And So It Begins
When ChatGPT first said that this project was actually possible, it helped me by listing the 30 countries that might prove the most difficult to source.
Copilot (secretly employed by Big DVD) expanded the list from 193 countries (and two observer states, whatever that actually means) to 213 countries or film producing areas. Some of these were easy (I already had a film in Welsh). Others were going to be more of a challenge.
Being a fairly predictable person, I decided to start looking for films from countries beginning with A. There were a lot of them. So I changed my mind and instead tried Is (there are only two), ordered a film to represent Iran (Zalava, a horror film), then discovered that I had already got an Iranian film anyway – I should have been doing Iraq or Israel. It was too late to cancel, so then I got flustered and decided it was all a silly idea and that I was going to give up before I’d started.
It was at that precise moment that eBay stepped in (at the urging of Big DVD, most likely) and recommended Great African Films volume 3.
Two films in one set. Both from different African countries: Chad and Algeria. But it got better… If there was a Volume 3, then clearly there must be Volumes 1 and 2, possibly even further ones.
A little Googling later and I had learned that there were five volumes in the Great African Films series, released by a firm in New York City in the early 2000s. A quick search of eBay showed that all five had (at some point) been available, and that if I waited patiently, they might be listed again at reasonable prices. (One volume was already there, but at the sort of price that makes your eyes and wallet water.)
I’d never set a budget for this quest, but obviously I couldn’t afford to spend hundreds every month. £10 per country seemed a reasonable amount to pay, possibly more for one of the more awkward ones.
£20 for each Great African Films volume therefore seemed affordable, and I was delighted when the next day two more volumes appeared on eBay from different sellers at roughly that very price. I also found Viva Riva!, a film from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which ChatGPT had said would be difficult. And I was resigned to my extra Iranian film, which, after all, might be well worth watching.
I had officially begun!
Batch One — Countries Acquired
Iran Zalava (2021)
Burkina Faso Tasuma The Fighter (2004)
Senegal The Pirogue (2012)
Algeria Desert Ark (1997)
Chad Daratt (2006)
Democratic Republic of the Congo Viva Riva! (2010)
Total outlay so far: £98.58
Total countries acquired: 6
Cost per country so far: £16.43