This comprehensive history of cinematic adaptations of sub-Saharan African literatures analyzes social, economic and political factors that influenced the film versions of texts across a wide range of genres from 1896 to the present. Cinematic adaptations of sub-Saharan African literatures draw from a wide range of genres from West African folktales to Zulu legends, from Hausa popular literature to graphic novels or war narratives. To date there has not been a more comprehensive study concerned with the question of adaptation of African literature and oral traditions to the screen.

The contributors examine how adaptations of African literatures-in their multilingual and multicultural contexts-mirror trends and transitions in the region's literary and, particularly, cinematic histories. Instead of focusing on a particular filmmaker or relying on case studies, analyses depart from the notion that sub-Saharan African cinematic adaptations are deeply influenced by historical moments and political and economic transitions.