Movies in Madagascar

‘I guess the United States needs that man to bring change,” says Onitiana Randrianarisoa, a 20-year-old woman studying communication at a private university in Madagascar. ‘He has the charisma of an American president.”

Malagasy people are eager to know who the next boss of the White House will be. Their absorption in the US’s election atmosphere is evident at well-attended events organised by the American embassy, such as showings of videos on the two candidates.

The American Cultural Centre in Madagascar’s capital city of Antananarivo screened a biography of Obama that drew many more young people than a video on McCain a week earlier. The election has become the main topic of conversation in recent weeks.

Randrianarisoa and her friends watching the Obama video are sure he’ll take the election and have made a point of coming to the screening. ‘It was a 45-minute real movie on Barack Obama, a narrative of his life and his background. We enjoyed it,” said Livatiana, another student at the university.

‘We are longing to have Obama shirts or any kinds of things about him,” says Jeannine Ralaitafika, who sells shirts in Antananarivo. ‘This will make our trade increase.”

‘People follow US elections very closely. But this year, many hope that Americans will elect the first black US president,” says Rodney Ford, public affairs officer at the American embassy in Antananarivo.

On the day of the Obama video, one local newspaper, La Gazette de la Grande île, led on the election and reported that 47% of Malagasy people support Obama, with 28% for McCain.

Fanja Saholiarisoa is a journalist on L’Express de Madagascar. She also strings for Reuters.