ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses african women. Despite their beauty, wealth and diversity, and their exceptional past, present and future, they have been neglected and oppressed throughout history. The book addresses the prolific but marginalised presence of women in African filmmaking. As is the case for female film practitioners everywhere, women are underrepresented in the male-dominated African film industries as well as the male-dominated scholarly work on African cinema. Cinematic representations of women have primarily been created by male filmmakers. Many filmmakers and historians argue that these representations will always be flawed, partial and incomplete, and need to be complemented by women making films. But to say that only women can tell stories about women, or men about men, or Africans about Africa is also reductive.
