Africa Straight Up: Must-see New film (watch here) Counters stereotypes & Tells A Broader Story - post by Erika Amoako-Agyei

7/31/2013

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Africa Business Review gives new film "Africa Straight Up!" 'two' thumbs-up. Without losing touch with the reality on the ground, it counters stereotypes and aims to tell a broader story by showing the 'other side'.
The documentary features interviews with Ghanaian university founder Patrick Awuah (formerly with Microsoft), prominent African businessman, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, South African songstress Lira, and Kenyan technology activist (also Google Africa Policy Manager), Ory Okolloh. “Africa Straight Up” is worth watching, particularly for those around the world who aren’t aware of the good things happening across the continent.

The 28-minute feature film begins with an important premise- echoing and literally showing viewers footage from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie‘s famous TED Talk “The Danger of A Single Story“. The narrative is clear- Africa is not a country, it is rather the world’s second largest continent full of opportunities, diverse cultures, over 3,000 languages, and perhaps most significantly, Africans themselves, whom are driving the continent in a new direction.

PLAY VIDEO: Watch the full documentary here:

With more than a billion people spread across 54 countries speaking more than 3,000 languages, Africa cannot -- and should not -- be limited to a single narrative. Africa Straight Up is a more complete story about Africa and its diaspora.

Produced by: africa.com

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9 Comments

Prince Obiri-Mainoo link

8/1/2013 04:40:08 am

Just watched this inspiring video, and I am even more encouraged to be passionate about my efforts to touch the lives of the African youth. Thanks so much, Erika for posting!

Michael link

8/2/2013 09:53:40 am

I've been to quite a few countries in West Africa, mainly Nigeria where I lived for five years. Besides the unfortunate corruption, what I saw most was love, friendliness, intellect and passion. I'm white and yet for some reason I can not explain, I felt my roots came from there--I told myself, Lucy, the oldest human remains were found here, were they not? And for this reason I made sense of my feelings. I liked this video--thank you.

Erika

8/2/2013 01:59:53 pm

Thank you Michael. I appreciate your feedback. - Erika

Michael

8/3/2013 01:51:25 pm

No thanks needed Erika. I have a question if I may. I see the importance of this video and have no objections about it. The thing though, is that this video dealt with an elite--those who obviously were able to afford studying overseas, and this is irrelevant considering the point being made. However, I would like to see success stories, or positive stories of whatever kind that do deal with everybody else (outside of the elite). Would you know of any (within the same basic theme, if that make any sense at all)?

Michael link

8/3/2013 01:53:12 pm

No thanks needed Erika. I have a question if I may. I see the importance of this video and have no objections about it. The thing though, is that this video dealt with an elite--those who were able to afford studying overseas--though irrelevant considering the point being made. However, I would like to see success stories, or positive stories of whatever kind that do deal with everybody else (outside of the elite). Would you know of any (within the same basic theme, if that make any sense at all)?

Michael link

8/3/2013 01:53:30 pm

No thanks needed Erika. I have a question if I may. I see the importance of this video and have no objections about it. The thing though, is that this video dealt with an elite--those who were able to afford studying overseas--though irrelevant considering the point being made. However, I would like to see success stories, or positive stories of whatever kind that do deal with everybody else (outside of the elite). Would you know of any (within the same basic theme, if possible)?

Elena Steiner link

8/24/2013 03:55:08 am

I was thrilled to see this video, especially when clips of Chimamanda Adichi popped up! I play her Ted Talks all the time to intercultural clients and cultural intelligence students. Stories matter. Many stories matter. Thank you!

Mark Luzon link

10/27/2013 10:16:37 pm

I admire your thoughts and your way of expressing and putting it in front of readers is really something that I have seen after a long time. We need more writers like you.

Handyman Ames link

7/27/2022 07:08:52 am

Yourr the best

Africa Straight Up: Must-see New film (watch here) Counters stereotypes & Tells A Broader Story - post by Erika Amoako-Agyei

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