I regularly teach undergraduate courses in Black Film including African
cinema, and I do not speak the various African languages.  However, I have
extensively researched the cultures so that I am at least familiar with the
social systems that the films make reference to.  At the undergraduate
level, I think this is legitimate to do; though I make clear to my students
what the limitations are in such an approach.

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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite