"Manthia Diawara is quite simply the best critic (in any language) currently writing on African cinema." Robert Stam

"Diawara has produced a useful history, a cogent analysis, and, in his arguments on how African cinema should develop, an undoubtedly controversial book." Studies in Popular Culture

"This is a good, solid and reliable history of filmmaking on the African continent, beginning with colonial production and moving on to independent filmmaking... an important and welcome reference source." Classic Images

"Diawara's work is comprehensive, based on rigorous...