It’s that time of the year again. Now an annual delight, the London African Film Festival is soon upon us. This year focuses on the signifcance of digital technology and it’s irrevocable impact on African cinema, no doubt showcasing the ubiquitence of Nigerian films.
Feature films and documentaries include:
- UK Première of Tariq Teguia’s INLAND
- Abakar Chene Massar’s CAPTAIN MAJID – a metaphor of the disenchanted youth in Chad
- Ethiopian director Nega Tariku’s film ADERA – a story of an Ethiopian refugee’s struggle to survive in Johannesburg
- A selection of the best of AMAA (the African Movie Academy Awards) - includes the Nigerian documentary filmmaker Sani Elhadj Magori’s seminal documentary FOR THE BEST AND FOR THE ONION, about one man’s determination to get the best onion harvest in order to marry the love of his life, Wanuri Kahiu’s FROM A WHISPER, a superb drama based on the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998.
Central to the festival is a major conference entitled Producing and Distributing African Film in the Digital Era that will take place on Sunday 29 November in partnership with the University of Westminster Africa Media Centre (AMC) and in association with the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) and Communication Research in Arts and Media (CREAM).
This one-day interdisciplinary conference has invited academics, film and video producers, policy makers, film distributors, Africa specialists, and development practitioners to debate the role and future of African film and video.
Relatedly, M-NET recently launched the African Film Library, which is posed to be the largest digital collection of African feature films, shorts and documentaries. Whilst this is a move that on the surface at least, seeks to address the issue of distribution, which has been a thorn in the flesh for many film buffs, yours truly included, there is healthy scepticism about M-NET’s non-altruistic monopoly of African films. Therefore, whilst we celebrate and start flexing our fingers for cable TV decoder action and prepare to feast our eyes, hearts and minds on films by legends like Senegalese Ousmane Sembene and Djibril Mambety, we do so with the awareness that it’s a start. The only one we have so far. Regardless, whoever is in charge of scouting films at M-NET is certainly a step ahead, with Haile Gerima’s TEZA already in the bag, even before it won best film at FESPACO.
2 Comments
20 November, 2009 at 12:31 am
So excited for the festivals. I think it is quite fitting that the focus is Digital Africa, since there has been so much growth this year. I hope that you will be in attendance and share with those who won’t be as fortunate.
As for MNET’s African Film Library not sure about the motives but I am excited to have access to this resource.
23 November, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I am definitly looking forward to this years’ festival. The theme of the conference is truly fitting in teh 21st century and is a discussion which has not yet been approached. I am writting a dissertation on African cinema in the 21st century and I will definitly be attending the conference.
Thank you for including information on the African Film Library. I had no idea it had been constructed. It is fantastic and definitly African films are making steps towards reaching a wider audience and embracing digital technology.