African Film Festival

1/24/08 to 2/28/08

This series invites Bay Area audiences to experience the vibrant voices and visions of recent African cinema. New works and favorites from the international festival circuit offer compelling artistry and insight into Africa's changing cultural landscape. This year, we offer a special focus on Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Bamako.

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Juju Factory, February 28

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Past Films

Juju Factory
- Thursday, February 28 7:30 pm
A Congolese intellectual in Brussels struggles to keep his new book from being exoticized in this dazzling cinematic essay on exile, colonialism, and history, a combination of the challenging theatrics of Brecht and the intellectual savvy of Frantz Fanon.
The Forgotten Man
- Sunday, February 17 5:30 pm
Osvalde Lewat-Hallade's thoughtful documentary on the Cameroonian prison system “shows you what a camera can do.”-Village Voice. With Lewat-Hallade's A Love During the War.
Young Rebels: New Visions from Africa
- Wednesday, February 13 6:30 pm
An eclectic, electric program offers magic realism from Lesotho, documentary from Zimbabwe, and social commentary from Nigeria.
Life on Earth
- Wednesday, February 13 8:10 pm
Sissako's rapturous portrait of his father's village in Mali as it waits for the 21st century. With Sissako's Rostov-Luanda.
Clouds over Conakry
- Saturday, February 9 8:30 pm
Hip-hop and laptops collide with religious edicts and traditional demands in this lively romantic drama from Guinea. “An impressive debut.”-Variety
Two by Ousmane Sembène, plus Menged (Free Screening!)
- Thursday, February 7 5:30 pm
Free First Thursday Screening! Introduced by Paap Alsaan Sow. Two influential early films by African cinema's spiritual father, Ousmane Sembène: Borom Sarret and Tauw. With Menged, an award-winning new film from Ethiopia, featuring music by Tlahoun Gessesse.
Waiting for Happiness
- Saturday, January 26 6:30 pm
Abderrahmane Sissako's tale of life in a Mauritanian seaside village unfolds in a series of arresting images. “A poignant, poetic reflection on themes of exile, travel, home, and displacement.”-Variety
Bamako
- Saturday, January 26 8:30 pm
See Thursday, January 24.
Bamako
- Thursday, January 24 6:30 pm
Set in the Malian capital of its title, Abderrahmane Sissako's passionate polemic centers on a show trial in which the plaintiff, “African society,” argues against exploitation by the defendant, the World Bank. Repeated on Saturday, January 26.

African Film Festival

1/24/08 to 2/28/08

In its fourteenth year, the New York–based African Film Festival is more important than ever. While Africa may get glancing treatment in Western news, images made and fashioned by Africans are still shut out of our television screens, movie theaters (since 2000, only two African films on average per year have been released in the United States), and even major film festivals. PFA is proud to present a selection of films from this year's festival, representing not only established industries in Cameroon and Senegal, but also emerging visions from Ethiopia, Guinea, and the Congo. These works may lack budgets or name-brand stars, but they're outraged and insightful enough to open the blind eye that has been turned to African ideas and ideals.

While most of the festival focuses on new, up-and-coming directors, we've also organized a mini-retrospective of arguably the most successful African filmmaker in recent years, the Malian...

While most of the festival focuses on new, up-and-coming directors, we've also organized a mini-retrospective of arguably the most successful African filmmaker in recent years, the Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako; Waiting for Happiness). And, in tribute to Ousmane Sembène, the pioneer of African cinema who passed away last year, we offer a free screening of two of his short films, including one of his first, Borom Sarret. Over forty years old, it's a reminder of how humble beginnings can harbor greatness.

An additional African film, Lumo, is presented in the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival on February 24.

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The African Film Festival National Traveling Series has been organized by the African Film Festival, Inc. This series has been made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Tides Foundation. Special thanks to Mahen Bonetti, director, and Aba Taylor, program administrator, African Film Festival, for their assistance.

At PFA, the festival is co-presented by UC Berkeley's Department of African American Studies and Center for African Studies, and curated by Kathy Geritz. Special thanks to Cornelius Moore, Martha Saavedra, and Ula Taylor.

Prints from African Film Festival, unless otherwise indicated.