Film as Evidence, Film as History and Film in History: Some African Perspectives

Abstract

During my undergraduate years, a long time ago now, I cannot remember a single instance when any form of film was used for any purpose whatsoever in a history course at Cambridge University. Yet clearly film has become more acceptable to the historical academy as a whole in recent years. My own experience of engaging with film has been in three ways: with film as a form of historical evidence; through exploring the role film has played 'in' history, possibly by influencing opinions and policies; and, most controversially for historians at large, with analysing film as attempted history, as a form of history itself.1 One might of course engage with film in all three ways simultaneously, as many of the contributions to Black and White in Colour: African History on Screen demonstrate.2 One can also add that there are various forms of film that one can engage with such as actuality footage, documentary, docudrama or feature films; albeit that the boundaries between these categories are not always clear. I will begin by saying something about films as evidence, relating this to elements of my current research project, before moving briefly to consider film in history and, at greater length, film as attempted history. Film as evidence Film can be used as historical evidence, with all the caveats about how one should query evidence in whatever medium, in two obvious ways. First, for the information it contains, or supposedly contains, about the past: about, for instance, places, objects, people, events, or cultural practices. Take the example of Barbet Schreuder's documentary made with the full co-operation of Idi Amin and entitled Idi Amin: AutoPortrait (1974). This might be scrutinised for what it suggests about Amin's personality or oratorical techniques, whether witty or involving buffoonery; or perhaps for the urban landscapes of Kampala in the mid-1970s; or for a glimpse into the nature of an Amin cabinet meeting; or for the Ugandan leader's musical skills or ways in which he addressed the foreign press corps. Historians as well as the makers of Last King of Scotland can mine AutoPortrait for this kind of information. Secondly, films might be analysed for evidence of contemporary attitudes, values and ideas, or for changes and continuities in attitudes, values and ideas over time. Thus AutoPortrait might also be examined for what it says about Barbet Schreuder's, or perhaps other western observers', perceptions of Idi Amin and Uganda. For although it is firmed in a Cinema Verite style, and this itself naturally raises the question of what sort of truth the presence of the camera provokes in the individuals under scrutiny, clearly there is editing, sequencing, narration, and scenes added to the film beyond Amin's control. Though, as you may know, Amin did attempt to influence the editing process by taking French hostages. Most obviously, and like Last King as well, AutoPortrait might be held to be a typical case of focusing on individuals, whether they be Amin, or Tipu Sultan (in eighteenth century India), or Saddam Hussein, or Robert Mugabe in recent times, to personify the real or alleged atrocities of hostile regimes. AutoPortrait might also be seen by some as a typical case of western stereotyping (whether in written or visual form) of Africans or Asians more generally as irrational, and therefore as incapable of successful self-government. In the process, such stereotyping deflects attention from western culpability in producing the circumstances that arguably produced such tyranny in the first place; though it should perhaps be noted that Last King of Scotland does suggest initial British support for Amin's accession to power.3 At any rate, looking at films as evidence of values, concerns and attitudes is perhaps the most frequent way that they have been explored by the academy in a range of disciplines. Pioneering figures in this respect were the likes of Jeffrey Richards, whose Visions of Yesterday (1973) had a section on British Empire films that included the likes of Sanders of the River and Rhodes of Africa, Paul Smith and Anthony Aldgate. …