PLANET AFRICA 1996
Toronto -- Inaugurated in 1995 to both critical and audience
acclaim, Planet Africa returns as a regular part of the 1996
Toronto International Film Festival, presenting films from Africa
and the African diaspora. Programmed by Cameron Bailey, Planet
Africa includes six world premieres in a programme of eight
features and five short films.
"We generated a lot of enthusiasm last year with a modest slate
of films," says Bailey. "This year we're back with a larger
programme including several world premieres and more films from
more of the African world. We've covered the continent more
broadly with films from southern, northern and western
Africa, as well as other parts of the Diaspora. This year
establishes Toronto as the place in North America to see new
African film each year."
PLANET AFRICA FEATURES
WHEN THE STARS MEET THE SEA (QUAND LES ETOILES
RENCONTRENT LA MER) - World Premiere
Dir: Raymond Rajaonarivelo, Madagascar/France, 1996
Madagascar's pre-eminent filmmaker establishes his place at the
forefront of African cinema with this majestic film taking his
story from a particularly resonant Malagasy myth. A boy, born on
the day of an eclipse in a small village, is believed to possess
great and dangerous powers. As a test, he must endure one night
alone among the cattle. But a childless young woman rescues him,
forever changing his fate. This startlingly beautiful film
reveals Madagascar as one of the last magical places on earth.
ARISTOTLE'S PLOT - World Premiere
Dir: Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Zimbabwe/France, 1996
ARISTOTLE'S PLOT began as the African entry in the British Film
Institute's commemoration of the centenary of cinema. Instead of
a respectful documentary like Martin Scorsese's US contribution,
Bekolo serves up a wild hybrid that's half meditation on the
trials of African moviemaking, half action movie send-up. In a
southern African town, a group of wannabe gangsters hangs out
at the Cinema Africa, megadosing on the latest actionfest while
assuming the names of their screen gods: Van Damme, Bruce Lee,
Nikita, Saddam, and the leader, Cinema. Enter an earnest
cineaste, trying in vain to enlist the government's help in
cleansing the Cinema Africa of Hollywood contamination, replacing
Schwarzenegger with Ousmane Sembene. Taking matters into his own
hands, he becomes a vigilante for a home-grown film culture.
EVERYONE'S CHILD - World Premiere
Dir: Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zimbabwe, 1996
In her debut feature, Commonwealth Writer's Prize-winning
playwright and novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga distills the
statistics of the millions of African children orphaned because
of AIDS. When their parents die suddenly, Tamari and her brother
Itai must fend for both themselves and their younger siblings.
Itai heads to Harare, where local hoods take him in and train
him in the ways of the street. Back in the village, Tamari
accepts the advances of a lecherous shopkeeper. As she tries to
use his gifts to pay for her siblings' schooling, the village
women suggest she leave, to keep the village safe for their
husbands.
JOHN HENRIK CLARKE: A GREAT AND MIGHTY WALK - World Premiere
Dir: St. Clair Bourne, USA, 1996
African-American historian John Henrik Clarke is a legend among
scholars. Born into sharecropping, self-taught long before he
entered academia, he possesses an astounding knowledge of the
roots and branches of African history. He's also a great talker.
Veteran documentarian St. Clair Bourne (MAKING DO THE RIGHT
THING) lets the man do just that in this remarkable documentary,
weaving Clarke's words into a mix of archival treasures and image
manipulation. From ancient Egypt, we move through the
Mediterranean, Africa's great empires, the slave trade, and
African American history right up to the Million Man March.
Though now blind, Clarke has lost none of his razor-sharp edge.
"If you lose your eyesight," he says, "increase your insight."
Narrated and executive produced by Wesley Snipes.
A SUMMER IN LA GOULETTE (UN ETE A LA GOULETTE) -
North American Premiere
Dir: Ferid Boughedir, Tunisia/France/Belgium, 1995
Ferid Boughedir's first film since his acclaimed HALFAOUINE is a
sly comedy full of warmth, wit and exuberance, as he crafts a
glorious portrait of a Tunisian resort neighbourhood where
Muslims, Christians and Jews live side by side. It's the summer
of 1967, and three teenage girls vow to lose their virginity by
the festive Day of the Madonna. As events come to a boil, reports
filter in about a potential war in the Middle East. But the
people of La Goulette are captivated by more immediate news --
the nation's most treasured daughter, the celestial Claudia
Cardinale (playing herself), is returning from Europe for a
triumphant visit.
MACADAM TRIBE (MACADAM TRIBU)
Dir: Jose Laplaine, France/Zaire/Mali, 1996
Laplaine's lively, comic first feature weaves unemployment, lust
and family commitments into a series of scenes-from-the-quarter.
Mike is an ex-con and layabout, while his brother Kapa spends his
time boxing with his amateur-fighter friend Duka. The brothers
are deeply concerned about their mother, Mother Bavusi, a former
market woman who now spends her days quietly getting drunk. When
Duka is knocked into a coma, the whole neighborhood of strivers,
whores and amateur philosophers rallies together.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN
Dir: Cheryl Dunye, USA, 1996
This debut feature from one of America's leading indie media
stars, is fierce, funny and genuinely romantic. Dunye plays
Cheryl, whose main passion is a forgotten black act or credited
only as the Watermelon Woman. Frustrated by slim pickings on the
dating front, Cheryl puts her energy into tracking down her
mystery mammy. Moving effortlessly between fiction and mock
documentary, Dunye reclaims the history of black-cast movies as
she affectionately skewers the coupling habits of downtown
Philadelphia lesbians. Meanwhile, Cheryl falls for a flirty white
girl named Diana, (GO FISH discovery Guin Turner). Cameo by
legendary motormouth and lesbian icon Camille Paglia.
W.E.B. DU BOIS: A BIOGRAPHY IN FOUR VOICES
Dir: Louis Massiah, USA, 1996
Dr. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868 - 1963) stands as one
of America's greatest scholars and political activists. His life
story, spanning the post-Civil War Reconstruction period, the
rise of Communism and Pan-Africanism, and the Civil Rights
Movement, is chronicled by four leading African-American writers:
Toni Cade Bambara, Amiri Baraka, Wesley Brown, and Thulani Davis.
This richly woven visual history explores the major strategies
for African-American empowerment during the 20th Century.
PLANET AFRICA SHORT FILM PROGRAMMES
PROGRAMME 1: Three stories from the playing fields of sex and
race. From Britain to Burkina Faso, the rules between men and
women are eternally fluid.
I BRING YOU FRANKINCENSE, Ngozi Onwurah, UK, 1996, 35 min.
World Premiere
Sunshine Brown, the only bi-racial boy in Guildford, suffers at
school both for his cocoa complexion and his hippie mother.
Sunshine's only break comes each Christmas, when as one of the
three wise men in the annual pageant he delivers exactly one
line: "I bring you frankincense."
PUK NINI, Fanta Nacro, Burkina Faso, 1995, 30 min.
Salif and Isa are an average bourgeois couple, but when a
Senegalese bombshell comes to town, Salif drops his pants in a
minute. Isa embarks on exquisitely planned revenge.
SPIDERS AND FLIES, Danny Thompson, UK, 1996, 30 min.
World Premiere
Lena meets the man of her dreams, only to realize she's just a
stand-in for his one true passion. Same hair, same everything.
She launches a plan that would make Machiavelli step back.
PROGRAMME 2: Their subjects may be different, but this pair of
critically intelligent films sums up two poles of African
experience -- the past in slavery and the future in dub science.
ASIENTOS, Francois Woukoache, Senegal/Belgium, 1995, 52 min.
On Goree Island off the coast of Senegal, a young man seeks
refuge from present-day strife through a journey into history.
Though no pictures captured the brutality of Goree Island's slave
trade, the island retains memories of profound horror and
strength.
THE LAST ANGEL OF HISTORY, John Akomfrah, UK, 1996, 45 min.
North American Premiere
What do George Clinton's funkadelic Mothership, Sun Ra's jazz
Arkestra and Lee Scratch Perry's Black Ark have in common?
Weaving an impressive mix of interviews and analysis, Akomfrah
reveals an alternate path in black culture
PLANET AFRICA FILMS CONFIRMED TO DATE
ARISTOTLE'S PLOT, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Zimbabwe/France, 1996
ASIENTOS, Francois Woukoache, Senegal/Belgium, 1995
EVERYONE'S CHILD, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zimbabwe, 1996
I BRING YOU FRANKINCENSE, Ngozi Onwurah, UK, 1996
JOHN HENRIK CLARKE: A GREAT AND MIGHTY WALK, St. Clair Bourne,
USA, 1996
THE LAST ANGEL OF HISTORY, John Akomfrah, UK, 1996
MACADAM TRIBE (MACADAM TRIBU), Jose 82 Laplaine,
France/Zaire/Mali, 1996
A SUMMER IN LA GOULETTE (UN ETE A LA GOULETTE), Ferid Boughedir,
Tunisia/France/Belgium, 1995
PUK NINI, Fanta Nacro, Burkina Faso, 1995
SPIDERS AND FLIES, Danny Thompson, UK, 1996
W.E.B. DU BOIS: A BIOGRAPHY IN FOUR VOICES, Louis Massiah, USA,
1996
THE WATERMELON WOMAN, Cheryl Dunye, USA, 1996
WHEN THE STARS MEET THE SEA (QUAND LES 90 TILES RENCONTRENT LA
MER), Raymond
Rajaonarivelo, Madagascar/France, 1996
Planet Africa is sponsored by Conros Corporation/Northland
Firelogs and OXFAM Canada
Special thanks to Black Film and Video Network
The 21st Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5 -
14, 1996.
For further information: Valerie Wint (416) 967-7371
In-Reply-To: 199608061618.MAA10067@dag.XC.Org