The Congo Cookbook » Sitemap » About Africa » Africa in the Movies

Chicken | Fish | Meat | Rice | Soup & Stew | Sauce | Staple | Veg. & Side | Snack | Beverage | Other

About Africa

Africa in Literature

Africa in the Movies

Africa on the Web

African Cookbook Review

African Geography Quiz # 1

African Geography Quiz # 2

African Proverbs

What to Bring?

Kwanzaa & Black History Month

What is Cassava?
_


Recipe Indexes

Rare Recipes

About this Website

Learn About Africa

About African Cooking

_

The Congo Cookbook Guestbook and African Food Forums

Recipe Requests


The Congo Cookbook Shop
_

A printed book or PDF download version of The Congo Cookbook is available from lulu

Amazon.com Search Now:

movies about Africa, movies set in Africa, movies filmed in Africa, quiz

Africa in the Movies

In the mood for a cinematic African safari?

Here are some movies and videos about Africa, set in Africa, filmed in Africa, or somehow related to Africa. Some you might want to see, and a few you might want to avoid. Some are dramas, some comedies, some are realistic, others present a distorted or romanticized view of Africa. Northern Africa is the setting of many of the older movies; Apartheid South Africa is the setting for many of the newer movies. Take the Africa and the Academy Awards quiz, or see The Congo Cookbook movies-about-Africa recommendations, below. Please note the African-made movies (i.e., movies made by African directors).

  - movies that were filmed at least partially in Africa are notated with the name(s) of the African country (countries) in which they were filmed

---

Africa and the Academy Awards Quiz.
Here is a list of movies about Africa (or set in Africa or filmed in Africa) that have either won an Academy Award or been nominated for an Academy Award. Each movie is identified by a clue. Read the clue, make your guess, then click to see the answer.

2000s

• German Jewish refugee family moves to 1930s Kenya (2001)
  German entry won Best Foreign Language Film Award.
  - filmed in Kenya



• Real-life modern urban battle (2001)
  Won Editing and Sound Academy Awards.
  - filmed in Morocco



• Float Like a Butterfly, sting like a bee, not too many saw _ _ _ (2001)
  Two Academy Award acting nominations.
  - filmed in Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa



• General becomes gladiator (2000)
  Won five Oscars, including Best Actor and Best picture.
  - filmed in Morocco

1990s

• Animated re-make of oft told story set in Africa (1999)
  Phil Collins won Best Song Oscar.
  Fun for younger kids or Phil Collins fans; this adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic carefully avoids depicting Africans in Africa.



• You can get wrapped up in this horror flick (1999)
  One nomination.
  - filmed in Egypt, Morocco



• Disney's Big Gorilla remake (1998)
  One nomination.
  No reason not to see the original.



• Animated story of Moses (1998)
  Won Best Song Oscar.
  DreamWorks' first animated film.



• Rumble in the Jungle (1997)
  Won Best Documentary Oscar.
  "We take ze plane through ze air to get to Zaire."
  - filmed in Zaire (Congo)



• Speilberg directed slave ship courtroom drama(1997)
  Four nominations.
  Film studies question: how is Cinque similar to E.T.?



• Portrait of South African leader (1997)
  Best Documentary nomination.



• Martin Scorsese bio-pic of the Dalai Lama (1997)
  4 nominations, including Best Original Dramatic Score (Philip Glass).
  Morocco stands in for Tibet
  - filmed in Morocco



• Love and loss in the Sahara during WWII (1996)
  Won nine (nine!) Oscars.
  Two or three would have been plenty.
  - filmed in Tunisia



• Based on true man-eaters of Tsavo story (1996)
  Won one Oscar.
  Are the real man-eaters still in Chicago?
  - filmed in South Africa, Kenya



• Disney had pride in this animated feature (1994)
  Won Score and Song Oscars.
  Greatest animated film ever?



• Medical drama begins in Comoros Islands off East African coast (1992)
  Two nominations.
  Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Peter Ustinov.

1980s

• Afrikaner school teacher & apartheid (1989)
  Brando got Best Supporting Actor nomination.
  Like most apartheid movies, this one is depressingly about how apartheid affected white people; still it is a good effort and Brando is great.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Adventures of Zamunda prince in America (1988)
  Two nominations.
  Memorably funny, especially for Eddie Murphy playing multiple roles.



• Africa as Holy land for film of Nikos Kazantzakis's novel (1988)
  Nomination for Best Director, Martin Scorsese.
  - filmed in Morocco



• Sigourney Weaver in Dian Fossey's life story (1988)
  Five nominations.
  - filmed in Kenya



• Denzel Washington as Stephen Biko, Kevin Kline as Donald Woods (1987)
  Three nominations.
  - filmed in Kenya, Zimbabwe



• The Baron, his wife, her lover, coffee, and Kenya (1985)
  Won seven Oscars.
  Colonialism, but a grand story. Based on book by Isak Dinesen
  - filmed in Kenya



• Christopher Lambert as Tarzan (1984)
  Three nominations.
  Well worth seeing.
  - filmed in Cameroon



• Australians accused of Boer War atrocities (1980)
  One nomination.

1970s

• Supersleuth Poirot in Egypt (1978)
  Won one Oscar.
  Agatha Christie story on screen.
  - filmed in Egypt



• African desert location used for sci-fi fantasy (1977)
  Won seven Oscars.
  - filmed in Tunisia



• WWI in West Africa: Noirs et Blancs en Couleur (1976)
  Won Best Foreign Film Oscar.
  - filmed in Ivory Coast



• Remake of original, Oscar-less Big Gorilla movie (1976)
  Won Special FX Oscar.
  The original should have got an award.



• Kipling short story: British soldiers in India attempts to become rich and royal (1975)
  Four nominations.
  Starring: Sean Connery & Michael Caine; Directed by John Huston.
  - filmed in Morocco



• American woman abducted by Berbers in Morocco (1975)
  Two nominations.
  Starring: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, John Huston, and Brian Keith

1960s

• White hunters hunted and killed by offended Africans (1966)
  Best screenplay nomination.
  Cornel Wilde directed and acted.
  - filmed in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe



• Laurence Olivier as Mahdi, Charlton Heston as General Gordon (1966)
  One nomination.
  Largely forgotten, but very good.
  - filmed in Egypt



• Polish-made costume drama set in ancient Egypt (1966)
  One nomination.
  Best Foreign Language Film nomination.
  - filmed in Egypt



• Elsa, the lioness, and the Adamson family (1966)
  Won Original Score and Best Song Oscars.
  A memory of many people's childhood.
  - filmed in Kenya



• James Stewart, all star cast, in Saharan plane crash drama (1965)
  Two Nominations.
  Gripping drama, check it out.



• Depiction of the Algerian war for independence, commissioned by Algerian government (1965)
  Three nominations (in different years), including Best Foreign Language Film.
  Music by Ennio Morricone .
  - filmed in Algeria



• Love and death on the Nile (again) (1963)
  Nine nominations; Won four Oscars.



• John Wayne and international cast trapping in Tanganyika (1962)
  One nomination.
  A romp. Love that baby elephant dance music. The stars evidently did their own stunt work with the animals.
  - filmed in Tanzania

1950s

• Audrey Hepburn as nun in Belgian Congo (1959)
  Eight nominations, including Best Actress.
  Hepburn should have won, many say.
  - filmed in Congo



• "Let my people go!" (1956)
  Seven nominations, One win.
  - filmed in Egypt



• Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, and Gene Tierney in drama of orphan's rise to Pharoah's court (1954)
  Best Color Cinematography nomination.



• Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly (1953)
  Best Actress & Supporting Actress Nominations.
  Flaming love found in the savage heart of the jungle!
  - filmed in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo



• Gregory Peck ponders life and death in East Africa (1952)
  Two nominations.
  Based on Ernest Hemingway story



• Riverboat captain and missionary spinster (1952)
  Won Best Actor Oscar for Bogart.
  A classic.
  - filmed in Congo



• Adventurer, lost explorer, diamond mine (1950)
  Won one Oscar of two nominations.
  From H. Rider Haggard novel. Real old-fashioned movie excitement.
  - filmed in Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda

1940s

• Big Gorilla likes Stephen Foster melody; is girl's best friend (1949)
  Won Best FX Oscar.
  This is the big gorilla movie with the most heart.



• Bogart & Bergman, movie based on play Everybody Comes to Rick's (1943)
  Won three Oscars.
  Perfection.



• Billy Wilder directed this North African WWII story; Erich von Stroheim plays Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (1943)
  Three Nominations, including cinematography and editing.



• Bogart leads WWII U.S. tank crew in North Africa (1943)
  Three Nominations.



• On the road again: Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, "like Webster's dictionary", meet Dorothy Lamour and Anthony Quinn (1942)
  Two nominations.
  Good fun.

1930s

• British ex-officer secretly disguises himself as a Sudanese to aide former comrades (1939)
  One Oscar nomination.
  not one, not two, not three . . .
  - filmed in Sudan



• North Africa, Foreign Legion, Imperialism, War; Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Brian Donlevy (1939)
  Two Oscar nominations.
  There have been several screen versions of this Percival Christopher Wren novel, including a memorable silent version.



• French jewel thief, hiding in casbah of . . . (1938)
  Four Oscar nominations; including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
  Hollywood re-make of French movie Pépé le Moko (which was filmed in Algeria).



• DeMille directed, Claudette Colbert as Queen (1934)
  Won one Oscar.



• First action-adventure movie filmed in Africa (1931)
  Best Picture nomination.
  Based on the (partly fictional?) memoirs of a real English trader, Alfred Aloysius Horn, who worked in Central Africa and became popular author.
  - filmed in Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda



• French Foreign Legionnaire and cabaret singer in North Africa (1930)
  Four Oscar Nominations.

---

Other movies related to Africa.
Some really good ones, and a few that should have gotten their own Academy Award nominations, some that pre-date the Academy Awards; others not so good and should be avoided or handled with care.

2000s

• Tears of the Sun (2003)
  He was trained to follow orders. He became a hero by defying them. DVD includes "Interactive map of Africa", etc.



• Mama Africa (2002)
  Wow! Six short films (on the DVD), made in 2001, from six African directors: "Hang Time" (Ngozi Onwurah, Nigeria); "Uno's World" (Bridget Pickering, Namibia); "Raya" (Zulfah Otto-Sallies, South Africa); "Bintou" (Fanta Nacro, Burkina Faso); "Riches" (Ingrid Sinclair, Zimbabwe); and "One Evening in July" (Raja Amari, Tunisia). Queen Latifah hosts this African film festival.
  - filmed in Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Tunisia



• The Four Feathers (2002)
  Seventh filming of classic 1902 novel.
  - filmed in Morocco



• National Geographic - Africa (2001)
  From National Geographic Television and PBS: a fascinating eight-hour series documenting the lives of average people in 11 countries. Also, see the accompanying book by John Reader, Africa: A Companion to the PBS Series



• Lumumba (2000)
  Story of Patrice Lumumba's rise and fall in early days of post-colonial Congo.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe and Mozambique



• I Dreamed of Africa (2000)
  Kuki Gallmann may be a good person, but this bio-pic with African backdrop is a dud. If you want to see Africa on a screen, better to get a National Geographic video.
  - filmed in South Africa

1990s

• Instinct (1999)
  Anthony Hopkins as gorilla researcher run amok; Cuba Gooding Jr. as his shrink.



• Life on Earth (La vie sur terre) (1998)
  Y2K in the small village of Sokolo, Mali
  - filmed in Mali



• Hideous Kinky (1998)
  Two young sisters and their hippie mother travel from London to Morocco. Kate Winslet.
  - filmed in Morocco



• Heat of the Sun (1998)
  BBC TV production of renegade British detective exiled to colonial Kenya in 1930s. Lots to like in story, acting, and atmosphere.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Ipi Ntombi: An African Dance Celebration (1997)
  South African love story told in dance and song.



• George of the Jungle (1997)
  Lighthearted, funny spoof of jungle-boy movies. Watch out for that tree!



• Ernest Goes to Africa (1997)
  Must be seen to be endured.



• The Leopard Son (1996)
  John Gielgud narrates nature documentary.
  - filmed in Tanzania



• Guimba, un tyrant une époque (Guimba the Tyrant) (1995)
  African myth, African storytelling in an African film: an evil ruler and his dwarf son.
  - filmed in Mali



• Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
  James Earl Jones and Richard Harris in adaptation of Alan Paton novel.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Congo (1995)
  Michael Crichton novel of explorers encountering killer apes. This is a terrible movie.
  - filmed in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda



• Heart of Darkness (1994)
  Made for TV version of classic Joseph Conrad novel stars Tim Roth and John Malkovich. Some love it, some hate it.



• A Good Man in Africa (1994)
  Misadventures of British embassy employee in fictional West African country. Unfortunately not near as good as the outstanding novel by William Boyd.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Sankofa (1993)
  An African-American fashion model experiences historic slavery.



• Bopha! (1993)
  Danny Glover stars in memorable role as a black apartheid-era South African police officer, torn between his community and his commanding officers. Directed by Morgan Freeman.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Hyènes (Hyenas) (1992)
  A wealthy woman returns to her impoverished hometown, which she had been cast out of years earlier. The townspeople are sure she can make them all rich -- she can . . . if they agree to do one thing for her. An African interpretation of The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt; rich with many levels of meaning.
  - filmed in Senegal



• Quartier Mozart (1992)
  A comedy of sex and sorcery: a young urban woman becomes a man, so as to understand men firsthand.
  - filmed in Cameroon



• Sarafina! (1992)
  Whoopi Goldberg stars in musical about apartheid-era South African school teacher and her students.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Mississippi Masala (1992)
  Cross-cultural tensions after an Indian family moves from Uganda to America.
  - filmed in Uganda



• The Power of One (1992)
  English boy comes of age in 1930s South Africa.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Night on Earth (1991)
  Five Taxis. Five Cities. One Night. -- the "Paris" section features an African taxi driver and two African diplomats.



• Mister Johnson (1991)
  Pierce Brosnan plays government administrator in colonial Nigeria, Maynard Eziashi portrays his "native clerk", whose desire to be "British" eventually is his undoing. Screenplay by William Boyd based on Joyce Cary novel.
  - filmed in Nigeria



• Jit (1990)
  Boy loves girl, but other boy has more money. Likeable story and characters, great music. Said to be first feature film made in Zimbabwe.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Mountains of the Moon (1990)
  Old-fashioned adventure recounts the story of Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke and their expedition into East Africa to discover the source of the Nile, c. the 1850s. Detailed, authentic production.
  - filmed in Kenya



• Tilai (1990)
  from Burkina Faso, a tale of illicit love in traditional times
  - filmed in Burkina Faso.



• The Sheltering Sky (1990)
  Debra Winger and John Malkovich as New Yorkers in North Africa. Bernardo Bertolucci directed this adaptation of the Paul Bowles novel.
  - filmed in Algeria, Niger, Morocco



• White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)
  Clint Eastwood stars and directs interesting movie version of Peter Viertel's screenplay of his novel based on his experiences working with John Houston during the making of The African Queen.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe

1980s

• The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)
  Sequel to 1980 film involves lost children finding their way home. Funny and adorable.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Yaaba (1989)
  A special bond between children and an old woman.
  - filmed in Burkina Faso



• Chocolat (1989)
  French woman's nostalgic memoir of childhood in colonial Cameroon (or for her, Cameroun).
  - filmed in Cameroon



• Cobra Verde (1988)
  Awesome, surreal achievement of director Werner Herzog and actor Klaus Kinski; story of slave trader's descent into madness, based on The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin.
  - filmed in Ghana



• White Mischief (1988)
  True story: mystery of murder of British aristocrat in Kenya's 'Happy Valley' in 1941.
  - filmed in Kenya



• La Vie est Belle (Life is Rosy) (1987)
  A comedy about a Congolese villager who comes to the big city, Kinshasa. Almost a documentary, a look at daily life in what was then Zaire; the lead role is played by Congolese musician Papa Wemba, and there is an appearance by Pepe Kalle.
  - filmed in Congo



• Ishtar (1987)
  Widely lamented "comedy" starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman. Maybe it's not as bad as people first thought.
  - filmed in Morocco



• Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
  Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, again. Well, some people liked it.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Visages de femmes (Faces of Women) (1985)
  It has been said: "the aquatic sex scene is one of the first soft love scenes in West African cinema".
  - filmed in Ivory Coast



• King Solomon's Mines (1985)
  This version (the 3rd?) stars Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone.
  - filmed in Zimbabwe



• Sheena (1984)
  She-tarzan.
  - filmed in Kenya



• Shaka Zulu (1983)
  Excellent, lengthy, and detailed movie biography of Zulu warrior-king, Shaka (1787? - 1828).
  - filmed in South Africa



• The Black Stallion Returns (1983)
  Famous Walter Farley novel about "the black" in Moroccan horserace.
  - filmed in Morocco



• Wend Kuuni (1982)
  A deaf orphan in traditional, rural Burkina Faso.
  - filmed in Burkina Faso



• The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
  Controversial comedy starts with a rural !Kung (Bushman) man finding a Coke bottle. Un-realistic, sure, but remember it's a comedy. Some say it mis-represents the !Kung people, but the other characters are treated in a similar fashion.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Lion of the Desert (Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert); (1980)
  Anthony Quinn, John Gielgud, Oliver Reed, and Rod Steiger in story of Libyan struggle against Italy during World War II. Financed by Muammar Qaddafi.
  - filmed in Libya



• The Dogs of War (1980)
  Christopher Walken as mercenary leading coup in small African country.

1970s

• Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
  Controversial comedy starts with baby being mistaken for messiah.
  - filmed in Tunisia



• The Wild Geese (1978)
  Mercenaries overthrow dictator in Central Africa. Roger Moore, Richard Harris.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Raid on Entebbe (1977)
  Drama tells story of Israeli raid on Entebbe Airport (Uganda) to rescue hostages.



• Shout at the Devil (1976)
  Lee Marvin and Roger Moore plot to destroy German battleship near Zanzibar during WWI.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Appunti per una Orestiade africana (Notes for an African Orestes) (1975)
  A film about a film that was never made, by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
  - filmed in Tanzania and Uganda



• Emanuelle nera (Black Emanuelle) (1975)
  A new experience in sensuality: No one is ever the same after Black Emanuelle.
  - filmed in Kenya (Amboseli Lodge, Amboseli National Park)



• Touki Bouki (1973)
  A young Senegalese couple cons and schemes to pay for tickets to Paris. A slice of Senegalese life.
  - filmed in Senegal



• The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)
  Tim Conway and John Amos as out-of-luck coaches discover Tarzanesque Jan-Michael Vincent in Africa.



• Shaft in Africa (1973)
  "The Brother Man in the Motherland".
  - filmed in Ethiopia

1960s

• Dark of the Sun (1968)
  (The Mercenaries); "A strike force of crack mercenaries fight the hottest battles in all the blazing fury of today's strife-torn Congo! ", stars Rod Taylor, from Wilbur Smith novel.
  - filmed in Congo



• The Last Safari (1967)
  White hunter Stewart Granger hunts for elephant that killed his friend.
  - filmed in Kenya



• Zulu (1964)
  1879: Rorke's Drift, Natal. Tiny outpost of British troops defeated, after valiant struggle, by massive Zulu army. Impressive re-creation of unforgettable battle.
  - filmed in South Africa



• Call Me Bwana (1964)
  Bob Hope goes to Africa to retrieve lost space capsule, meets Anita Ekberg and . . . Arnold Palmer!

1950s

• Something of Value (1957)
  Movie based on Robert Ruark's novel set during Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya; Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier.
  - filmed in "Africa", Kenya?



• Tamango (1957)
  Story of slave ship revolt and interracial relationship; Dorothy Dandridge
  



• Legend of the Lost (1957)
  John Wayne and Sophia Loren search for lost treasure in desert.
  - filmed in Libya



• Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
  Joan Collins in costume melodrama set in Hollywood's Egypt.
  - filmed in Egypt



• White Witch Doctor (1954)
  Susan Hayward as a nurse traveling to Bakuba country in the Belgian Congo is guided by Robert Mitchum.
  - stock footage from Africa (?)



• Karamoja (1954)
  American dentist William Treutle's documentary of fulfilling his last wish -- travel to "darkest Africa" where he finds the Karamoja people.
  - filmed in Uganda (?)



• Ramar of the Jungle (1952)
  Early television action-adventure series told story of heroic doctor in Africa (later episodes set in India).



• Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
  First screen adaptation of Alan Paton novel, stars Sidney Poitier.
  - filmed in South Africa

1940s

• Outpost in Morocco (1949)
  Another French Foreign Legion in North Africa B-movie
  - filmed in Morocco



• Africa Screams (1949)
  (Abbott and Costello in Africa); Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, "Africa".



• Sherlock Holmes in Pursuit To Algiers (1945)
  Holmes and Watson protect a royal heir en route to his homeland. (Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce star.)



• Nabonga (1944)
  Missing money. African jungle. Explorer hero. Beautiful woman. Big ape. -- stars Buster Crabbe.



• Road to Zanzibar (1941)
  Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's adventures get started with a phony map to an African diamond mine.

1930s

• Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
  American journalist Henry Morton Stanley (played by Spencer Tracy) searching Africa for "missing" missionary David Livingstone (Cedric Hardwicke). Somewhat fictionalized, but worth seeing.
  - filmed in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda



• King Solomon's Mines (1937)
  First (?) movie version of H. Rider Haggard novel stars Paul Robeson and Cedric Hardwicke.



• Wings Over Africa (1934)
  Martin Johnson - Osa Johnson documentary.



• Africa Speaks -- English (1933)
  Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy flying over the African jungle, they run out of gas . . .



• Congorilla (1932)
  Martin Johnson - Osa Johnson documentary, also titled: Adventures Among the Big Apes and Little People of Central Africa.



• Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932)
  "Mothered by an ape--He knew only the law of the jungle--to seize what he wanted!"; Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan star, great fun.



• The Mummy (1932)
  Boris Karloff in the classic.



• Kongo (1932)
  Walter Huston in remake of 1928's West of Zanzibar.



• Wonders of the Congo (1931)
  Martin Johnson - Osa Johnson documentary.



• Africa Speaks (1930)
  Successful documentary (film and book) of cross-continent expedition in Africa; quite dated today, but was undoubtedly the first motion picture images of Africa seen by many. Lowell Thomas narrated. Title inspired spoofs for two decades, e.g., "Africa Speaks -- English", "Africa Screams".
  - filmed in Congo, (etc.?)

1920s

• West of Zanzibar (1928)
  Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore, directed by Tod Browning; In East Africa, cuckolded husband rules natives and plots revenge on the ivory trader who stole his wife.



• Tarzan of the Apes (1918)
  The first movie adaptation the Edgar Rice Burroughs story, starring Elmo Lincoln.

Know of anything we're missing?

Search this website:

	Web www.congocookbook.com