil et le génie [shortfilm on hygiene]. Benin: MEPS, Terre des Hommes, UNICEF.

Ngabo, L. (Director). (1992). Gito l'ingrat [Motion picture]. Burundi / France:

Ocelot, M. (Director). (1998). Kirikou et la sorcière [Cartoon]. France / Belgique:

Ouédraogo, I. (Director). (1990). Tilaï [Motion picture]. Burkina Faso / Switzerland: Films de l'Avenir / Thelma Film.

Sembene, O. (Director). (1988). Camp de Thiaroye [Motion picture]. Sénégal: SNPC / SATPED / ENAPROC.

Sissoko, C. O. (Director). (1995). Guimba, un tyran, une époque [Motion picture]. Mali / Burkina Faso: Kora Films / CNPC / DIPROCI / INDR.

Touré, M. (Director). (1997). TGV [Motion picture]. Sénégal / France: Flach Films / J.F. Lepetit / Les Films de la Saga / Bernard Giraudeau / Les Films du Crocodile / Moussa Touré.

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire

Nom de l’interrogateur :

Date :

Quartier :

Avant de poser les questions, demander à la personnes ces trois informations :

- Quel âge avez-vous (plus de 15 ans nécessaire)

- Connaissez-vous le CNA - Etiez-vous dans le village quand

le CNA est venu Si la personne répond moins de 15 ans à la première question et non à l’une des deux questions ou aux deux, ne pas poursuivre l’interview. Nr. de l’interview :

Questionnaire

1. Informations sur la personnes interrogée :

Sexe : masculin féminin

Age/Année de

naissance :

Niveau scolaire : N’a pas été à l’école A fait l’école primaire

Est allé au collège

et +

Langue maternelle : Zarma Autre :

Comprend le français : oui non

2. Questions

1. Avez-vous assisté au moins à une projection du CNA ? oui non

Je n’étais pas intéressé par le cinéma

Je n’avais pas le temps C’était pour les enfants autre raison :

2. Pourquoi n’avez-vous assisté à aucune projection ? (arrêtez l’interview)

3. Combien de fois êtes-vous allé aux projections du CNA ? Nombre de fois : Je ne sais pas

4. Comment avez-vous aimé les séances ?

J’ai beaucoup aimé J’ai bien aimé

55

Ca m’était égal Je n’ai pas aimé du tout

5. Pourquoi n’avez-vous pas aimé ?

6. Qu’est-ce que vous avez aimé dans les séances ?

Etre avec ma famille, mes amis

l’atmosphère de fête

Ca me mettait de bonne humeur

Ca me permettait de m’échapper de la réalité

Ca m’a appris beaucoup de chose

Autre raison :

1.

2.

7. Quel type de films aimiez-vous le plus ? (mettre dans votre ordre de préférence ‘film de fiction’ ou ‘film de sensibilisation)

le VIH/SIDA le paludisme

L’hygiène

Autre :

8. Vous souvenez vous de quel sujet les films de sensibilisation parlaient ? (laissez la personne parler et cochez la case correspondante ou écrivez la réponse)

9. Parmi les conseils, avez-vous appris quelque chose que vous ne connaissiez pas ?

Oui Non (aller à la question 11)

10. Pouvez-vous nous citer des exemples parmi ces conseils ?

11. Parmi les films de fiction, quelle histoire avez-vous le plus aimée ?

56

12. Pourquoi avez-vous aimé cette histoire ?

13. Y’a-t’il un personnage que vous avez particulièrement aimé ? Oui Non (aller à la question

15)

14. Pouvez-vous nous dire lequel et pourquoi ?

15. A votre avis, quelle était la morale de l’histoire ?

16. Est-ce que ces films ont changé quelque chose dans votre vie ?

oui (aller à la question 19) non

17. Si non, pourquoi ?

18. Si oui, pouvez-vous nous donné le changement qui selon vous a été le plus important ?

57

19. Appliquez-vous des conseils donnés par ces films ? oui non (aller à la question

21) 2O. Lesquels ?

21. Avez-vous vu des changements dans le village après le passage du CNA et en relation avec les films montrés ?

Oui Non (aller à la question 25)

22. Quels changements avez-vous constatés ?

23. Ces changements son-ils à votre avis positifs ou négatifs ?

positifs négatifs

24. Pourquoi ?

25. Aimeriez-vous ajouter quelque chose qui n’a pas été abordé dans cet entretien ?

Merci.

Niamey, May 2007

Picture: Hadjara Thoguyéni (Salt caravane, Djado, November 2006)