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In ‘Touriste’, heroic Russians save the Central African Republic. The truth is even stranger

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Neil Munshi

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

About half an hour into Touriste , an action movie set in the Central African Republic, the head of the army briefs the country’s president about an imminent rebel attack.

Benjamin Wagba, who plays the army chief, speaks for only 23 seconds. But the role changed his life. “It was such an experience!” he says of appearing in the biggest film ever produced in his country. Still, when I ask him to tell me more about the character he played, he turns skittish. “In the film, I was, I was . . . really, really, I’m touched,” he stammers, smiling broadly. “But, I don’t know, it’s just very complicated for me.”

Here is what Wagba does not — cannot — say: Touriste is a Russian propaganda movie that glorifies the deeds of the Wagner Group , the real-world private military organisation whose mercenaries have fought in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa. Western analysts and academics believe Wagner is an unofficial foreign policy tool of the Kremlin, its soldiers deploying to regions where Russia wants to extend its influence, defend existing interests or antagonise the west. The Kremlin denies this and does not acknowledge the existence of Wagner.

As Moscow has taken an increasingly aggressive stance towards Ukraine , the film — a YouTube version of which has 7.6 million views — offers a bizarre, mind-bending window into Russia’s shape-shifting influence in the world. The film rights are owned by Aurum, a company founded by the businessman Evgeny Prigozhin, whom the US and the EU accuse of financing Wagner. Prigozhin, a catering magnate and ally of President Vladimir Putin who is sometimes known as “Putin’s chef”, has long denied any connection to the group.

Touriste portrays Russian mercenaries as selfless heroes saving a poor African country. Its plot at times hews closely to reality (Russian fighters agree to train the CAR army and then battle alongside them against brutal rebel groups) while at others conveniently distorting it (the rebels alone are depicted doing things — indiscriminate killing, torture, bullying the UN — that the mercenaries themselves are accused of by the EU and human rights groups).

The existence of the film is all the more strange because it tells a story of military intervention that, officially, Russia and the CAR fiercely deny. When I interview the CAR prime minister Henri-Marie Dondra in his Bangui office, surrounded by a dozen aides and two camera crews, he tells me that there are no mercenaries in his country. “You are the one who is talking about private companies,” he says. “I have not seen any private companies with which the country has signed a contract.”

In late September 2021, I spend a week in the capital, Bangui. Diplomats, opposition politicians and foreign officials tell me the mercenaries have been waging a brutal campaign across the country alongside the CAR army, focusing on gaining control of its many diamond- and gold-rich areas and targeting the ethnic Fulani and Muslim population. I talk to some of Wagner’s alleged victims in the city’s Muslim quarter: men and women who’ve fled rape, torture and killings in every corner of the country. The most common refrain I hear about the mercenaries is: “They have no rules.” The accusations are well known, their presence is obvious but as one young activist put it, “There’s really a kind of grey fog around them.”

Wagba says he can’t talk about what he calls “the politics” of Touriste . Instead, as we sit on the terrace of a Bangui hotel, he tells me about the experience of making the film. He marvelled at the wardrobe department — “hundreds of military uniforms!” — and the scale of the production. “We only saw one camera in my scene; it was only after, when we saw the film, that we realised how many they had.”

Talking about the craft he has practised for two-thirds of his 45 years, Wagba is like a Shakespearean stage actor. Expressive and voluble, his voice is a rough growl that sometimes runs high and lonesome. Of his first role, at 15, playing a witch in a play by the CAR’s most celebrated writer, Etienne Goyemide, he says: “A baptism — a baptism of fire.” Each syllable lands like a hammer blow. “I was so young! I had no idea what I was getting into. But anywhere you go in Bangui, you ask, who is Benjamin Wagba? They will say, he’s a witch!”

On whether he has ever had a job outside acting: “Never, never, never!” He laughs like I am a lunatic and I feel like I might genuinely be one. “I can do theatre well, I do it well, well, super well . . . I also do cinema well, so well. Other than that, I don’t do anything.”

But he shrinks again when we get nearer the plot of Touriste . “The politics behind it, I tell you, I am really careful about that . . . I don’t think about that,” he says. “I think only about how the movie elevated me, [and how] it was given to the population.”

Touriste was in a way given to the CAR, a landlocked, impoverished country that has been enmeshed in civil war for almost two decades. Last May, the film’s Russian producers held a massive premiere at the national stadium in Bangui, attended by government ministers, 10,000 viewers, a representative of the Russian culture ministry and a number of men linked to Wagner. The movie, mainly shot in Russian, was dubbed into the local language, Sango.

It is essentially a 1980s-style action flick. The plot is typical of the patriotic fare churned out by parts of Russia’s film industry during Putin’s rule. A young Russian police officer signs up to fly to the CAR to train soldiers amid a bloody civil war. (The movie’s title derives from his call sign, Tourist). This much is based in reality. In 2018, Russia signed an agreement with the CAR to send unarmed instructors to train the local army, which has been fighting a rebellion since 2013. Officially, the governments say that 1,135 military instructors are now in the country. But analysts, diplomats, UN and humanitarian sources say there are actually up to 3,000 combat-ready mercenaries .

The movie takes place ahead of elections in December 2020 and depicts Russian instructors being asked to take up arms by a government overwhelmed in the face of a rebel assault on Bangui. Again, this is something that happened ahead of the real-world elections of December 2020, according to diplomats, foreign officials, security sources and opposition figures in Bangui. But it is also denied by both governments.

At one point in the movie, the Russians lay landmines, which the US has accused Wagner of doing in Libya. A Russian soldier tells a villager to keep children away — something real-world mercenaries have been specifically criticised for not doing. The movie depicts the 12,000-troop UN peacekeeping mission as feckless and useless; the French as conniving neocolonialists. (These criticisms were also made in propaganda that Facebook removed in December 2020 and linked to Prigozhin, who is under US sanctions for meddling in the 2016 presidential election through the Internet Research Agency, a troll farm.)

The level of warped verisimilitude — the winking nods to Wagner, the trollish side-eye the film casts on reality — is discombobulating. This is a war movie, filmed during an actual war. Scenes were shot at Berengo Palace, the Russian instructors’ real headquarters. A key moment takes place on the terrace of a Lebanese café where I saw a Russian mercenary buy a shawarma. The president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, is played by one of his relatives.

Does this convey the surreality of this movie? Does it adequately illustrate the funhouse mirror world of Bangui in the time of Wagner? There is a Voldemort quality to the Russian presence in the capital. They’re spoken of in hushed tones, particularly among humanitarians and diplomats, who drop their voices on the word — Russians — as though it might be cursed. At the same time, the mercenaries are everywhere I go in the city, recognisable by their flagless camo uniforms and the masks that hide the bottom half of their faces.

One day I meet a Koran teacher from Bambari who says Russian fighters had arrested him at morning prayers with 40 others, held him for a month, tortured him and stole his life savings. That same afternoon, I see a mercenary chat amiably with a saleswoman at an electronics store and then buy an oscillating pedestal fan. One morning a foreign official tells me the mercenaries were increasingly consolidating control around CAR’s mining areas. That night, I see the head of Lobaye Invest — a Wagner-linked mining company sanctioned by the US — drinking a glass of wine at the swanky M Bar and Restaurant. On the day I interview a woman who says she feared she might have HIV after being raped by three Russian fighters, I run into mercenaries at Bangui’s artisanal craft market, aggressively haggling over leather purses and kitschy handicrafts.

In December 2021, the EU sanctioned Wagner , three related entities and eight people, including Valery Zakharov, a former Russian state security agent who has served as an adviser to the CAR’s president. Wagner is “responsible for serious human rights abuses in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Mozambique, which include torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings”, the EU said. This followed a report by UN-appointed experts last March that accused Wagner mercenaries of gross human rights abuses in the CAR.

When the FT sent Prigozhin’s catering company questions about Wagner’s operations in the CAR, it forwarded the request to Alexander Ivanov, head of Russia’s “Officers Union for International Security” , which sent the military instructors to the CAR. Ivanov said in a written response that they operate “in accordance with the bilateral agreements between” the countries and were not involved in any fighting or commercial activity. Russia’s foreign ministry echoed the sentiments in a statement to the FT. Ivanov added, “The information contained in the latest UN reports on gross violations of human rights attributed to Russian instructors does not correspond to reality.”

The mercenaries’ entire presence is wrapped in layers of irony. The CAR government doesn’t acknowledge their existence, the Kremlin doesn’t acknowledge their existence , the people purportedly behind Wagner don’t acknowledge their existence. And then there’s the movie.

Like Wagba, Mac Armel Degoto got a call one day from a friend about auditions for a movie. He was cast as François Bozizé, t he former president leading the rebels to overthrow the government —the movie’s bad guy. “The Russians . . . they are pushing you to perfection,” he tells me. “I don’t even look like Bozizé, but they made me become Bozizé.”

The 35-year-old only spent a day on set, filming two short scenes. He was paid 20,000 CFA — about $35 — plus transport, an amount that still stings. But “for me, it was terrific. It’s what I always imagined”, he says. It was “a crazy thing . . . I was acting in a professional production, a real movie”.

Degoto joined the CAR’s first rap collective, Bongos Rap, at the age of 15. He still goes by his hip-hop sobriquet, Monsieur Melodie. He’s acted in a few productions, including two short films for the social security administration. Touriste was something else entirely. “The premiere was amazing. It was huge, it was such a great joy,” he says. “Kids come up to me in the market and say, ‘Bozizé, Bozizé, Bozizé, why don’t you give us some money?’ I say sure, I’m a star, but I’m a star who walks on two feet, who doesn’t have a car or even a motorcycle.”

I wonder whether he was scared to play Bozizé, CAR’s former dictator who has become a national villain for many. “No. I don’t really care about the political side. All I know is that I was playing a big role in a big movie and what impact that could have on my professional life.”

“My mom is worried,” he smiles wanly. “She asks me to avoid public places because there are people that really hate what I did . . . They will come up to me and say, ‘You are Bozizé.’ They say, ‘We know where you live, so watch out, we will find you.’”

Wagba gets it from the other side; Bozizé partisans threaten him. But he has risked his life for his craft before. Just before filming Touriste , he spent two months touring the country with a humorous sketch-show meant to educate people about the CAR’s Special Criminal Court . This entailed travelling into rebel territory to inform civilians and armed rebels about what they should do if their human rights were violated by the army or by mercenaries and how they themselves might be held accountable if they commit atrocities. “Almost everyone was hostile,” he says dryly. The reaction often involved a gun being pointed in his face.

Both Wagba and Degoto say that the constant threats meant they questioned whether making Touriste was ultimately worth it. The arc of my conversations with them mirrored the way that many Central Africans I met described their impression of the mercenaries. Initially, there was unbridled hope, then awe at their professionalism, followed by disappointment and, finally, horror.

Touriste played in Russia at 11.40pm on the state-controlled NTV network. It received little promotion and even less attention from audiences. The more I thought about it, the more the film seemed to have yet another layer of meaning. It was a metaphor for Russia’s presence in the CAR: something that meant relatively little to the Kremlin and its allies in terms of effort and investment but was everything to the Central Africans swept up in it.

On my sixth day in Bangui I go to the stadium where the premiere had been held four months before. Scores of faded Touriste posters are plastered on one section of the bleachers, along with a handful of peeling stickers that read “With the Support of Evgeny Prigozhin” in Sango above a heart-shaped Russian flag.

There is no cinema in Bangui, and the film had made a real splash. I noticed a number of people wearing Touriste T-shirts around town. Thousands had been handed out at the premiere. One young activist told me that in the weeks after, she saw children in the market playing Touriste the way they might play cops and robbers.

A few law students are studying in an upper section of the stadium, and I ask whether they’d seen the movie. Mustapha, a lanky 23-year-old, says he came to the premiere but walked out after 15 minutes, appalled by the violence. “They called so many people to come, so many young people,” he says. “You wouldn’t show it to your children, so why us? Why should we accept it?”

Mustapha, like many of the Muslims I spoke to, had relatives who’d been victims. His brother had been killed by mercenaries, he says, while travelling from Birau in the far north. He knew of Wagner’s reputation in other parts of the world. “In Syria, in Libya, where those men go in, there is no peace.” While the movie sickened him, he thought it was effective as propaganda. “So many people clapped!” he says. “We see them killing our brothers and we accept it. We clap for it!”

Still, as tales of atrocities have reached Bangui over the past year, the shine seemed to be fading. The movie itself even seemed to have done some damage to Russia’s reputation. Carl Michael Kikobet, vice-president of the country’s National Youth Council, had initially welcomed Moscow’s help. Then he saw Touriste .

“Now I refuse to even give my appreciation for the partnership with Russia,” he says, fingering a pendant in the shape of the CAR around his neck. “That movie portrayed our national army as cowards. It humiliated them.”

If the film in some ways failed as propaganda in the CAR, it’s not clear it succeeded back home either, says Jack Margolin, a programme director at Washington-based conflict analysis firm C4ADS. Margolin has a side interest in the Wagner subculture, which includes mercenary influencers and a number of other films. “It’s not clear who [it’s] made for,” he says. “ Touriste in particular is pretty inaccessible to a general Russian audience, given the level of detail it contains regarding the conflict in the CAR.”

The movie may have been a flop, but the producers made another. While I was in Bangui, a source saw a Russian crew filming at the defence ministry. The walls had been adorned with the flag of Mozambique, where Wagner was soundly defeated in a fight against jihadists in 2019. As the source put it, “It’s very confusing why they’d make a movie about a battle they lost.” In late December, the film in question, Granit , premiered on NTV, according to the Moscow Times.

Two months after I left Bangui, a friend sent me pictures of a new sculpture that had been erected near the stadium. It showed Russian and CAR soldiers defending a cowering woman and two small children. Similar monuments to Wagner have cropped up in Syria and Ukraine.

The other statues are mostly a single soldier with a child hugging his legs, but the Bangui version was more elaborate. When Margolin saw the statue, he noticed something else. The figures seemed to be based on Touriste . I took a closer look. One of the Russian soldiers looks just like a secondary character in the film. One of the CAR soldiers is a dead ringer for the main female character, who was played by the niece of an opposition leader. The statue was unveiled by the president himself.

Neil Munshi is the FT’s west Africa correspondent. Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Moscow

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December 2020. Former police officer Grisha Dmitriev arrives in the Central African Republic with a small group of Russian instructors. Everything goes wrong from the start.

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In general, not bad, although films about military exploits often turn out better than not bad in our country. If you perceive it as an action movie, then at one time it’s quite. The story of how a military instructor got himself into trouble and saved a bunch of people. The actress is a little above average. Nice picture. Everything Translated to English

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50 Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa

Top 50 movies set in africa you have to see.

If you cant travel to Africa, Africa comes to you.  We all know movies like Last King of Scotland with Leonardo di Caprio, Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener,  Goodbye Bafana, and evergreen classics Out of Africa and Gorillas in The Mist.

But there is more! 50 Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa is list of less known films shot in Africa with great stories and insights into African continent.

Unfortunately  many  movies filmed in Africa  get overlooked due to lack  of the publicity. Below is the list of less known  50 movies set in Africa. Many movies from the list are  award winners or nominees  on international festivals like Cannes, Toronto, Tribeca, Sundance…

On top list of movies set in Africa you will find everything: from shocking and eye opening documentaries revealing problematic issues in Africa, stories inspired by real life events, to drama action and love. We have gathered and seen many from the list of 50 movies where the action happens in Africa. How many movies have you seen?

Movies set in Africa With Child Soldiers and Rebel Topic

Set in Northern Uganda, a country ravaged by more than two decades of civil war, WAR/DANCE tells the story of Dominic, Rose, and Nancy, three children whose families have been torn apart, their homes destroyed, and who currently reside in a displaced persons camp in Patongo.

When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance competition, their historic journey to their nation’s capital is also an opportunity to regain a part of their childhood and to taste victory for the first time in their lives.

The Silent Army

Child soldiers in Africa are at the fore in this tale of a white restaurant owner in an African town bordering a conflict zone. When his son’s African friend Abu is abducted, he sets out to find the boy, and walks right into a training camp exploiting children like Abu.

War Witch paints a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl (wonderfully played by nonprofessional actress Rachel Mwanza) who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier.

She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind.

Movies Set in Rwanda Based on True Events from Genocide War

Sometimes in april.

If you really want to find out a bit more about the genocide in Rwanda of 1994, this is THE movie to go! It’s a wonderful, yet uncompromisingly sad and bitter movie. Whereas “Hotel Rwanda” was more like Schindlers List in Africa.

More focusing on a Hollywood-like hero & love story, “Sometimes in April” leads you right into the very depths of hell. The characters are well pointed out, the acting is always impressive and the film-making is very subtle and pleasantly calm.

Beyond the Gates  aka Shooting Dogs

Based on a true story. An exhausted Catholic priest (Hurt) and a young idealistic English teacher (Dancy) finds themselves caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. They must now choose whether to stay with the thousands of Tutsis about to be massacred or to flee for safety.

A Sunday in Kigali

In April 1994, the middle-aged Canadian journalist Bernard Valcourt is making a documentary in Kigali about AIDS. He secretly falls in love for the Tutsi waitress of his hotel Gentille, who is younger than him, in a period of violent racial conflicts.

When the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus in Rwanda begins, Bernard does not succeed in escaping with Gentille to Canada. When the genocide finishes in July 1994, Bernard returns to the chaotic Kigali seeking out Gentille in the middle of destruction and dead bodies.

Kinyarwanda

A young Tutsi woman and a young Hutu man fall in love amidst chaos; a soldier struggles to foster a greater good while absent from her family; and a priest grapples with his faith in the face of unspeakable horror.

A local Hutu official is persuaded to implement the government’s policy against the Tutsi: To completely wipe them out. Josette, a beautiful young Tutsi girl struggles to survive the killing by taking refuge in a church, supposedly protected by the UNO forces.

Meanwhile, Josette’s brother is hunted down and murdered and her boyfriend rescued by the rebels. But the Hutu Catholic priest betrays Josette’s family and only agrees to spare her life is to submit to the nightly violations.

By the time she is reunited with her boyfriend, neither of them can face the brutal reality of their situation: she is pregnant and bears the priest’s child, which she immediately abandons. 100 Days was shot in Kibuye, the beautiful landscape had been the back drop to some of the worst atrocities in 1994.

In Kibuye Church, the site of an actual massacre, Rwanda actors played killers and victims that were only too familiar to them.

Hotel Rwanda

The true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.

Movies Set in South Africa

In Johannesburg, a small time criminal, Tsotsi, is a teenager without feelings, hardened by his tough life. After a series of violent gang hits, Tsotsi hijacks a car. However, whilst driving, Tsotsi finds that there is a baby on the back seat. He brings the baby to his house in the slum. The next six days bring about a change in him that couldn’t be foreseen

The Bang Bang Club

A must see movie for photojournalism lovers! A drama based on the true-life experiences of four combat photographers capturing the final days of apartheid in South Africa. The “Bang-Bang Club” was a moniker given to a group of primarily four South African photographers who gained notoriety for consistently putting themselves in harm’s way to obtain photographs of the “silent war” between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha.

Inkhata raged from 1990 to 1994, leading up to the first free elections in South Africa that resulted in Nelson Mandela becoming President. The Bang Bang Club is a film version of those years, focusing on the primary members of this group, Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva.

 Gangsters Paradise: Jerusalema

Inspired by a true story, GANGSTERS PARADISE: JERUSALEMA is an unflinching look into the crime, corruption and the transgressions of those looking to survive in the most crime—infested district of Johannesburg. Starting off with simple smash and grabs, and petty crime, Lucky Kunene quickly graduates to more aggressive heists such as armed robbery and carjacking.

Soon, Lucky realizes he needs a bigger score to fulfill his goals of making it big, and escaping from the slums, to a dream house by the sea. Lucky hatches an elaborate and violent plan to make his fortune hijacking building from landlords of Johannesburg tenements by winning the favor of the tenants and then holding their rent hostage from the landowners.

His high—profile real estate acquisitions attract the attention of the local police force who have no qualms about using unprovoked brutality to bring him down. His trouble with the law, coupled with an escalating war between a local drug lord, creates a tense standoff: both sides are closing in, and Lucky must stay one step ahead, or his empire, and his life, will come crashing down.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela is a South African lawyer who joins the African National Congress in the 1940s when the law under the Apartheid system’s brutal tyranny proves useless for his people.

Forced to abandon peaceful protest for armed resistance after the Sharpeville Massacre, Mandela pays the price when he and his comrades are sentenced to life imprisonment for treason while his wife, Winnie, is abused by the authorities herself.

Over the decades in chains, Mandela’s spirit is unbowed as his struggle goes on in and beyond his captivity to become an international cause. However, as Winnie’s determination hardens over the years into a violent ruthlessness, Nelson’s own stature rises until he becomes the renowned leader of his movement.

Life, Above All

In the dusty small town of Elandsdoorn, a South African township not far from Johannesburg, life is simple and serene. A prevailing sense of deep pride tightly bonds together the entire community – but beware to those who step out of line … 12-year-old Chanda is a hardworking promising young student with a bright future, but her life changes dramatically when her baby sister unexpectedly dies.

Heartbroken, Chanda’s mother, Lillian, in turn becomes severely ill. Her stepfather drowns himself in alcohol, leaving the young girl to take care of her two smaller siblings. Meanwhile, the formerly friendly neighbors become increasingly distant and gossip spreads. “Auntie” Tafa does what she can to help by getting Lillian to leave town, but not even “Auntie” is immune to the cloud of fear filtering across Elandsdoor.

7 Days in Entebbe (2018)

In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to release many terrorists held in Israeli prisons. After much debate, the Israeli government sent an elite commando unit to raid the airfield and release the hostages.

Beat the Drum

Young Musa is orphaned after a mysterious illness strikes his village in KwaZulu Natal. To help his grandmother, Musa sets out for Johannesburg with his father’s last gift, a tribal drum, in search of work and his uncle. The journey confronts him with the stark realities of urban life, but his indomitable spirit never wavers; he returns with a truth and understanding his elders have failed to grasp.

Inspired by true story. A dark skinned girl born to white South African parents attempts to explore her identity in the era of apartheid as her government, her parents, and society as a whole struggle with what it means to be a black child of Caucasian descent in a nation deeply divided by race. The year is 1955.

Sandra Laing, Sophie Okonedo, has just been born to a pair of white Afrikaner parents, her brown skin and curly hair the surprising result of genetic throwback. As the government’s rigid apartheid system struggles with whether to classify Sandra as white or black, the young girl and her parents gradually realize that the complications they face due to her appearance run deep and wide.

The Colour of Freedom aka Goodbye Bafana

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner’s name was Nelson Mandela.

Movies Set in Kenya

Paradise: love.

On the beaches of Kenya they’re known as “Sugar Mamas” — European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a fifty-year-old Austrian and mother of a daughter entering puberty, travels to this vacation paradise. She goes from one beach boy to the next, from one disappointment to the next and finally she must recognise: On the beaches of Kenya, love is a business.

The White Massai

The Swiss Carola Lehmann develops a crush on the Samburu warrior Lemalian Mamutelil during a ferry trip on the last day of her two week vacation in Kenya, although traveling with her boyfriend, Stefan. She strikes up a conversation with Lemalian and, the next morning, instead of returning to Biel (Switzerland), Carola decides to leave Stefan and seek out Lemalian.

She travels to Nairobi by bus. From there to Maralal, where she befriends Elizabeth Muzungu, a Caucasian married to a Kikuyu. She explains some important details of the Samburu culture to Carola. Wwhen Lemalian meets with her, they walk together to his isolated tribe in Barsaloi.

Carola is welcomed by his people, she sells her shop in Switzerland and marries Lemalian, having a daughter with him. She also opens up a store. However, their differences of cultures force Carola to make an ultimate decision.

Nowhere in Africa

A love story spanning two continents, “Nowhere In Africa” is the true tale of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya.A Jewish family in Germany emigrate short before the Second World War.

They move to Kenya to start running a farm, but not all members of the family come to an arrangement with their new life. Shortly after their departure, things are changing in Germany very quickly, and a turning back seems impossible. So everyone has to arrange himself with the new life in a new continent.

 Nairobi Half Life

A movie made by Kenyans for Kenyans. A young, aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming a success in the big city. In pursuit of this and to the chagrin of his brother and parents, he makes his way to Nairobi:the city of opportunity.

The First Grader

Set in a mountain village in Kenya the film tells the remarkable true and uplifting story of a proud old Mau Mau veteran who is determined to seize his last chance to learn to read and write – and so ends up joining a class alongside six year-olds. Together he and his young teacher face fierce resistance, but ultimately they win through – and also find a new way of overcoming the burdens of the colonial past.

Out of Africa

This is one of those rare movies that has something for everybody and is nearly perfect in many respects.OUT OF AFRICA is based on the memoirs of Danish writer Karen Blixen (pen name, Isak Dinesen) in a coffee plantation in present day Kenya.

It explains how this brave woman overcomes the stereotype of a dainty, colonial British lady by running the coffee farm while her husband Bror Blixen (Brandauer) led a life of hunting and infidelities.

Meryl Streep is great as Karen Blixen. She manages to maintain the realistic Danish accent through the whole film. Redford is great as Denys Finch-Hatton, the Etonian hunter who keeps companion in her loneliest and hardest. But the real attraction of the film is he outstanding photography of the African landscape.

The Constant Gardener

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa’s companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa’s widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them.

They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife’s infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents.

Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth – a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Social Documentaries Set in Africa

Darwin’s nightmare.

A documentary on the effect of fishing the Nile perch in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria. The predatory fish, which has wiped out the native species, is sold in European supermarkets, while starving Tanzanian families have to make do with the leftovers.

The larger scope of the story explores the gun trade to Africa that takes place under the covers — Russian pilots fly guns into Africa, then fly fish back out to Europe. The hazards and consequences of this trade are explored, including the pan-African violence propagated by constant flow of weapons into the continent.

If it is a “survival of the fittest” world, as Darwin concluded, then the capitalist interests that fund the gun runners are climbing the evolutionary ladder on the backs of the Africans in this stark Darwinian example.

Much like the foreseeable extinction of the Lake Victoria perch, and death of Lake Victoria itself, the Africans are in grave jeopardy, even as they survive in the only ways they know how.

God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan

In 1987, Sudan’s Muslim government pronounced death to all males in the Christian south: 27,000 boys fled to Ethiopia on foot. In 1991, they were forced to flee to Kenya; 12,000 survived to live in a U.N. camp in Kakuma. Archival footage documents the 1,000 mile flight; we see life in the camp.

We follow three young men who repatriate to the U.S. John Bul Dau goes to Syracuse, and by the film’s end, becomes a spokesperson for the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan; Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Bior go to Pittsburgh. All work several jobs, send money back to the camp, search for relatives lost in the civil war, acclimatize to the U.S., seek an education, and miss their homeland

The New Sudan

After 20 years of terror-filled nights, there is dawn in Southern Sudan. The people of the land peek out from the doorways of their huts. They ask each other, “Will the sun stay? Will there be morning tomorrow and the next day?” The long war is over. Southern Sudan becomes New Sudan.

Peace treaties are inked and enemies shake hands. But other wars still rage. The war of awakening hope against the habit of despair. The war of new alliances against decades of mistrust. The war of joyful homecoming against the lack of homes remaining. Above all, it is a war for the human heart against the heart of darkness.

We Come as Friends

WE COME AS FRIENDS is a modern odyssey, a dizzying, science fiction-like journey into the heart of Africa. At the moment when the Sudan, the continent’s biggest country, is being divided into two nations, an old “civilizing” pathology re-emerges – that of colonialism, the clash of empires, and new episodes of bloody (and holy) wars over land and resources.

The director of DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE takes us on this voyage in his tiny, self-made, tin and canvas flying machine. He leads us into most improbable locations and into people’s thoughts and dreams, in both stunning and heartbreaking ways.

Chinese oil workers, UN peacekeepers, Sudanese warlords, and American evangelists ironically weave common ground in this documentary, a complex, profound and humorous cinematic endeavor – a tale of very old and rather sinister verses.

In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places in the world and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers – including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a carer of orphan gorillas and a Belgian conservationist – protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers and the dark forces struggling to control Congo’s rich natural resources.

When the newly formed M23 rebel group declares war in May 2012, a new conflict threatens the lives and stability of everyone and everything they’ve worked so hard to protect.

‘The Square’ is an intimate observational documentary that tells the real story of the ongoing struggle of the Egyptian Revolution through the eyes of six very different protesters.

Starting in the tents of Tahrir in the days leading up to the fall of Mubarak, we follow our characters on a life-changing journey through the euphoria of victory into the uncertainties and dangers of the current ‘transitional period’ under military rule, where everything they fought for is now under threat or in balance

Half The Sky

Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, two sequences are shot in Africa, one in Kibera and the other in Somalia. 

In August 2009, Shining Hope for Communities founded The Kibera School for Girls, the first tuition-free school for girls in Kibera. By providing a superior education, daily nourishment, uniforms, and schools supplies all free of charge, they were able to give the brightest and most at-risk girls the power of hope and education.

Ross Kemp Extreme World and Piracy Series

Lagos, Nigeria – Ross kemp looks at the link between poverty and piracy in Lagos’s biggest slum Ajegunle:

Ross Kemp Extreme World: DR Congo

Ross Kemp flies to RWANDA to find out more about The Congo war, which has been fought for over a decade, and is the bloodiest conflict that has been fought since the 2nd world war.

Ross Kemp on Gangs: Kenya Special

In this 90-minute special, Ross Kemp travels to Kenya to investigate the Mungiki, an outfit labelled as the most dangerous “gang” in Africa.

Movies Set in West Africa

Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd.

In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity.

Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly

Caught in the middle of a brutal civil war, six Liberian missionaries in Monrovia flee the widespread violence of their native country. Their destination: Freetown, Sierra Leone. With the help of local church leader Phillip Abubakar (Henry Adofo), the missionaries make the difficult journey, only to have their troubles compounded by a rebel fighter bent on killing one of their own.

Based on true events, FREETOWN is a thrilling and inspiring story of hope and survival.

Tall as Baobab Tree

Coumba and her little sister Debo are the first to leave their family’s remote African village, where meals are prepared over open fires and water is drawn from wells, to attend school in the bustling city. But when an accident suddenly threatens their family’s survival, their father decides to sell 11-year-old Debo into an arranged marriage.

Torn between loyalty to her elders and her dreams for the future, Coumba hatches a secret plan to rescue her young sister from a fate she did not choose. A powerful voice from Africa’s young generation, Grand comme le Baobab (Tall as the Baobab Tree) poignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing at the outer edge of the modern world… where questions of right and wrong are not always black and white.

Blood Diamond

The film opens in Sierra Leone, 1999 when Civil war rages for control of the diamond fields…According to devastating reports, these stones are being used with both rebels and government forces to purchase more weapons and finance civil war…A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots.

With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer’s life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him.

Dreams of Dust

A Nigerian peasant comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in Northeast Burkina Faso, where he hopes to forget the past that haunts him.

Other Movies Where the Action Happens in Africa

Where are you taking me.

Employing an observational style, this contemplative documentary reveals multifaceted portraits of Ugandans in both public and private spaces. The film travels through Uganda, roaming the vibrant streets of Kampala and the rural quiet of the North, to reveal a diverse society where global popular culture finds expression alongside enduring Ugandan traditions.

White Material

Denis revisits Africa, this time exploring a place rife with civil and racial conflict. A white French family outlawed in its home and attempting to save its coffee plantation connects with a black hero also embroiled in the tumult. All try to survive as their world rapidly crumbles around them

Desert Flower

The autobiography of a Somalian nomad circumcised at 3, sold in marriage at 13, fled from Africa a while later to become finally an American supermodel and is now at the age of 38, the UN spokeswoman against female genital mutilation.

African Proverbs Wildebeest Migration in Tazania  

The Good Lie

Four Sudanese children are orphaned after their village is massacred in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Consequently, they make an arduous and dangerous trek through the plains, enduring hardship, death and sacrifice all the way until they reach safety in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

Years later, these youths are among 3600 selected for resettlement in America, only to have the one girl among them sent to Boston, while the three boys must to make a new life in Kansas City.

Together, these young men must adjust to an alien culture even as the emotional baggage of their past haunts them. However, these newcomers, and their new friends like employment counselor Carrie Davis, strive to understand each other in this new home, as they make peace with their histories in a challenge that will change all their lives.

Unfolds the poignant story of three women and their search for justice from the daily plight of sexual harassment in Egypt.

The Lost Number

An international action drama, The lost Number is the story of a redemption-seeking English woman going against all odds to save a remote slum in Africa.After going renegade on a Foray, Kathleen an English woman goes down south to Ngara Town.

Seeking redemption, Kathleen saves Ngara Town and becomes her new hero. But when Diwani (point man of the Foray) comes to Ngara to retrieve from Kathleen what belongs to the Foray, Kathleen must go against the odds to save Ngara from Diwani and a Foray striking for the very soul of Ngara Town.

Long Way Down

Actors and best friends Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman travel from John O’Groats, Scotland down to Cape Town, South Africa on motorcycles. They travel down through Europe and Africa, getting an up-close view of the local cultures. They also stop at various UNICEF projects to offer support and assistance to the children there.

Long Way Down is the feature cut of the second season of the road trip documentary featuring Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charlie Boorman on their motorcycle adventure from the Northern tip of Scotland, to the southern tip of Africa. Brushing up on the past adventure is not a requirement for getting your visa for this trip.

The film suffers mildly from the lack of build-up and planning for the trip, which would have added more of an introduction to the traveling company, but the ramping right into the adventure helps the pace of the 2+hr film.

As a whole the film works as an African postcard, a buddy road trip, and the greatest advertisement for adventure tourism ever made. It is impossible to watch this film and not have an immediate desire to skip the beaches of Hawaii for the far-reaches of the African wilderness.

The Last King of Scotland

In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promises a golden age for the African nation.

Garrigan hits it off immediately with the rabid Scotland fan, who soon offers him a senior position in the national health department and becomes one of Amin’s closest advisers. However as the years pass, Garrigan cannot help but notice Amin’s increasingly erratic behaviour that grows beyond a legitimate fear of assassination into a murderous insanity that is driving Uganda into bloody ruin.

Realizing his dire situation with the lunatic leader unwilling to let him go home, Garrigan must make some crucial decisions that could mean his death if the despot finds out.

Gorillas in The Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them. Based on Dian Fossey’s own autobiography, this true life story is inspiring and has helped these amazing animals in many ways by waking us up to their plight.

Originally Dian herself was helping to make the film, until she was murdered and the production team had to go back and start it all over again several years later in 1988.

Based on the real-life experiences of Mende Nazer,the story unfolds as twelve-year-old Malia,daughter of champion wrestler Bah,is abducted from her Sudanese village in the Nubar Mountains by pro-government Arab militia and sold into slavery to a woman in Khartoum,who beats her for touching her daughter.

After six years she is sent to London, where her name is changed, but her miserable life of servitude continues.

Her passport is taken and she is told that her father will die if she goes to the authorities. Fortunately she meets a sympathetic person who seems to offer her the hope of escape and reunion with Bah,back in Sudan. For all the film’s optimism an end title states that there are around 5,000 ‘slave’ workers currently in Britain.

The Last Lions

Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords.

This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years.

Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion’s pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened “big cats,” tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make.

And when one takes into account the fact that big cats are at the very top of the food chain-and that their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them, causing a complete ecosystem collapse-the need takes on a supreme urgency.

Movie synopsis taken from imdb.com

About the Author: Nina Zara

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Fantastic list ! Thanks for sharing..

You are welcome, will be updating this list!

Lookong for a movie about an african stock fighter looking for revenge for the death of his daughter. Great movie woth all afrocan cast. 1970s I think

Super seznam. Hvala. Dodajam pa jih še nekaj: Capitan Phillips Tears of the sun Invictus Black Hawk Down Lion des Hommes The constant gardner Lord of the war Invictus Goodbye bfana

Hvala Matjaz, za dodatke, Bafana in gardener sta na listi, ampak se hitro kaj spregleda ob tako dolgi listi:) Lp, Nina Zara

Im looking for a movie from the 60s or 70s black and white about a man looking for a stick fighter who killed his daughter to gain power. English speaking i think. Title is a single african word

Comments are closed.

Top 18 Safari Movies to watch before your African Safari

• January 29, 2020
• Author & Photographer: Teri Didjurgis

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. ( Disclosures )

Films to inspire your African Safari

My earliest memory of opening up a National Geographic magazine was seeing elephants, lion, zebras, rhinos and other animals in Africa along with tribes and cultures so distant to mine.

Going on safari has been a dream to have a unique experience of seeing this wildlife adventure, experiencing different cultures and spectacular scenery! 

Until my first trip to Africa, I explored through these safari films featuring the breathtaking landscapes, historical events of locals and human interactions with wildlife and the stars of the savannah featuring conservation programs and struggles to preserve them.

Out of Africa (1985)

• Available on Amazon

The movie, Out of Africa , inspired many a traveler to take a trip to Africa and specifically Kenya. The movie features breathtaking scenery of Kenya including the areas around Nairobi and the Maasai Mara.

The movie, based on the book by Karen Blixen , is a memoir of her life in the early 1900’s in Kenya, then known as British East Africa to colonists. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford play the lead characters for this romance, though I believe the true romance of the film is Karen falling in love with the land and people of Kenya.

Karen writes and reveals in the movie her own personal experience as a woman in this time period running a coffee plantation in spite of her absent husband and interactions with locals many of which were part of the infamous Happy Valley Set of the Kenya Colony in the 1920’s. The story touches on events of the time including colonialism, World War I, shooting safaris and her interactions with the local Kikuyu tribe. A distance time.

On a trip to Kenya, you can visit her home and conversations with the locals will reveal that the love went both ways. Karen introduced Kenya to many in the world both through her 1937 book and the subsequent 1985 Academy Award winning film.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

Gorillas in the Mist is another true story based on the life of Dian Fossey. The story tells the tale of the naturalist, played by Sigourney Weaver, and her relationship with the group of primates she studies in the Congo.

Studying them at close quarters, Fossey develops a means of communicating with the gorillas, and in so doing becomes obsessed with the beasts’ well-being. Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, Fossey complains to the Ugandan government, which dismisses her by explaining that poaching is the only means by which some of the Ugandan natives can themselves survive.

With the threat of poachers hovering in the background and strife all around in Rwanda, there’s high drama as well as some magnificent footage of real gorillas in their natural habitat.

BBC Africa (2013)

The BBC created this incredible six-part mini series, BBC Africa , on Africa’s wild places and wildlife.

Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, he takes us on an awe-inspiring journey through on of the most diverse places on earth including the Kalahari desert, the Sahara Desert, the savannah of East Africa, and jungles of the Congo as well as diverse wildlife including black rhinos, mountain gorillas, and much more of Africa’s amazing wildlife.

The Last Lions (2012)

From the lush wetlands of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, this documentary focuses on one lioness, named Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions”), as she tries to protect her cubs against the many threats they face in the wild including poaching.

The Last Lions is a documentary film about the heartbreaking decline of the lion population in Africa. Fifty years ago there were close to 500 million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000.

Lions, unlike elephants which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. The safari eco-tourist industry brings in over 200 billion dollars per year with lions being a top “must-see” and yet little is done to protect the lions. In addition, big cats are at the very top of the food chain and their elimination would wreak havoc on all species below them in ecosystem collapse.

The documentary was made in collaboration between National Geographic and their Explorers-in-Residence, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, who are filmmakers from Botswana. The film is narrated by Jeremy Irons.

The Ivory Game

• Available on Netflix

It takes 2 seconds seeing a parade of elephants in the wild to be enthralled by these highly intelligent and emotional beasts. The interactions between the young bulls and then groups of mothers and their calves show the complexity of their family relationships.

The movie, Ivory Game , is a documentary revealing the Ivory Trade industry endangering the elephants. The filmmakers show all side of this Ivory industry from the insatiable Chinese market and the local poachers to the wildlife conversationalists and government programs to save the elephants.

I watched this movie on the night before I went on a week long safari in Tanzania where the documentary is partially filmed. As a tourist, I just in awe of seeing these animals, but the documentary provided the rich context of ecosystems in Africa where local poachers living in poverty are enticed to sell off the expensive ivory by dealers and also local people are losing crops when the elephants migrate.

The filmmakers looks at all sides working on solutions to save both the elephants and locals interests while stopping the Ivory Trade.

Born Free (1966)

Born Free  is a 1966 British drama film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her into the wilderness of Kenya.

At a national park in Kenya, English game warden George Adamson (Bill Travers) and his wife, Joy (Virginia McKenna), care for three orphaned lion cubs. The lion cubs parents were killed after attacking villagers.

After the two larger lions are shipped off to a zoo in the Netherlands, the smallest of the three, Elsa, stays with the couple. When Elsa is blamed for causing an elephant stampede in the nearby village, head warden John Kendall (Geoffrey Keen) demands the young lion either be trained to survive in the wilds of the Serengeti or be sent to a zoo.

The making of the film was a life-changing experience for actors Virginia McKenna and her husband Bill Travers, who became animal rights activists and were instrumental in creating the  Born Free Foundation .

To Walk with Lions (1999)

To Walk with Lions  is a 1999 film directed by Carl Schultz and starring Richard Harris as George Adamson. 

It follows the later years of wild game preserver/naturalist Adamson whose life was transformed into an animal activist after his experience saving a lion cub shown in the movie Born Free .

After his marriage to Joy Adamson ended, Adamson spent the latter part of his life protecting the lions and other wildlife in the Kora National Reserve, Kenya. His program helps ease zoo-bred lions into their natural habitat. The fact-based film focuses on his struggle against poachers and government corruption blocking his quest for wildlife preservation.

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)

Set in 1898 and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas, The Ghost and the Darkness is based on the true story of two lions in East Africa that killed dozens of people working on a railroad.

Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project’s foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

Don’t let this movie put you off safaris. This true story will highlight the struggles in Africa between local populations, development and wildlife that has been a part of their story for over a hundred years.

The Lion King (1994)

When you think of safaris and big game, it’s hard not to immediately imagine the Circle of Life scene from the beginning of Disney’s epic African adventure,  The Lion King . It might be animation and talking lions rather than real life nature scenes, but adults and kids alike can’t fail to be inspired to take a safari holiday after watching Simba on screen.

The Disney imagineers definitely did their homework. On safari, you will find many of the names of the animals are Swahili and the characteristics of the animals is spot on. I especially saw it in cranky old bachelor lions and the Pummba.

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Everyone’s favorite jungle hero has been the subject of many films over the Hollywood years.

In The Legend of Tarzan , it’s been nearly a decade since Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), also known as John Clayton III, left Africa to live in Victorian England with his wife Jane.

Danger lurks on the horizon as Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), a treacherous envoy for King Leopold, devises a scheme that lures the couple to the Congo.

Rom plans to capture Tarzan and deliver him to an old enemy in exchange for diamonds. When Jane becomes a pawn in his devious plot, Tarzan must return to the jungle to save the woman he loves.

Other Disney Animated versions

• Tarzan (2014)
• The Jungle Book (2016)
• The Jungle Book (1967)

I will always be partial to The Jungle Book (1967) for the music.  You can’t help but hum “The Bare Necessities”  or “I wanna be like you” after hearing it.

Road to Zanzibar (1941)

Road to Zanzibar is a trip back to old Hollywood. 

After the success of contemporary films in the safari genre, Bob Hope parodies African adventures with this farce.

The movie is classic Hollywood with ridiculous scenarios including love triangles, races through the jungle, swimming with leopards and plenty of jewels, the fast-paced comedy is a fun trip.

The African Queen (1952)

Another one from old Hollywood, Th e African Queen focuses on life in Africa during World War II.

After religious spinster’s (Katharine Hepburn) missionary brother is killed in WWI Africa, dissolute steamer captain (Humphrey Bogart) offers her safe passage. She’s not satisfied so she persuades him to destroy a German gunboat. The two spend most of their time fighting with each other rather than the Germans. In true Hollywood fashion, time alone on the river leads to love.

The movie, shot in Uganda and the Congo, was one of the first movies to use real locations and backgrounds.

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

Clint Eastwood’s film is based loosely on the experiences of writer Peter Viertel and director John Huston on the set of The African Queen . 

Love trumps in the 1950s classic The Africa Queen, but White Hunter Black Heart is much darker and explores the morality of hunting wild animals.

Hard-living, macho movie director John Wilson (Clint Eastwood) arrives in 1950s Zimbabwe to prepare for his next film. Accompanied by screenwriter Pete Verrill (Jeff Fahey), Wilson becomes far more interested in shooting an elephant than getting ready for the shoot.

Determined, Wilson moves production to a village where a native hunter helps him in his quest. Obsessed with this goal even as filming grows ever more chaotic, the director begins to question the ethics and origins of his fixation.

King Solomon’s Mines (1950)

King Solomon’s Mines , based on H. Rider Haggard’s novel is about a rescue party that sets out to find an explorer who has disappeared on an African treasure hunt.

The search leads the party across the continent and through the terrors of jungle, swamp, and desert.

Their ultimate destination is the fabled lost mine of Solomon, a source of unimaginable wealth and deadly danger.

There is also a 1985 version of King Solomon’s Mines starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone, which has a more Indiana Jones feel.

Mogambo (1953)

In M ogambo , Victor Marswell (Clark Gable) is a big-game hunter in Kenya. After Eloise Kelly (Ava Gardner) is stood up by a friend there, she falls in with Marswell.

Shortly thereafter, the Nordleys (Grace Kelly, Donald Sinden) arrive for a gorilla safari. Mrs. Nordley, disillusioned with her husband, takes a liking to Marswell, and the two have a brief affair. Kelly grows jealous, and the two women engage in a battle of wills over the hunter, while Mr. Nordley remains oblivious to it all. 

This is an old classic Hollywood triangle filmed in Kenya and Uganda. The music featured in the film was mostly performed by local native tribes.

Hatari! (1962)

Hatari , meaning “Danger” in Swahili , stars the legendary John Wayne takes the cowboy from the Old West to the African landscape. Filmed in Tanzania in the Ngorongoro Crater, this old Hollywood film is about a group of who traps animals for zoos. While not an activity I endorse today, this was the historical reality at the time.

A female wildlife photographer joins the group to document and finds herself the mother of baby elephants she tries to save.

The movie features the amazing scenery and wildlife of Tanzania and I recognized many of the places still from my recent safari.

The Naked Prey (1966)

The Naked Prey is set in the South African veld. This eerie movie starring Cornel Wilde is a dark tale that switched the traditional roles of a hunting safari.

The guide leads a troop of hunters through a tribe’s colony to start the hunt, but when the group offends the locals, he finds himself in the role of the animals – naked and being chased through the landscape by warriors from the tribe.

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Passion for Life

The Young Indiana Jones is a TV series, created by Steven Spielberg, featuring a 10 and later 17-year-old Indiana Jones on his adventures in his early year.  The set includes 3 seasons and 24 episodes

The “Passion for Life” episode focuses on a 10-year-old Indiana Jones as he goes on safari with his parent in British East Africa in September 1910.

Young Jones befriends a Massai boy named Meto who helps him in his search for the rare Fringe-Eared Oryx for former US President Teddy Roosevelt.

The scenery is spectacular and in typical Indiana Jones style, an adventure ensues as Indy finds himself in the middle of it all.   The episode is one hour, but the DVD set also has a complimentary disc with documentaries exploring the themes in each episode with historical clips and commentary.

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There’s a way to make a movie like "The Tourist," but Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck doesn’t find that way. Here is a romantic comedy crossed with a crime thriller, shot in Paris and Venice, involving a glamorous mystery woman and a math teacher from Wisconsin. The plot is preposterous. So what you need is a movie that floats with bemusement above the cockamamie, and actors who tease each other.

As the mystery woman, Angelina Jolie does her darnedest. She gets the joke. Here is a movie in which she begins in a Paris cafe, eludes cops by dashing into the Metro, takes an overnight train to Venice, picks up a strange man ( Johnny Depp ) and checks them both into the Royal Danelli without one wrinkle on her dress or one hair out of place. And is sexy as hell. This is the Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly role, and she knows it.

Depp is in the Cary Grant role of the obliging, love-struck straight man who finds himself neck deep in somebody else’s troubles. In theory, these two should engage in witty flirtation and droll understatement. In practice, no one seems to have alerted Depp that the movie is a farce. I refer to farce in the dictionary sense, of course: a comic dramatic work using buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations. Depp, however, plays his math teacher seriously and with a touch of the morose.

The plot involves — oh, hell, you know, the usual mystery man who has stolen millions from a gangster and gone into hiding while smuggling instructions to Jolie, his lover, instructing her to take the train to Venice, etc. And the cops from Scotland Yard who are tailing her in hopes of nailing the guy. And the gangster and his hit men who are also on the thief’s trail. And chases over the rooftops of Venice, dinner on a train, a scene in a casino, designer gowns and a chase through the canals with Jolie at the controls of a motor taxi, and...

Well, there was really only one cliche left, and I was grateful when it arrived. You know how a man in a high place will look down and see a canvas awning that might break his fall, and he jumps into it? Yep. And it’s shielding a fruit cart at the open-air market and he lands on the oranges and runs off, leaving the cart owner shaking his fist. This is a rare example of the Vertical Fruit Cart Scene, in which the cart is struck not from the side but from the top.

The supporting roles are filled by excellent actors, and it’s a sign of the movie’s haplessness that none of them make a mark. You have Paul Bettany and Timothy Dalton as cops, Steven Berkoff as the gangster and Rufus Sewell as "The Englishman," who must be important because he hangs around without any apparent purpose. Once in London, I saw Berkoff play a cockroach in his adaptation of Kafka’s "Metamorphosis." It might have helped if he’d tried the cockroach again.

A depressing element is how much talent "The Tourist" has behind the camera. Writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck made " The Lives of Others ," which won the 2007 Oscar for best foreign film. The screenplay is by Christopher McQuarrie (Oscar winner for " The Usual Suspects ") and Julian Fellowes (Oscar winner for " Gosford Park "), along with von Donnersmarck. It’s based on a French film written by Jerome Salle , which was nominated for a Cesar. All three "Tourist" writers seem to have used their awards as doorstops.

It doesn’t matter that the plot is absurd. That goes with the territory. But if it’s not going to be nonstop idiotic action, then the acting and dialogue need a little style and grace and kidding around. Jolie plays her femme fatale with flat-out, drop-dead sexuality. Depp plays his Wisconsin math teacher as a man waiting for the school bell to ring so he can go bowling. The other actors are concealed in the shadows of their archetypes. Cary Grant would have known how to treat a lady.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Tourist (2010)

Rated PG for violence and brief strong language

103 minutes

Paul Bettany as Acheson

Rufus Sewell as Englishman

Steven Berkoff as Ivan

Angelina Jolie as Elise

Johnny Depp as Frank

Timothy Dalton as Jones

Directed by

• Florian Henckel
• Christopher McQuarrie
• Julian Fellowes

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19 Inspirational Safari Movies

Watch a classic safari movie before you go.

Getting excited about an upcoming African safari holiday? Hollywood has a long history of creative safari movies about all things Africa and wildlife – dating back to 1932’s “Congorilla” documentary of jungle and savannah wildlife activity in Belgian Congo (now D.R. Congo).

The genre has evolved over the decades, meaning there is now a good choice of films available to bring the magic of the safari experience into your living room. Check out our list below of the most inspirational safari movies to watch before you go – the first section of the list features traditional movies, and the latter section focusses on documentary safari movies. All are highly recommended and well worth viewing!

Out of Africa

A Hollywood classic, Out of Africa is one of those rare films that you can’t fail to fall in love with. Whether you’re watching it for the dazzling scenery of the Kenyan landscapes or the drama and romance, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford make for compelling viewing in this tale of Africa, war, and wildlife.

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Gorillas in the Mist

Like Out of Africa , the movie is based on a true story, but here the similarities end. Instead of a romantic interest, Gorillas in the Mist tells the tale of naturalist Sigourney Weaver’s touching relationship with the group of primates she studies in the Rwandan jungle . With the threat of poachers hovering in the background and strife all around in Rwanda, there’s high drama as well as some magnificent footage of real gorillas in their natural habitat.

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The Lion King

When you think of safaris and big game, it’s hard not to immediately imagine the Circle of Life scene from the beginning of Disney’s epic African adventure, The Lion King. It might be animation and talking lions rather than real-life nature scenes, but adults and kids alike can’t fail to be inspired to take a safari holiday after watching Simba on screen!

Lion King fan? Read our take on Hakuna Matata meaning .

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The African Queen

An old fashioned tale of action, romance, and daring exploits in the wilds of the jungle, The African Queen is a fantastic romp with two of the era’s best-loved actors – Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Shot in Uganda and the Congo, it was one of the first movies to use real locations and backgrounds which adds an unparalleled realism to the story.

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White Hunter Black Heart

Clint Eastwood’s film is based loosely on the experiences of writer Peter Viertel and director John Huston on the set of The Africa Queen. But whilst love triumphs over all in the 1950s classic, this movie is much darker and explores the morality of hunting wild animals. When filmmaker John Wilson becomes obsessed with the safari and elephants, disaster begins to stir. White Hunter Black Heart is a must watch!

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This interesting film starring the legendary John Wayne removes the cowboy from his favourite setting and transports him to a vast African landscape. Filmed in Tanzania , it’s a dramatic story about a group of hunters, a female wildlife photographer and the race to save a group of baby elephants from a terrible fate – life in a zoo. With exhilarating wildlife chases and magnificent Mount Meru providing a dramatic backdrop, Hatari! is a thrilling romp of a safari movie.

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Road to Zanzibar

After the success of contemporary films in the safari genre, Bob Hope parodies African adventures with this comic farce. Involving love triangles, races through the jungle, swimming with leopards and plenty of jewels, the fast-paced comedy is a fun trip set in 1940’s Africa.

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The Naked Prey

Set in the veld of South Africa, The Naked Prey is an eerie movie starring Cornel Wilde in a dark tale that switches the traditional roles of a hunting safari. The guide (Wilde) leads a troop of hunters through an African tribe to start the hunt, but when the group offends the locals, he finds himself in the role of the animals – naked and being chased through the landscape by warriors from the tribe.

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Everyone’s favourite African jungle hero has been the subject of many films over the Hollywood years, but in 1999 Disney gave him a 3D makeover and plenty of animated jungle action before the happy ending with Jane. Featuring a paranoid elephant and a smart-mouthed gorilla, Tarzan   is a family film that brings the jungle to life with sweeping scenes.

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Married couple George Adamson and Joy Adamson live in northern Kenya for George’s work as a senior game warden. After George’s team have to kill a man-eating lion and its lioness, their three young female cubs being orphaned. Although difficult to begin with, George and Joy wean and take care of the three cubs, who they adopt as pets. Born Free is a classic film about safari life in Africa, heartwarming, and with stunning human – big cat interaction.

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To Walk With Lions

To Walk With Lions follows the later years of the life of George Adamson who was featured saving a lion cub in the safari movie Born Free . His life was transformed with this action, and he went on to become a lifelong animal activist. Well worth a watch in tandem with Born Free .

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Something of an amusingly naff found footage film set in the South African bush. In a wild corner of the country, a young Zulu girl teams up with an American tourist group on safari. The group enters an uncharted area where they are forced to face the untamed wild.

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Documentary Safari Movies:

The six-part mini-series, narrated by David Attenborough, takes an in-depth look at various African habitats and the wildlife that inhabit them. Each episode is wonderful, and the highlights for pre-safari viewing are on the African deserts – the Kalahari, Namib, and Sahara, the savanna of East Africa, and the rainforests of the Congo Basin.

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The Last Lions

This is a feature-length National Geographic documentary filmed in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region  and narrated by Jeremy Irons. It focusses on one lioness raising her cubs and protecting them against the many threats they face, including poaching. Whilst the film is about this one mother, it deals more broadly with the decline of the African lion from a population of many millions in the 20th century to just 20,000 today.

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The Ivory Game

This 2016 documentary examines the global ivory trade and the various actors sustaining and fighting it, examine the actions of governments, environmental preservationists, poachers, and ivory merchants. The film takes viewers from the elephant’s home ranges in Tanzania, Kenya, and Zambia to China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam where ivory is seen as a status symbol, and demand is rife. As with so many other movies on this list, it’s one that’s well worth watching if you hope to see elephants on your next safari.

Watch now on Netflix

Battle at Kruger

OK, we know it’s not actually a safari move, but no list of this nature would be complete without reference to the most epic homemade safari video ever! If you’ve not yet seen it, set aside eight minutes right now to watch this confrontation between a herd of buffalo , a pride of lions and a crocodile . (Read up on battle at Kruger .)

Any classic safari movies we’re missing from the list? Please let us know in the comments below! Made it to the end of our safari film list and still have itchy feet? Check out these 50 movies to inspire wanderlust .

Other significant African movies

Whilst not specifically safari movies, these films listed below are all set – and filmed – in Africa, where the landscape and culture play a significant part. All well worth adding to your ‘to watch’ list before you take a safari!

Blood Diamond (2006)

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in a  war thriller smuggling diamonds, set against the backdrop of the Sierra Leone civil war.

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Hotel Rwanda (2004)

This moving drama is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager of  Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali during the Rwandan civil war.

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The Last King of Scotland (2006)

A historical drama about Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan who becomes the personal physician and close confidante of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

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BORN FREE should also be included in this list. One of the best African / Kenya / Safari movies ever!!

Great shout Vince – added!

My candidate for the single best safari film of all time is King Solomon’s Mines, the one with Debra Kerr and Stewart Granger (it made him an international star). It was the third of five filmings of H. Rider Haggard’s novel.

It had the most authentic tribesmen, and its iconic drum music was recycled in countless safari “B” movies as well as in John Ford’s Mogambo, another good African movie.

I’m going to have to check that one out David, thanks for the recommendation!

Nowhere in africa

Safari movies: Mogambo, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Ghost and the Darkness

All around Africa movies: The Power of One,Tarzan: The Legend of Greystoke, Cry Freedom, Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, Blood Diamond

Hey Mark – some excellent choices there, and a couple I haven’t seen yet. Will check them out, thanks!

Pls I want to know the name of a comedy movie in Africa jungle where in one occasion in the movie African man was squatting then a helicopter with rope hanging catched his pants and continue flying then the man eventually got his head straight into a hippopotamus’s anus.

One I enjoyed from my childhood was A Far Off Place, starring Reese Witherspoon.

Thanks for the tip – I’ve not heard of that one, will check it out!

Oh, and George of the Jungle and Sahara. I realize they’re not Safari films, but set in Africa, at least.

Top countries for safaris

• Botswana safaris
• Kenya safaris
• Namibia safaris
• South Africa safaris
• Tanzania safaris
• Uganda safaris

Safari basics

• Safari animals
• How to find the right safari company
• When to go on safari
• What to take on safari
• Safari clothing – what to wear
• Safari rules & etiquette
• Wildlife spotting tips

Most read articles

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Africa’s best game reserves

• Chobe National Park, Botswana
• Etosha National Park, Namibia
• Kruger National Park, South Africa
• Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
• Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
• Okavango Delta, Botswana
• Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

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Movies About Africa Based On True Stories

Many movies have reported on Movies About Africa Based On True Stories. Here are 25 of our favorites.

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

From Malik Bendjelloul, starring Rodriguez, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore Rated PG-13

Searching for Sugar Man is an Oscar-winning documentary about the 1970s American folk singer Sixto Rodriguez. After a failed music career in the US, Rodriguez disappears into obscurity, but unbeknownst to him, his music is wildly popular in South Africa. Two fans, Stephen “Sugar” Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, set out to find out what happened to their idol. In the process, they uncover a story of success, failure, and redemption.

The Last Lions (2011)

From Dereck Joubert, starring Star: Jeremy Irons Rated PG

The Last Lions is an award-winning documentary about a lioness named Ma di Tau, her cubs, and their struggle to survive in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. The film follows the family’s perilous journey across the parched African savanna as they search for food and water and fight off predators. The narration follows Ma di Tau’s incredible story of survival and the determination she has to protect her cubs from lions, hyenas, and humans. Along the way, viewers learn about the fragile ecosystem of the Okavango Delta and the threats it faces from poachers, drought, and global warming. The Last Lions is both an inspirational and cautionary tale, emphasizing the importance of protecting these majestic creatures, and the beauty of their natural habitat. The film was praised for its cinematography and captivating storytelling, and it won a number of awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

From Terry George, starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali Rated PG-13

Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 British-Italian-South African historical drama film directed by Terry George. It is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The film follows Paul (played by Don Cheadle) as he risks his own life to protect the Tutsi refugees from certain death at the hands of the Hutu militia. He must negotiate a tenuous peace between the two sides in order to save as many lives as possible. Throughout the film, Paul struggles to maintain his moral integrity as he faces the realities of the genocide and its indifference from the international community. In the end, he succeeds in saving many lives while also inspiring hope and courage in those around him. Hotel Rwanda is a powerful film that depicts the devastating effects of war and violence, as well as the courage and resilience of humanity in the face of tragedy. It has won numerous awards, including Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (Cheadle) and Best Original Screenplay.

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

From Gillo Pontecorvo, starring Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash Rated Not Rated

The Battle of Algiers is an Italian-Algerian historical war drama film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Set during the Algerian War (1954-1962) between the Algerian National Liberation Front and the French government in Algeria, it depicts the fight of the Algerian people against French colonialism and the violence used by both sides. The movie follows three characters – Ali La Pointe, a freedom fighter; Colonel Mathieu, a military commander; and a young Algerian woman, Djamila – as they represent the two sides of the conflict. The film follows the violent struggle and the harsh tactics used by both sides, such as the French military’s use of torture and the Algerians’ use of bombings and assassinations. Ultimately, the Algerian independence movement succeeds in driving the French out of the country. The Battle of Algiers is widely acclaimed for its realistic and unbiased depiction of the war and is seen as an influential work of political cinema.

Blood Diamond (2006)

From Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Kagiso Kuypers Rated R

Blood Diamond is a 2006 American political war thriller film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, and Jennifer Connelly. Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War, the film follows Danny Archer (DiCaprio), a South African mercenary, and Solomon Vandy (Hounsou), a Mende fisherman. Both men are struggling to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in pursuit of the gem, they form an uneasy alliance in order to survive. As the situation in Sierra Leone worsens, their search for the diamond leads them into a dangerous game in which the stakes couldn't be higher. In the end, the two men must choose between their own personal gain and the greater good.

When We Were Kings (1996)

From Leon Gast, starring Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Don King, James Brown Rated PG

When We Were Kings is a 1996 documentary film about the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974. The film chronicles the events of the fight and the promotion leading up to it, set against the larger political and social context of the time. It also looks at Ali's role in the Black Power movement and his ongoing struggle against racism and injustice. The film features interviews with many of the key participants and supporters involved, as well as archival footage of the fight itself. At the time of its release, the film was acclaimed for its remarkable look at a pivotal moment in history, and for its sensitive portrayal of Ali's struggles.

District 9 (2009)

From Neill Blomkamp, starring Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt Rated R

District 9 is a science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp, released in 2009. The film takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa, where a group of aliens, referred to as "prawns" have been forced to live in slum-like conditions in a small area called District 9. The aliens, who arrived in a spaceship 20 years earlier, are managed by the Multi-National United (MNU). Tensions between the aliens and humans grow as MNU plans to forcefully evict the aliens from District 9 to a new internment camp. The story follows Wikus van der Merwe, an MNU employee tasked with leading the relocation. During the course of his job, Wikus becomes exposed to a strange alien chemical, which slowly mutates him into an alien-human hybrid. To save himself, Wikus must find a way to reverse the mutation and find a cure, while also attempting to prevent the MNU from taking over District 9 and carrying out their plans.

Captain Phillips (2013)

From Paul Greengrass, starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener Rated PG-13

Captain Phillips is a 2013 American biographical thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks. The film is based on the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the US container ship Maersk Alabama by a group of Somali pirates. When the heavily armed pirates board the ship and take the crew hostage, its captain, Richard Phillips (Hanks), is forced to go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the safety of his crew. With the pirates wanting millions of dollars in ransom, Phillips and his crew must confront their captors and negotiate for their lives in a desperate, high-stakes standoff. Ultimately, Phillips and his crew come out safely, but their ordeal is far from over.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

From Cary Joji Fukunaga, starring Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor, Andrew Adote Rated TV-MA

Beasts of No Nation is a 2015 war drama film directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Uzodinma Iweala. The film stars Abraham Attah as Agu, a young boy from an unspecified West African country who is forced to join a unit of mercenary fighters as a child soldier. Agu struggles to stay alive as he navigates the dark realities of war and his own struggles with morality. At the same time, he must confront his own inner demons as he attempts to come to terms with his newfound identity. The film follows Agu's journey as he learns to survive in a world of violence and chaos, while coming to terms with the darkness inside him.

Zulu (1964)

From Cy Endfield, starring Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth Rated Not Rated

Zulu is a 1964 British epic war film depicting the Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and the Zulus in January 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War. The film depicts 150 British soldiers, led by Lieutenants John Chard (Stanley Baker) and Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine), who successfully defend the garrison against an onslaught by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The film accurately portrays the historical events of the battle and was made with the assistance of veteran soldiers who had been in the actual battle. It also features a memorable score by composer John Barry. The film is seen from both British and Zulu perspectives, with scenes of both the British and Zulu commanders and troops preparing for battle, as well as the actual battle itself. It is filled with suspense and action, as well as some moments of humor throughout. It is a thrilling and inspiring battle epic that has become a classic.

Black Hawk Down (2001)

From Ridley Scott, starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana Rated R

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 war film directed by Ridley Scott, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Mark Bowden. The film chronicles the events of a failed United States military mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993, in which 18 U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force soldiers were killed while trying to capture two lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The mission was intended to capture Aidid, who had been accused of leading a movement against the United Nations' attempt to deliver food to the Somali people. The film follows the U.S. soldiers as they enter the hostile environment of Mogadishu and battle against Aidid's militia in a desperate attempt to rescue their comrades. The movie emphasizes the courage and determination of the American forces, as well as their heavy losses. It stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, and Sam Shepard.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

From Kevin Macdonald, starring James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington Rated R

The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 historical drama film directed by Kevin Macdonald, based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Giles Foden. The film tells the story of Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) who, after moving to Uganda to work in a rural hospital, becomes the personal physician and closest confidant of Ugandan President Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Garrigan’s unwitting involvement in the atrocities of Amin's regime lead him to a moral dilemma, where the only way to survive is to confront his own conscience. The film also stars Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson and Simon McBurney. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won an Oscar for Best Actor for Forest Whitaker.

Shooting Dogs (2005)

From Michael Caton-Jones, starring John Hurt, Hugh Dancy, Dominique Horwitz, Louis Mahoney Rated R

Shooting Dogs, directed by Michael Caton-Jones in 2005, is a historical drama set during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The film focuses on the horror of the genocide and the devastating toll it takes on both the people and their faith. The story follows Father Christopher (John Hurt) and a British teacher, Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy), as they try to protect and save the lives of hundreds of Rwandan students who have fled to a Catholic school in Kigali. While they attempt to protect the students, they are caught in the midst of the conflict and violence between the Hutus and the Tutsis. As the conflict escalates, the characters are faced with the harsh reality of their situation and must make difficult decisions that will define their future. In the end, the film serves as a powerful reminder of the tragedy of the genocide and its lasting impact.

Lord of War (2005)

From Andrew Niccol, starring Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan Rated R

Lord of War stars Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov, an arms dealer who becomes one of the most successful and ruthless people in the world. The film follows the life of Yuri, from his humble beginnings in Ukraine to his rise to international prominence and his fall from grace. Along the way, he must navigate the international political landscape and dodge the efforts of an Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) to bring him to justice. Yuri's journey takes him to many places, where he comes face to face with the horrors of war and the people affected by it. In the end, Yuri is forced to confront the consequences of his actions and make a hard choice.

In a Better World (2010)

From Susanne Bier, starring Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Markus Rygaard, Wil Johnson Rated R

In a Better World is a 2010 drama film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Anders Thomas Jensen. The film follows two Danish families, one in Denmark and one in a remote area of Africa, and their struggles with violence, grief, and compassion. In Denmark, two young boys, Christian and Elias, become friends despite their different backgrounds. When Christian's father, Claus, is away working in Africa, Christian and Elias form a strong bond and start engaging in dangerous acts of revenge. Meanwhile, Claus has become involved with an African refugee camp and attempts to create a better, more peaceful life for its inhabitants. As the two boys and their families struggle with their differences and confront their own capacity for violence, they must also learn to accept one another and themselves. The film examines how justice, revenge and compassion can exist side by side in a better world.

Moolaadé (2004)

From Ousmane Sembene, starring Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Hélène Diarra, Salimata Traoré, Dominique Zeïda Rated Unrated

Moolaadé is a 2004 drama film directed by Ousmane Sembene. The film is set in a small village in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and focuses on the struggles of a strong-willed woman, Collé, to protect four young girls from undergoing a traditional form of female genital mutilation (FGM). Collé grants them protection in the form of a Moolaadé, a traditional form of immunity. Despite being opposed by the village chief and other influential members of the community, Collé stands her ground and manages to persuade the villagers to abandon the practice. The film ultimately shows the power of the collective to bring about social change.

Shake Hands with the Devil (2007)

From Directors: Jennifer Capraru, Roger Spottiswoode, starring Roy Dupuis, Owen Sejake, James Gallanders, Michel Ange Nzojibwami Rated R

Shake Hands with the Devil is a 2007 Canadian drama film directed by acclaimed directors Jennifer Capraru and Roger Spottiswoode. The film is based on the autobiography of Canadian Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire, who served as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. The film follows Dallaire as he struggles to protect civilians, prevent an escalation of violence, and bring an end to the genocide. The film details the violence, suffering, and helplessness of Dallaire as he attempts to navigate the forces that subject the Tutsi people to genocide. The film also explores Dallaire's difficult journey of coming to terms with his personal guilt and helplessness in the situation. In the end, Dallaire's courage and perseverance provide a beacon of hope in the midst of the tragedy.

Nowhere in Africa (2001)

From Caroline Link, starring Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, Matthias Habich, Sidede Onyulo Rated R

Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link. It tells the story of a German Jewish family’s journey to the Kenyan town of Nanyuki during the Nazi regime in the late 1930s. The family consists of Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), a lawyer; his wife Jettel (Juliane Köhler), their young daughter Regina (Lea Kurka), and the African cook Owuor (Sidede Onyulo). Walter moves to Kenya to practice law, while Jettel and Regina initially stay in Germany, but eventually join him. Despite their initial culture shock, Jettel and Regina eventually adjust to their life in Kenya. They learn to appreciate its beauty and the culture of its people. At the same time, Walter finds himself torn between his loyalty to Germany and his disgust for the Nazi regime. The film follows the Redlich family through the war and its aftermath, as they struggle to make a home in a new and foreign land. It is a story of resilience, courage, and the power of love.

The Passenger (1975)

From Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry Rated PG-13

The Passenger is a 1975 drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Jack Nicholson. It follows the story of a British journalist, David Locke, who is sent to Africa to cover a civil war. Upon arriving, Locke is frustrated by the lack of news and instead takes the identity of a recently deceased businessman in order to escape his own life. He soon finds himself on a journey of self-discovery, traveling from Africa to Spain and ultimately back to England. Along the way, he discovers a darker side of himself as he grapples with his identity and the implications of his actions. Throughout the film, Locke's journey is framed by his interactions with other characters and his own inner monologue. The Passenger is a unique and powerful film that explores themes of identity, morality, and existentialism. It is a visually stunning masterpiece that is regarded as one of Antonioni's best films.

The First Grader (2010)

From Justin Chadwick, starring Naomie Harris, Oliver Litondo, Tony Kgoroge, Alfred Munyua Rated PG-13

Queen of Katwe (2016)

From Mira Nair, starring Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Kabanza Rated PG

The English Patient (1996)

From Anthony Minghella, starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas Rated R

The Good Lie (2014)

From Philippe Falardeau, starring Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal Rated PG-13

The Constant Gardener (2005)

From Fernando Meirelles, starring Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Hubert Koundé Rated R

Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000)

From Nabil Ayouch, starring Mounïm Kbab, Mustapha Hansali, Hicham Moussoune, Abdelhak Zhayra Rated Not Rated

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Lions have sex on top of safari truck full of people, wild video, roaring sex lions get busy on top of safari truck ... tourists take it all in.

A couple of lions felt the love so much that they started banging on top of a tourist safari truck ... and the people inside certainly got an eyeful and then some.

A group of tourists partaking in a South African safari were recently left stunned as 2 randy big cats made themselves at home atop their vehicle.

The male lion is seen mounting a resting female lion ... confirming their boinking session with a couple of growls. The jeep noticeably shakes from side to side as they do it ... sparking laughter and gasps from the tourists seated below.

The lions' intimacy didn't last too long ... with the lioness lying tired to the side as the king of the jungle eventually disconnected.

While the encounter may have given some tourists the ick on the spot ... it's significantly less scary than the African elephant attack from earlier this month -- which ended in a death.

No one died here ... just a couple of kitties getting laid!

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Old news is old news be first.

Namibian Tourism Private Sector Supports The 2024 Africa Youth In Tourism Innovation Summit

As the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Namibia is preparing to host the 6 th Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Challenge (AYTIS) 2024, www.youthtourismsummit.com the Namibian tourism private sector has pledged to support the Summit in various ways. AYTIS is scheduled for 28 to 31 May 2024 and will be held in collaboration with UN Tourism, AfCFTA, Namibia Tourism Board, NIPDB, NEPAD and BDO.

Owing to the measurable success of the previous editions of the Summit, this year the event has attracted partnerships from the private sector which include tour operators such as Sandwith Dune and Tours and Safari, hospitality giants like Hilton Windhoek, higher leaning institutions such as the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and may more partners from Namibia. 

Speaking about the partnership deal between Africa Youth in Tourism Innovation Summit and Sandwich Dune Tours and Safari, the Chief Execuitve Officer of Sandwich Dune Tours and Safari, Mr. Kenneth Kapitako could not hide his excitement about his organisation being part of the Summit. “We are delighted to accept the opportunity to partner with you on this exciting initiative. We believe this collaboration will be mutually beneficial and contribute positively to the promotion of youth innovation in tourism across Africa”. 

Sandwich Dune Tours and Safari offers a wide range of services including the Sandwich Harbor Adventure tours, eco-kayaking, boat cruises and several other breath-taking water-based activities. 

Among the speakers for this year’s Summit are Natalia Bayona, Director – Innovation, Education And Investments, UN Tourism, Spain; Teofilus Nghitila, Executive Director of Tourism, Ministry Of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Namibia;  Alka Bhatia, UNDP Resident Representative, Namibia, Inga Mtolo, Consultant, Strategic Development & Advisory, BDO Advisory Services, South Africa; Aloyce Kashindye Nzuki, Executive Director, Touchwood Consulting Ltd, Tanzania; Nombulelo Guliwe, Chief Executive Officer, South African Tourism, Gaylord Kasayi, Founder, YEBO RDC, Democratic Republic of Congo and more.

To register for physical attendance, please visit www.youthtourismsummit.com . Watch the space for information about the exhibition, B2B networking sessions and more. Please also use SAA discount code by clicking here to qualify for a discounted air fares and discounted accommodation codes from Hilton Garden Inn, NUST Hotel School and Marriott. 

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Durban to host Africa Travel Indaba. Image: Unsplash

Durban to host Africa’s Travel Indaba 2024

Durban is ready to welcome tourism stakeholders from all over the world to this year’s annual Africa Travel Indaba.

With less than a week to go, Durban is ready to welcome thousands of visitors to the city for Africa’s Travel Indaba .

The event will be hosted at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre ( ICC Durban ).

This year’s edition of the annual event will take place under the theme “Unlimited Africa” from 13 to 16 May and is organised by South African Tourism and hosted in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal province and the city of Durban.

One week to go until Durban welcomes the global tourism community, as the city hosts Africa's Travel Indaba 2024. This iconic 3-day leisure trade show will create valuable networking opportunities to unlock Africa's unlimited potential. #TravelIndaba24 #ATI2024 #VisitSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/eIP2D02YTr — Africa's Travel Indaba 2024 (@travel_indaba) May 6, 2024

AFRICA TRAVEL INDABA

Africa’s Travel Indaba attracts tourism and hospitality buyers from around the world who are specifically interested in Africa.

Buyers and exhibitors will attend the three-day tourism trade gathering, considered the continent’s premium tourism trade event.

From new and authentic proudly African experiences to established tourism products, Indaba provides excellent networking opportunities.

This is in addition to the renowned hospitality provided by Africa’s welcoming people.

AFRICAN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Africa’s Travel Indaba showcases the diverse leisure tourism products that the continent has to offer.

Over 1 100 exhibitors from across Africa will promote their tourism-related offerings to international and local buyers.

The aim is to foster and enhance connections and collaborations that shape the future of the African tourism sector.

SHOWCASING DURBAN

Delegates attending the event can look forward to experiencing many of the city’s tourist attractions.

The lively coastal city of Durban, with its historic buildings and museums, also offers vibrant township experiences.

There will also be opportunities to venture into and explore the rest of the province.

LOCAL HOSPITALITY

However, it is not all about hard work.

Visitors will also get to sample the best of Durban’s hospitality and cuisine.

Delegates can enjoy the tourist offerings from the city once dubbed “the city where the fun never sets”.

Durban’s hospitality sector is set to benefit from the influx of visitors heading to the city for the event.

The event will benefit the city’s local economy since increased visitor flows will generate income for the city’s tourism and hospitality sectors.

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The global synthetic drugs crisis has hit West Africa, where people are digging up human bones to make a drug called 'kush'

• Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency over widespread drug abuse.
• One drug causing particular concern in the West African nation is the synthetic drug "kush."
• Locals say the drug is made with ground human bones.

Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, is a bustling African port city on the Atlantic Ocean, where even the dead can't rest, say its residents.

Cemeteries are bolstering their security measures because gravediggers are stealing human bones to make powerful synthetic drugs, local journalists told Business Insider.

Sierra Leone, in West Africa, declared a state of emergency in April over rising cases of synthetic drug abuse due to the spread of "kush," which contains ground human bones, locals say.

Addressing the nation on April 4, Sierra Leone's president, Julius Maada Bio, said the country was facing "an existential threat" from "the ravaging impact of drugs and substance abuse, particularly the devastating synthetic drug kush."

As with the rise of synthetic drug use in other parts of the world, such as the fentanyl crisis in the US , kush could be set to spread.

International expansion is "almost inevitable," Michael Cole, a professor of forensic science at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, told BI.

While there are no official statistics on the number of users of the drug, they are not hard to spot, reports say.

The streets of Freetown, the country's capital, are said to be awash with young men, often sitting or lying in the spot where they lost consciousness after smoking the drug, Sally Hayden reported for The Irish Times .

Why locals say kush is sometimes made with ground human bones

Kush has been around for years in Sierra Leone, but its exact origin and composition remain unclear.

Cole told BI that kush was a mixture of tobacco, cannabis, tramadol, and fentanyl — but he noted that some believe it can also contain formaldehyde, a preservative used in embalming fluid for corpses.

Formaldehyde also has euphoric properties , says the National Library of Medicine, which explains why kush users could be raiding Freetown's cemeteries.

Mabinty Magdalene Kamar, the editor of a local news outlet, Politico SL, said that kush users had claimed to her that the drugs did indeed contain bones.

"We heard stories about boys breaking into cemeteries and tombs and then taking out the bones of dead bodies, grinding them just to produce kush," she told BI.

The drug has a ravaging effect on users' physical health. Abdul Jalloh, a mental health expert and hospital care manager at the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, told BI he had observed kush users suffering from issues such as skin necrosis, ulcers, wounds, oral issues, kidney and liver problems, and eye infections.

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It can also be fatal, with one doctor telling the BBC that "in recent months," hundreds of men had died in Freetown after suffering organ failure caused by the drug.

Police guard Freetown's cemeteries

Local media outlets have reported cases of gravedigging for bones to extract formaldehyde and make the drug.

Thomas Dixon, the editor of the Salone Times newspaper in Freetown, told BI that while his publication had not been able to confirm the use of human bones in the drug, "you will see missing bones" if you go to cemeteries in the city.

Fears over grave robbing for kush production have become so widespread in the city that some cemeteries have requested police protection, the BBC reported.

Business Insider contacted the Freetown Police Force for comment.

"It makes you forget"

Jalloh said most kush users were "between the ages of 20 to 34."

Sierra Leonians face soaring unemployment rates, and much of its population lives in poverty — and some seem to be turning to kush in a bid to forget such problems.

Jalloh said that many of the patients he had dealt with cited unemployment, stress, and peer pressure among the reasons they had started using the drug.

"It makes you forget," Salifu Kamara, a 21-year-old kush user, told NPR . "We're under such strain. There's no work. There's nothing here."

Dixon said he believed it pointed to a "systemic failure" in the country, adding that kush turned young people into "zombies."

"Young people don't believe in the authorities anymore. The people don't believe in the political system anymore - they are sliding into taking drugs," he said.

Jalloh noted that the use of synthetic drugs was not unique to Sierra Leone.

"It's a global crisis everywhere," he said.

Synthetic cannabinoids

Authorities have likened kush to synthetic cannabinoids, the Guardian reports.

Synthetic cannabinoids are chemically engineered substances that mimic the effects of cannabis but can be much more harmful and unpredictable.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that toxic synthetic cannabinoids can cause rapid heart rate, vomiting, agitation, confusion, and hallucinations.

"Synthetic marijuana" can be up to 100 times as potent as traditional marijuana, inducing extreme physical effects like seizures, psychosis, and even death.

Recent years have seen a worldwide growth of synthetic drugs, marketed as "spice," "K2," "black mamba," or "crazy clown."

Drugmakers change the specific ingredients so fast — and produce the drugs in such massive quantities — that enforcement agencies can't keep up.

In 2021, Kensington, a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia, became notorious for abuse of a sedative called "tranq."

Also known as "xylazine," the animal sedative was often cut with other drugs. A side-effect of this drug can be struggling to stand upright, which is why users are commonly described in the media as "zombies."

Last month, the Financial Times reported that tranq had reached the UK.

Watch: Ex-Drug-Trafficker breaks down eight trafficking scenes in movies and TV

• Main content

Twenty years after dramedy Sideways, a look back at how the movie shaped wine tourism

Actors Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church taste the spoils of Santa Barbara wine country in Sideways Fox Searchlight/Handout

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” says Frank Ostini, proprietor of The Hitching Post II, the restaurant made famous in Alexander Payne’s 2004 film Sideways . Twenty years after the release of the Academy Award-winner (for Best Adapted Screenplay), the story of two friends touring Santa Barbara wine country continues to draw attention to the region and one of its staple grapes, pinot noir. “There’s no amount of money, no ad campaign that could have created this kind of publicity,” Ostini says. “All these new people have come in and challenged us to get better.”

Filmed on location in California’s Buellton, Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley, the road-trip movie featuring actors Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh captured the sunshiny beauty of the region, beaming bucolic vineyards and quaint villages into cineplexes and TV screens around the world. A so-called “ Sideways effect” followed, as sales of pinot noir skyrocketed by 300 per cent in the decade after the film’s release. Some winemakers accused the film of souring the reputation of Californian merlot, but that grape’s commercial success was already falling off a cliff before the film’s pinot-loving protagonist Miles insists: “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving.”

Because of its close proximity to Southern California and Los Angeles population centers, the Santa Ynez Valley has become a popular weekend getaway destination. George Rose/Handout

In hindsight, the real Sideways effect was creating awareness of California winemaking regions beyond Napa and Sonoma and spearheading a growth in wine tourism throughout the Golden State – and around the world. It made wine touring a focus of weekend escapes and full vacations, which helped to increase wine consumption in North America and paved the way for smaller estate winemakers.

Richard Sanford was one of the first to see the vinous potential of Santa Barbara’s windswept hills, which are cooled by fog blowing in almost daily off the Pacific Ocean. He established the 120-acre Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in 1971 and set his sights on producing top quality pinot noir in the region. By the mid-1980s, the area was home to acclaimed wineries, such as Au Bon Climat, Babcock Winery & Vineyards and Sanford Winery, which is where Miles shares winetasting tips with his friend Jack (“Stick your nose in it. Don’t be shy; really get your nose in there.”) in the film. “It was brilliant because after the movie premiered, these places existed,” Sanford says. “People were able to come and visit.”

The Hitching Post II restaurateur Frank Ostini is one of many local business owners still benefitting from the resulting wine tourism boom including visitors that tour local wineries. Jeremy Ball/Handout

Santa Barbara’s Visitors Center offers a free, self-guided Sideways trail map, listing 18 wineries, restaurants and attractions featured in the film. The Days Inn in Buellton, which was called The Windmill in the movie, rebranded itself as The Sideways Inn. Dining options, The Hitching Post II and Los Olivos Wine Merchant and Café, continue to welcome fans of the film.

Visitors attracted to the region located two hours northwest of Los Angeles are also able to find many more new discoveries. Home to roughly 50 wine producers in 2000, the Santa Ynez Valley viticultural area now features more than 200 wineries and tasting rooms that produce 360 million litres of wine. Pinot noir continues to be its strong suit, but vineyards are planted with 60 different grape varieties.

It’s worth noting that the growth of the wine industry hasn’t spoiled the area’s relaxed beauty. Unlike Napa where the value of the grape crop saw local farmers transition exclusively to wine growing, Santa Barbara’s vineyards continue to share space with walnut trees, strawberry fields and other agricultural ventures.

Its culinary scene continues to flourish as well. Wine savvy visitors created demand for higher-end restaurants, as well as a greater appreciation and use of local ingredients. One of the most hotly anticipated culinary developments is the launch of a partnership between Thomas Keller and Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts. The renowned French Laundry and Per Se chef will oversee food and beverage operations at Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, including the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore Santa Barbara, which will reopen after four years of renovations later this year.

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max.

• George Miller
• Nick Lathouris
• Prateek Bando
• Anya Taylor-Joy
• Charlee Fraser
• Chris Hemsworth
• 2 Critic reviews

• Dr. Dementus

• Immortan Joe …

• Praetorian Jack

• The Organic Mechanic

• Rictus Erectus

• Pregnant Wife #2

• Young Furiosa

• Rakka The Brackish

• The Octoboss

• Pregnant Wife #1

• Treadmill Rat
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Filmed in New South Wales, Australia. All Mad Max movies have been filmed in Australia, with the exception of Fury Road, when record rain falls transformed the normally arid desert areas into lush green growth areas.

Monologue : 45 years after the collapse, a young Furiosa is taken from her family. She will devote the rest of her life to finding her way home. This is her odyssey.

• Connections Featured in The Project: Episode dated 1 December 2023 (2023)

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• When will Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga be released? Powered by Alexa
• Who is Chris Hemsworth playing?
• May 24, 2024 (United States)
• Furiosa: Câu Chuyện Từ Max Điên
• Melrose Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
• Warner Bros.
• Kennedy Miller Mitchell
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $168,000,000 (estimated)

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• Runtime 2 hours 28 minutes

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