FIFTH ANNUAL COMTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL - NOVEMBER 28 TO
DECEMBER 14 in NEW YORK
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS BELOW. FOR COMPLETE FILM LISTING AND SCHEDULE CONSULT
OUR WEB SITE ON http://128.59.90.125/
U.S PREMIERES
BITTER SUGAR
Guadeloupe, 1997, 90 min, drama, French w/ English sub-titles, by Christian
Lara, dir. - Christian Lara is one of the most prolific filmmakers in the
Caribbean with a body of work that comprises some ten films. Bitter Sugar is
a historic fiction that puts colonialism on trial. (Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3:05pm
and Thursday, Dec 11 at 1:00pm)
THE 11TH COMMANDMENT
Guinea/France; 1996; 89 min.; mystery-drama; French w/ English subtitles;
Mama Keita, dir. A gripping thriller full of mystery and intrigue
representative of today's African cinema. (Monday, Dec 8 at 9:00pm and
Tuesday, Dec 9 at 2:00pm)
DAKAN/DESTINY
Guinea; 1997; 93 min.; drama; French-Guinean w/ English subtitles; Mohammed
Camara, dir. - Twenty-year olds Manga and Sory are gay and in love. While
Manga's widowed mother refuses to believe it, Sory's father is disgraced by
it. The lovers are forced apart so they can lead a "normal" life (Saturday,
Dec 6 at 9:00pm; Tuesday, Dec 9 at 6:30pm and Thursday, Dec 11 at 3:00pm)
LE DAMIER/THE DRAUGHTMEN'S CLASH
Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) & Gabon; 1996; 40 min,; Comedy;
French w/ English subtitles; Bakupa Kanyinda Balufu, dir. - A parody of
African dictators, this film tells the story of the president of a
fictitious
African nation who spends a sleepless night playing draughts with a vagabond
who is claimed to be the "all-around champion". (Monday, Dec 1 at 8:00pm
and Wednesday, Dec 3 at 7:30pm)
THOMAS SANKARA
Democratic Republic of Congo, 1991, 26min, documentary, French w/ English
subtitles, Balufu Bakupa Kanyinda, Dir. - Captain Thomas Sankara was the
leader of the Burkinabe Revolution. In the former Upper Volta known today
as Burkina Faso, a group of men decided to launch a revolution that would
enable the country "to accept the responsibility of its reality and its
destiny
with human dignity". (Monday, Dec 1 at 8:00pm and Wednesday, Dec 3 at
7:30pm)
TROPIQUE NORD
Canada; 1994; 52 min.; documentary; French w/ English subtitles; Jean-Daniel
Lafond, dir. - The film is a philosophical tale focusing on the issues of
ethnicity and racism which are at the very heart of the debate surrounding
the future of Quebec as viewed through the eyes of a journalist of Haitian
origin. (Sunday, November 30 at 3:00pm and Tuesday, Dec 2 at 7:10pm)
NY PREMIERES
BLACK DJU
Cape Verde & Luxembourg; 1995; 80 min; drama; Portuguese & French w/ English
subtitles; Pol Cruchten, dir. - The Cape Verdian singer Cesaria Evora is
the mother of Dju, a young man who leaves his country, Cape Verde, in search
of his father, a migrant African worker in Luxembourg. Dju encounters an
alcoholic cop (veteran actor Philippe Leotard) who becomes his partner in
this tale of love and friendship. (Friday, Nov 28 at 5:30pm; Thursday, Dec 4
at 7:10pm and Saturday, Dec 6 at 5:10pm)
ESSADA
Tunisia, 1996, 100 min, drama, Arabic/French with English sub-titles,
Mohamed
Zran, Dir. - Nidal a boy from Essa'da, a poor neighborhood in Tunis, meets
an artist in search of a source of inspiration. What follows is a look at a
social reality rarely depicted in Tunisian cinema. (Thursday, Dec 4 at 5:
10pm and Saturday, Dec 6 at 7:10pm)
THROUGH THE DOOR OF NO RETURN
USA,, 1997, 80min, documentary, English, Shirikiana Aina, Dir. - A people
with no memory of their past is a people with no identity. Shirikiana Aina
leads us into a journey to recover the common past of slavery shared by
people of African descent in the New World. This film continues the
reflection upon slavery started with Sankofa made by Shirikiana's partner
Haile Gerima . (Friday, Dec 5 at 8:30pm and Monday, Dec 8 at 5:00pm)
MACHAHO
Algeria; 1995; 91 min.; drama; Berber w/ English subtitles; Belkacem
Hadjadj,
dir. - Arezki, a farmer, nurses back to life a dying young man, Labri, only
to later feel betrayed and humiliated when the young man begins a
relationship with his daughter and gets her pregnant. Arezki searches far
and
wide to avenge his honor. (Wednesday, Dec 3 at 5:30pm and Monday, Dec 8
at 7:00pm)
MAITE
Spain/Cuba; 1994; 92 min.; Comedy; Spanish with English subtitles; Eneko
Olasagasti and Carlos Zabala, dir - Complications arise when two Basque
brothers traveling from Spain to Cuba on a business trip meet five year old
Maite, a business associate=92s daughter with lots of smarts and curiosity,
who gets in the way and triggers a serious change of plan. (Monday, Dec 1
at 10:00pm and Friday, Dec 5 at 2:15pm)
SANTERA
Venezuela; 1996; 97 min.; drama; Spanish w/English subtitles; Solveig
Hoogesteijn, dir. - Paula, a Spanish doctor is sent to Venezuela to evaluate
conditions in the penitentiary system. She meets up with Soledad who was
arrested for killing her brother-in-law by casting a spell on him. Paula
investigates and discovers Soledad=92s secret past, her occult powers, and
ancestral myths. (Friday, Dec 5 at 10:30pm; Sunday, Dec 7 at 5:05pm and
Wednesday, Dec 10 at 5:00pm)
TAAFE FANG/ "SKIRT POWER"
Mali; 1997; 95 min.; Comedy; in Kaado w/ English subtitles; Adama Drabo,
dir. - Director Adama Drabo has devised a gender-bending farce set among the
18th Century Dogon to make some serious points about the status of women in
Africa today. This irresistible tale about a comic revolution in which
women's and men's roles are reversed was, in part, inspired by the actual
role women played in Mali's 1991 revolution. (California Newsreel) Winner
Jury=92s Special Prize FESPACO 1997. (Sunday, Dec 30 at 7:30pm; Wednesday,
Dec 3 at 2:30pm and Friday, Dec 5 at 6:30pm)
CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S FILMS
LE MAGIQUE
Tunisia; 1994; 90min; drama; French w/English subtitles; Ezzedine Fazai,
Dir.
- A boy left alone in a Tunisian Village is inspired by the first motion
picture he sees and creates the magic world of cinema in a little box.
NIGHTJOHN
US; 1996; 90min; drama; English; Charles Burnett, Dir. Nightjohn tells the
story of a legendary slave who gives up freedom in order to teach fellow
slaves how to read and write forbidden fruit in the antebellum South. The
film is narrated by Sarny, a young slave who tells the story of her life
and that of the man who opened up her world by giving her the great gift of
literacy.(Sunday, Nov 30 at 1pm; Monday, Dec 1 at 12 noon; Thursday, Dec.
4 at 12 noon; Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 12 noon; and Thursday, Dec 11 at 10am).
ASHAKARA
Togo/France; 1993; 87min; action/comedy; French w/English subtitles; Gerard
Louvin, Dir. The film centers on a local homeopathic cure for a virus that
has crept into Africa. Dr. Kara, a respected medical researcher, literally
goes back to his roots in a remote Togo village to find the remedy. When
a Swiss pharmaceutical company gets wind of the African Discovery, it
dispatches a company representative to secure commercial rights. (Friday,
Dec 5 at 12 noon).
ONCE UPON A TIME - WHEN WE WERE COLORED
US; 1996; 113min; drama; English; Tim Reid, Dir. This film tells the story
of a little boy who is raised by his great-grandparents and, after them, his
great-aunt in the bosom of the 40's South. He comes of age well-equipped to
cope not only with the usual stress of the transition to adulthood but also
with the bruising challenge of making a life in a racist society. (Friday,
Nov. 28 1pm; Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 12 noon; Monday, Dec 8 at 12 noon and
Wednesday, Dec 10 at 12 noon).
SPECIAL EVENTS
OPENING NIGHT
THE DINNER - US PREMIERE
USA, 1997, 86 min, drama, English, Bernie Casey, Dir. - Three
African-American men gathered around a table in a very elegant restaurant
discuss about the Black experience in the world in general but particular in
the United States. Bernie Casey directorial debut is a powerful analysis
on the American society. (Friday, Nov 28 at 9:30pm)
BRAZILIAN NIGHT
QUEM MATOU PIXOTE? / WHO KILLED PIXOTE? -
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Brazil; 1996; 120 min.; drama; Portuguese w/ English Subtitles; Jose Joff=
ily, dir. - Fernando Ramos was a boy from a poor family that lived in
Diadema, an industrial town on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. By the age of
eleven, he was
already on the streets accompanying his mother who sold lottery tickets.
However, out of the blue, a single event was to change the course of his
life. (Tuesday, Dec 2 at 9:30pm)
EGYPTIAN NIGHT
NASSER - NEW YORK PREMIERE
Egypt; 1996; 142min; drama; Arabic w/ English subtitles; Mohamed Fadel, dir
- This film gives an idea of what it means for a small Middle Eastern nation
to
dare to defy the worlds' superpowers, the United States and its' Western
allies in particular. In 1996, Egypt=92s then president Gamal Abdel Nasser
orchestrated the nationalization of the Suez Canal, which cost the lives of
120,000 Egyptians from a population of only 4 million. (Thursday, Dec 4 at
9:10pm)
ETHIOPIAN NIGHT -
TUMULT - NEW YORK PREMIERE
Ethiopia; 1996; 117 min.; drama; Amharic w/ English subtitles; Yemane I.
Demissie, dir. - This film is a dramatic feature film about Yoseph, an
aristocratic-turned revolutionary who secretly masterminds a coup d'etat
against the Ethiopian monarchy in 1960. When the coup fails, Yoseph finds
himself a fugitive. During his desperate flight, his last hope is Dejen, a
servant who was once his childhood playmate. (Sunday, Dec 7 at 8:00pm)
DELUGE
Ethiopia.; 1996; 61min; documentary; Amharic w/ English Subtitles; Salem
Mekuria, dir. - This film is visual meditation on one of the worst human
rights violations in African history. Set in Ethiopia between 1974 and 1991,
it explores the story of the students whose "Revolution" and their lives
ended with a brutal military dictatorship. (Sunday, Dec 7 at 8:00pm)
PUERTO RICAN NIGHT
MANOS A LA OBRA: THE STORY OF OPERATION BOOTSTRAP
Puerto Rico; 59 min.; 1983; documentary; English; Pedro Rivera and Susan
Zeig, dir. -
This film examines Puerto Rico's Operation Bootstrap, the highly vaunted
economic development plan undertaken in the 1950=92s to provide a role model
for economic development throughout Latin America.
(Tuesday, Dec 9 at 9:00pm)
ALMA PERDIDA/LOST SOUL
U.S.; 1992; 37 min.; drama; English; Pete Resto, dir - Jesus Quinana, a
17-year-old Puerto Rican boy from a loving and stable family never had a
desire to try drugs. However, from the perilous influences of a "friend," he
finds himself trapped in a world of drugs and battling his addiction to
heroin. (Tuesday, Dec 9 at 9:00pm)
VANESSA, THE ORANGE THROWER - NEW YORK PREMIERE
U.S; 1993; 28 min.; Satire; English; Kimberly Caviness, dir - This film is
about Catholic guilt, hormones and a fourteen-year old girl name Vanessa
Martinez who lies about being pregnant to get attention. Her family and
community become convinced that it=92s an act of Immaculate Conception
before she is forced to confront her personal and cultural identity.
(Tuesday, Dec 9 at 9:00pm)
SENEGALESE NIGHT
ROCKING POPENGUINE - NEW YORK PREMIERE
Senegal, 1993.90min, Comedy In French with English sub-titles, Moussa Sene
Absa, Dir. - With a good sense of humor, the director introduces us to a
group of youngster very much in tune with their time and cultural changes.
Rocking Popenguine, a film that is a fond evocation of a gone era, is a
celebration of the ability that young people from all over possess to blend
elements of different cultures. (Thursday, Dec 11 at 8:00pm)
LE FRANC
Senegal, 1994. 46min, comedy, Wolof and French with English sub-titles,
Djibril Diop Mambeti,Dir. -. The devaluation of the African Franc brought
many changes into the lives of people in Senegal and other countries in
Western Africa. Djibril Diop Mambeti leads us into the life of Marigot, a
hapless musician who wins the Lotto. This genial short film resonates with
wry intelligence and political comment. (Thursday, Dec 11 at 8:00pm)
PANEL DISCUSSIONS SERIES
Teachers College, Columbia University . 525 West 120th Street . Milbank
Chapel Cosponsored by the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation at
Teachers College, Columbia University
Friday, December 12, 1997 . 5:30pm
CONVERSATION WITH SERGIO GIRAL
Friday, December 12, 1997 . 7:30pm
WORKS BY A NEW GENERATION OF AFRICAN FILMMAKERS
Saturday, December 13, 1997 . 2pm
REPRESENTATION OF THE CARIBBEAN IDENTITY IN FILMS
Saturday, December 13, 1997 . 4pm
THE CHALLENGE OF DISTRIBUTING BLACK FILMS IN THE USA
Saturday, December 13, 1993 . 6pm
Catered reception opened to all attendees of panel discussions
PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
RETROSPECTIVE OF FILMS BY SERGIO GIRAL
Sergio Giral is one of Cuban most important and renowned filmmaker. Director
of award-winning films, he made more than twenty shorts and documentaries,
and six feature films. His unique style provides the best achievements in
filmmaking, scriptwrting, and video production. He is well known, in
particular, for his portrayal of the role of Africans and Africans
descendants in the life of his country from the days of slavery to the
present.
Films in Retrospective
MARIA ANTONIA
1990) (feature film) (100') screening on Tue, Dec 9 at 4:00pm Director will
be present for a Q&A after screening
RANCHEADOR/SLAVE HUNTER
(1976) (feature film) (95') screening on Sat, Nov 29 at 2:00pm and Tue, Dec
2 at 5:00pm
THE OTHER FRANCISCO
(1975) (feature film) (100') screening on Sat, Dec. 8 at 7:00pm Director
will be present for a Q&A after screening
CLOSING CONCERT
Sunday, December 14, at 3pm. Miller Theater - Broadway & 116th St.
Cosponsored by the Miller Theater, Columbia University School of the Arts
Miller Theater will host the closing event of the festival, a Gala Concert
featuring leading female artists from the African Diaspora including: Young
African American R&B group DIVA; Dancer and Choreographer Alexis Carole from
Martinique and the three acclaimed African vocalists: Antoinette Allany,
Alice Sofa and Chantal Taiba.
Tickets $20 and $15. Tickets/info ArtMattan Productions (212)749-6020
NEW INITIATIVE - CADFF UPTOWN
CADFF UPTOWN was conceived as a community outreach program to serve the
Upper West Side communities and feature screenings at the Harlem Victoria V
Theatre
(125th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues) and Columbia's Miller Theatre
(116th Street and Broadway). In collaboration with the Center for Outreach
and Innovation at Teachers College, Columbia University; Morningside Area
Alliance; and the Miller Theatre School of the Arts at Columbia University.
TICKETS
FILM ADMISSION: FESTIVAL PASSES ARE $85, TICKETS ARE $8 PER SCREENING
A PASS GIVES YOU ACCESS TO ALL REGULAR SCREENINGS DURING THE FESTIVAL AND TO
THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS
TICKETS FOR OPENING NIGHT , SPECIAL NIGHTS, AND FOR CLOSING CONCERT MUST BE
PURCHASED SEPARATELY
FOR CHILDREN'S/YOUNG PEOPLE FILMS TICKETS ARE $5 AT 10AM AND 12 NOON
SCHOOL GROUPS ARE WELCOME AND DISCOUNT GROUPS AVAILABLE
PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
For more information and a festival schedule call (212) 749-6020
=====
PS. Any spelling and typo errors may be my fault. I had to rework this a
LOT as it wasn't pure clean text and had lots of line/wrapping, =, and =92
etc errors
cheers, Steve Smith, moderator
In-Reply-To: 199711101426.GAA07353@abraham.xc.org