Audiovisual Production in West Africa: The Integration of New Technical and Aesthetic Forms to the Classical Film Studies Canon

The digital shift is changing the cinematographic medium in the technical ways of producing and broadcasting audiovisual artifacts, our aesthetic expectations, and how cultural institutions make sense of these aspects. It is a global phenomenon, which takes a specific form in West Africa, where it presents an opportunity and a challenge, requiring cultural institutions to update their understanding of audiovisual production. Based on analysis of recent Francophone West African films, this article questions the aesthetic criteria that we usually use to analyze and teach about African cinema. Beginning with observations of the consequences of the digital shift, it details how aesthetic evolution is an issue for African film studies and audiovisual institutions in West Africa.