This study investigates the differences between Hollywood films and African films made about African Issues. Research shows that Africa has been misrepresented in Hollywood film for many years. The findings from the research provide some insight to some of the differences between Hollywood filmmakers and African filmmakers when depicting an existing social problem in Africa.

The study utilizes a hermeneutics model associated with interpretive research. The researcher performs a close reading of two films, Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. The former is a Hollywood blockbuster while the latter was written and produced by an African filmmaker. During the analysis specific elements in each film are examined, guided by research questions that examine how the conflict within the country is represented or articulated in the film (the goal being to determine whether the conflict is presented as the central concern in the storyline, or relegated to background), and to look at mechanisms used by the main character(s) to deal with the overarching conflict. Both areas are examined with the use of neocolonial theories and context, and provide material with which to examine the presence of neocolonial relationships conveyed in film.