"Documentary Objectives is a groundbreaking work, both archival and critical: a tour de force from one of the most meticulous, most accomplished writers on non-fiction film in Africa."Sada Niang, author of Nationalist African Cinema: Legacy and Transformations
"Documentary Objectives is an ingenious intervention into the terms of documentary cinema through French coloniality and the dynamic register of postcoloniality no longer tethered to Western conceptions of self and other. The description and interpretation of historical and contemporary documentary francophone African films are presented as a point of inflection and reinvention well beyond limited conceptions of the rest. Gabara's contribution deeply enriches our understanding of the futures of postcolonial documentary media."Peter J. Bloom, author of French Colonial Documentary: Mythologies of Humanitarianism
"In this erudite, beautifully written volume, Rachel Gabara expertly guides the reader through over a century of documentary filmmaking in Africa. This is likely to become a landmark work in the field."David Murphy, coauthor of Postcolonial African Cinema
"For so long, the documentary film tradition in Africa has suffered critical neglect; Rachel Gabara's comprehensive and rigorous book does more than address this gap. Documentary Objectives brilliantly outlines a vibrant cinematic tradition and smartly analyzes the films on their own terms, reconfiguring the aesthetic and political paradigms underpinning global documentary scholarship."Cajetan Iheka, author of African Ecomedia: Network Forms, Planetary Politics
