This document analyzes how three films - Blood Diamond, Lord of War, and Last King of Scotland - represent corruption in Africa and how this impacts Western perceptions. All three films portray Africa in crisis, showing the civil war in Sierra Leone in Blood Diamond, illegal arms dealing in Africa in Lord of War, and the dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda in Last King of Scotland. The document discusses how corruption and its forms, such as the warlords profiting from blood diamonds or arms dealing, are represented in the films and whether these depictions are historically accurate or influenced by Western biases.

1. Nancy Campopiano

2. Representations of corruption in Africa across a
body of films and it's social and political
effects on Western perceptions of Africa...

3.  Blood Diamond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPX2kXhu
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 Lord Of War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0d6qgsv
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 Last King of Scotland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV_QgKJFZ
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4.  All the three films show Africa in crisis.
 Blood Diamond - The title refers to blood
diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African
war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and
thereby profit warlords and diamond companies
across the world. Set during Sierra Leone Civil
War in 1996-1999, the film shows a country torn
apart by the struggle between government
soldiers and rebel forces. The film portrays many
of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels'
amputation of people's hands to discourage them
from voting in upcoming elections.

5.  Lord of War - Nicolas Cage plays an illegal
arms dealer with similarities to post-Soviet
arms dealers Viktor Boutand Leonid Minin.
Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), an American
gunrunner of Ukrainian origin, stands in a sea
of spent shell casings. He states that there is
one firearm for one out of every twelve
people on the planet, and he wants to figure
out how to arm the other eleven.

6.  Last King of Scotland - The Last King of
Scotland tells the fictional story of Dr.
Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young
Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda and
becomes the personal physician to the
dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). The film
is based on factual events of Amin's rule.

7.  Representations – How is Africa represented –
good, bad why? Is this the same across all
three films? Are they contrasted in anyway?
Is it Western culture bias? African bias?
 Corruption – How does it show corruption?
Why does Africa have corruption? In what
form? Law, War, weapons? How is then
implemented? Historical background.

8.  Social and political aspects – Historical
background. Historical accuracy? Is it
fictional or not? Culture? Views from other
cultures? Impact on society.
 Western perceptions – How this could be
bias? Western influences on film? And the
making for audiences? How the film impacted
on countries? And if it showed true to Africa,
and its issues.