A collective book on African cinema was recently written by Dr Samuel Lelievre, a visiting researcher at the Centre for Culture, Communication and Media Studies (CCMS) at the University of Natal.

A French post-doctoral researcher, Dr Lelievre has worked with several African scholars and University of Natal academics to put together Cinémas Africains, une oasis dans le desért? Collaborators who were particularly helpful in writing the book were Professor Keyan Tomaselli and PhD students Arnold Shepperson and Gibson Boloka who are also based at the CCMS.

Translated, Cinémas Africains, une oasis dans le désert? means "African Cinemas, an oasis in the desert?". It deals with cinematic and audio-visual practices in Francophone, Anglophone and Lusophone areas during the last two decades. The book was recently launched in France.

Dr Lelievre recently completed his PhD in France at the Marc-Bloch University in Strasbourg and has been with the CCMS since May last year. He currently holds a National Research Foundation (NRF) grant from South Africa as well as a Lavoisier grant from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Copies of the book are available at 19 Euro (approximately R180) and the ISBN number is 2-85480-980-7.

For details, contact Samuel Lelievre at the Culture, Communication and Media Studies at the University of Natal, Durban 4041. Phone 031 260 2505, fax 031 260 1519, e-mail: lelievres@nu.ac.za