The meaning of digital cinema among filmmakers in West Africa, especially those from the video filmmaking generation, is framed by their views on the history of filmmaking in Africa and their experiences with the industry. In a rather simplistic manner digital cinema/filmmaking is equated to films that are usually made in the video format.

This involves the use of low-end video cameras shooting and editing non-linearly through the mediation of the computer. This understanding of digital cinema is based on the fact that most filmmakers of the video generation lack real knowledge of the extent of technological changes taking place in the film industry. This ambiguity surrounding video filmmaking and digital cinema in West Africa is highlighted by the fact that the evolution and development of digital cinema itself are at a stage that it is not yet been mastered or finalized adequately. Digital cinema is thus linked more often to films made on formats that were readily available and accessible to filmmakers in the 1990s; this is the period when the technology of video, mostly analogue, gained popularity among emerging directors.

There is however, a hiatus between the rate of change in digital filmmaking technology in Western countries (which translates into high costs and standards) and the rate of appropriation and adoption in West Africa. This tends to explain the apparent differences in the meaning and understanding of what digital cinema is.

The introduction and adoption of new technologies in Western economies outpaces that in West Africa. When digital video gear is getting popular in West Africa, High Definition technology becomes the norm in the West. This tends to explain why the understanding of digital filmmaking by West African video filmmakers would have to be taken within the context of the production environment…… stay logged on.