full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dayo Ogunyemi: Visions of Africa's future, from African filmmakers

Unscramble the Blue Letters


As a child growing up in Nigeria, books sparked my earliest imagination, but films, films transported me to magical places with fnlyig cars, to infinite space with whole universes of worlds to discover. And my journey of discovery has led to many places and possibilities, all linked with ideas and imagination.

A decade and a half ago, I moved from working in law and technology in New York to financing, podrciung and distributing films in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg. I've been privileged to see fhasintrd how in Africa, film powerfully eexolprs the marvelous and the mundane, how it coenyvs infinite possibilities and fntedamunal truths. Afrofuturist films like "Pumzi," wurnai Kahiu's superb sci-fi flick, paint blnariilt peitrucs of Africa's future, while Rungano Nyoni's "I Am Not A Witch" and Akin Omotoso's "Vaya" show us and catalogue our present. These filmmakers offer nuanced snapshots of Africa's inaegimd and lived reality, in contrast to some of the images of aicfra that come from outside, and the perspectives that accompany all of these images, whether smpithteyac or dssiisimve, shape or distort how people see Africa.

Open Cloze


As a child growing up in Nigeria, books sparked my earliest imagination, but films, films transported me to magical places with ______ cars, to infinite space with whole universes of worlds to discover. And my journey of discovery has led to many places and possibilities, all linked with ideas and imagination.

A decade and a half ago, I moved from working in law and technology in New York to financing, _________ and distributing films in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg. I've been privileged to see _________ how in Africa, film powerfully ________ the marvelous and the mundane, how it _______ infinite possibilities and ___________ truths. Afrofuturist films like "Pumzi," ______ Kahiu's superb sci-fi flick, paint _________ ________ of Africa's future, while Rungano Nyoni's "I Am Not A Witch" and Akin Omotoso's "Vaya" show us and catalogue our present. These filmmakers offer nuanced snapshots of Africa's ________ and lived reality, in contrast to some of the images of ______ that come from outside, and the perspectives that accompany all of these images, whether ___________ or __________, shape or distort how people see Africa.

Solution


  1. producing
  2. conveys
  3. flying
  4. explores
  5. africa
  6. dismissive
  7. sympathetic
  8. firsthand
  9. imagined
  10. pictures
  11. wanuri
  12. brilliant
  13. fundamental

Original Text


As a child growing up in Nigeria, books sparked my earliest imagination, but films, films transported me to magical places with flying cars, to infinite space with whole universes of worlds to discover. And my journey of discovery has led to many places and possibilities, all linked with ideas and imagination.

A decade and a half ago, I moved from working in law and technology in New York to financing, producing and distributing films in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg. I've been privileged to see firsthand how in Africa, film powerfully explores the marvelous and the mundane, how it conveys infinite possibilities and fundamental truths. Afrofuturist films like "Pumzi," Wanuri Kahiu's superb sci-fi flick, paint brilliant pictures of Africa's future, while Rungano Nyoni's "I Am Not A Witch" and Akin Omotoso's "Vaya" show us and catalogue our present. These filmmakers offer nuanced snapshots of Africa's imagined and lived reality, in contrast to some of the images of Africa that come from outside, and the perspectives that accompany all of these images, whether sympathetic or dismissive, shape or distort how people see Africa.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
infant mortality 2
life expectancy 2
billion people 2
living conditions 2
mobile miracle 2
mobile phones 2
internet access 2


Important Words


  1. accompany
  2. africa
  3. afrofuturist
  4. akin
  5. books
  6. brilliant
  7. cars
  8. catalogue
  9. child
  10. contrast
  11. conveys
  12. decade
  13. discover
  14. discovery
  15. dismissive
  16. distort
  17. distributing
  18. earliest
  19. explores
  20. film
  21. filmmakers
  22. films
  23. financing
  24. firsthand
  25. flick
  26. flying
  27. fundamental
  28. future
  29. growing
  30. ideas
  31. images
  32. imagination
  33. imagined
  34. infinite
  35. johannesburg
  36. journey
  37. lagos
  38. law
  39. led
  40. linked
  41. lived
  42. magical
  43. marvelous
  44. moved
  45. mundane
  46. nairobi
  47. nigeria
  48. nuanced
  49. offer
  50. paint
  51. people
  52. perspectives
  53. pictures
  54. places
  55. possibilities
  56. powerfully
  57. present
  58. privileged
  59. producing
  60. reality
  61. rungano
  62. shape
  63. show
  64. snapshots
  65. space
  66. sparked
  67. superb
  68. sympathetic
  69. technology
  70. transported
  71. truths
  72. universes
  73. wanuri
  74. working
  75. worlds
  76. york