Seminar: Socialist Modernities and Discourses of Development: The Drive-in Cinema in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

In May 1966, the first, and perhaps only, socialist drive-in cinema on the planet opened in Tanzania on the site of what is today the American Embassy in Dar es Salaam. One of more than forty high modernist projects operating under the auspices of the government’s principle organ of economic development, the National Development Corporation (NDC), the drive-in was a unique and highly successful project in its portfolio, realizing TSh 1.3 million in sales during its first year of operation (roughly US$ 1.3 million at 2011 exchange rates). Yet why would a young nation like Tanzania that was striving to dig its way out from decades of colonial underdevelopment choose to invest its limited resources in a drive-in? How could state ownership of a cinema possibly help to advance a socialist agenda? Isn’t there a huge contradiction between state ownership of a drive-in – predicated on the commercial consumption of foreign films and propelled by the urban amenities of electricity, automobility and leisure – and the village-based vision of African socialism being promoted by President Nyerere?

Laura Fair uses the case of the drive-in to craft a colourful, nuanced image of state socialism in Tanzania, revealing the importance of supporting actors and off-screen technicians in bringing the state to life. Debates about the meaning of independence, modernity and development – between politicians, civil servants and average citizens –are also brought to light. While a drive-in cinema may not seem to be a quintessential socialist enterprise, Fair reveals that it was an important social space that regularly brought a diverse cross-section of the urban community together in pursuit of a common goal during the early years of nation-building.