The current interest in the production and use of educational films by Africanists emphasizes the need for a methodology by which films on Africa may be critically analyzed and evaluated. Until recently most academics have been overly cautious in their attitudes toward educational films. They have been quick to criticize factual and interpretative weaknesses, but at the same time they have felt it professionally declassé to be directly involved in writing scripts or in film production. Furthermore, the need to recover production costs has only too frequently meant a lowering of standards and a popularization of content. As a result, subject specialists have been reluctant to participate in film-making ventures. As for film usage, limited opportunities for preview, leading to random projection of bad or irrelevant material, and difficulties in obtaining films have discouraged many instructors. In short, for whatever reason, academics have had low audio-visual “literacy.”

Ideally, a film should be used in a particular teaching situation because of its ability to convey an idea or a series of ideas better than any other means at the instructor's disposal. Every film is a synthesis of “all the sensory data presented visually, aurally (or emotionally?) by the film and its accompanying sound-track” (Columbia University 1951, p. 2). The anticipated effect of this, the film's unique identity or content, on students at defined levels of understanding should determine whether it is a “good” or “bad” film.