The right to push buttons....

Bare witness to a picture of Africa

We sat around a table just like we would if we were at our own homes. Durban was represented, Bloemfontein was mentioned and of course, Cape Town had to be revered for its uncompromising character to mix and match languages, cultures and style in the conversation. We sat around a table, spitting words in IsiZulu, Sesotho and IsiXhosa, happily chewing on words that made us crackle with laughter and muse with intrigue because that was the only way we could relate to home. We were South Africans in a foreign, rainy and busy city, hungry to invite those at the "Africa in the Picture" (AITP) Film Festival into our daily reality.

Though Film was at the centre of the cultural debate and its effect on the African continent to bring about change, a striking feature was emerging within us about Africa. Without taking away from the festival's achievement of bringing the message to those that were interested enough to pay to see the films. We realized that Africa was assumed to be a "country" not only that it is not taken seriously, but for the mere reason that Africans did not make enough noise about themselves. Even more so, Africans do not even know that their stories are being told in Film Festivals half way around the world.

8 weeks ago, when I landed in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, all I could think about were the opportunities that I could find to show my support and love for the continent. This is a totally misguided notion to have in one's head that Europe is the only place that can cater for an audience that is culturally - educated and informed about the arts and culture of other countries. Meanwhile, the black community from Africa or the Diaspora in the very European cities is not involved in the cultural exchange process that is taking place in the city that they are attempting to create a life in.

I should not have thought that coming to Amsterdam would feed my hunger to see, hear and feel differently than in South Africa (or Africa). What I should have initially asked myself was whether I was coming here to adopt a life or whether I was coming here to re-engineer my thinking.