Jihan El-Tahri Quotes

African cinema doesn't have an African industry at all and that's where our problem arises. We come to all of these initiatives with a lot of suspicion because we're so inhabited by the notion of being colonized, the post-colonial thought that someone wants us to do something that is their interest and not ours and even it's not true, there's the suspicion of it like where is this going?

I think having six people all with different energies and different perceptions all working around a script is quite profound. It’s not about, oh that’s what you should be doing.

I think it's absolutely fantastic to give the combination of the major structural element for the growth of a filmmaker. It's technical know-how, some money to get on with it, and the dream that he can always grow.

There's always criticism in any process and I think that's a healthy thing.

If the young filmmakers ask themselves enough questions and come up with enough answers and get the scripts tight enough.

Black is not a notion. Africa is not a color. Africa is a culture. So you can be pitch black and I am my color but I'm more African than you can ever be because culturally there are certain things that you just don't understand.

What is most important is that the brand African cinema is going beyond African cinema.