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At the same time as Hollywood was starting, a film industry in Southern Africa was surging ahead in integrating production, distribution and exhibition. African Film Productions Limited made silent movies using technical and acting talent from Britain, the United States and Australia, as well as from Africa. These included not only the original 'long trek movie' and the prototype for the movies Zulu and Zulu Dawn but also the first King Solomon's Mines and the original Blue Lagoon, featuring African actors such as Goba, Tom Zulu and Msoga Mwana, who starred as the black revolutionary in Prester John.
In this lavishly illustrated book, fifty movies are reconstructed with graphic photographs and plot synopses – plus quotations from reviews – so that readers can rediscover this long-lost treasure trove of silent cinema.
'Black and White Bioscope proves itself a vital text in the understanding of some aspects of the history of film-making in Africa – with specificity on the southern African region. It distinguishes itself among other literature given the fact that the author – Neil Parsons – who happens to be a historian by training - strictly adopted historical methodologies for a lucid reconstruction of the events he has captured in his book as narrated through the three basic scopes in historical studies: thematic, geographical and chronology. Moreover, the text has shown to possess the requisite and most-fundamental elements of historical insights to help historians and literary scholars seek to get a grasp on the origin of what exists as the film-making industry in Africa. It promises to be a reliable companion as it comprises diverse collections, reviews and biographies of some of the earliest film-making experiences of black and European personalities.'