The purpose of the African Women in Cinema Blog is to provide a space to discuss diverse topics relating to African women in cinema--filmmakers, actors, producers, and all film professionals. The blog is a public forum of the Centre for the Study and Research of African Women in Cinema.

Le Blog sur les femmes africaines dans le cinéma est un espace pour l'échange d'informations concernant les réalisatrices, comédiennes, productrices, critiques et toutes professionnelles dans ce domaine. Ceci sert de forum public du Centre pour l'étude et la recherche des femmes africaines dans le cinémas.

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23 December 2019

First general assembly of African actresses | Première assemblée générale des comédiennes africaines - FESTILAG Côte d'Ivoire - Nov 2019

First general assembly of African actresses | Première assemblée générale des comédiennes africaines - FESTILAG Côte d'Ivoire - Nov 2019

En français sur francetvinfo.fr (voir lien ci-dessous)

The historic general assembly of African actresses took place from 12-16 November 2019 at the FESTILAG Festival international du film des lacs et des lagunes (International Lakes and Lagoons Film Festival) in Côte d'Ivoire. This initiative revives the now defunct L’Association des Actrices Africaines/The Association of African Actresses created in 1989 of which pioneer actress Zalika Souley was elected as the president, in recognition of the role she played in asserting the value of women in the world of African cinema.

Veteran actress, activist and feminist Naky Sy Savane, who helms the festival brought together actresses throughout the continent.

During the festival event tributes were made to the pioneering actresses of African cinema: Hélène Catzaras (Tunisia), Fatoumata Coulibaly (Mali), Anne Kacou Diop (Cote d'Ivoire), Thérèse Mbissine Diop (Senegal), Touria Jabrane (Morocco), Aï Keïta (Burkina Faso), Zalika Souley (Niger), Félicité Wouassi (Cameroon).

francetvinfo.fr:
https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/culture-africaine/les-comediennes-africaines-ont-desormais-leur-association-apres-une-assemblee-historique-en-cote-d-ivoire_3704207.html

15 December 2019

African Diasporas: Afro Sistahs - webseries out of Australia

Afro Sistahs

Webseries out of Australia


Launched in 2018, the Afro Sistas Collective relates the lives of afrodescendant women in Australia in their journeys towards self discovery. 


Description

Short form dramedy series that follows the lives of 4 Afro-Australian women in Western Sydney as they weave their way around hair, bossy Aunties and “woke-baes”


About the Afro Sistahs Collective (Source: Website: https://www.afrosistahs.com/)

A group of young Afro Australian women, from diverse backgrounds, decided to meet in Western Sydney and talk about developing and presenting the world as it is for those that live in Australia, while being black.


As a production company we are passionate about presenting a unique blend of Australian culture, identity and youth providing insight into worlds widely experienced, but rarely seen. Steering away from the stereotypical narratives Afro Sistahs captures the diversity of contemporary Australia in full colour.


Our current project, the self titled digital series: Afro Sistahs --is a short-form dramedy series that explores the complex nature in which culture, ambition, love and of course, hair, intersect.


The Team includes:

Safia Amadou, Producer

Hawanatu Bangura, Director

Mumbi Hinga, Producer

Moreblessing Maturure, Story Editor/Writer

Ebube Uba, Digital Marketing Strategist

Rebekah Robertson, Writer


YouTube Series: https://www.youtube.com/@afrosistahs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afrosistahs/



 

14 December 2019

UNESCO: seeks African female filmmakers for a residency in Japan (2020) | cherche des jeunes réalisatrices africaines pour une résidence artistique au Japon

UNESCO seeks African female filmmakers for a residency in Japan

Français ci après

UNESCO is offering a 2-week film-making residency (29 March to 12 April 2020) for 10 young African women filmmakers from selected countries in Africa. This film and artist-in-residence workshop will allow for the transnational exchange and sharing of artistic experiences between young African and Japanese filmmakers in a productive creative environment. It will provide artistic guidance and put in place a genuine platform for experimental creation and artistic renewal, and foster collaborations between Africa and Japanese artists, provide international exposure to the work of young women artists, and open new opportunities for artistic creation, production and dissemination.

Within the duration of workshop, the participants will complete their short films from shooting to editing. They will collaborate and interact with other participants, discuss technical and artistic issues, sharing with the group the different stages of the editing.

Participants will also be invited to present their in-residency work during the Nara InternatIonal Film Festival (18-22 September 2020), in order to increase networking opportunities, establish solid international ties, and reach out to new audiences.

Ms Naomi Kawase, internationally acclaimed film director and founder of the Nara International Film Festival, will ensure the overall artistic direction of the residency with the support from her team from the Nara film festival. Ms Fatou Kande Senghor, film director and producer from Senegal, will also be coaching and mentoring the participants.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Applicants are emerging women filmmakers, with some film or audio-visual experience, a good command of English and aged 21-35 from the following countries. Two applicants will be selected in each country by a joint national/UNESCO committee.

- Burkina Faso
- Kenya
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- South Africa

WHEN, WHERE AND WHAT?

The Film and artist-in-residence will take place between 29 March and 12 April 2020. Participants will live and work in the beautiful village of Tawara (Nara, Japan), where Naomi Kawase filmed The Mourning Forest, Grand Prix at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The Nara team will provide artistic, technical and logistical assistance. Filming equipment will be put at the disposal of participants.
The residency participants will be invited again to screen and present the work completed at the Nara International Film Festival from 18-22 September 2020. They will participate in public discussions, masterclasses and networking sessions with Japanese film industry professionals.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

- Motivation - Why you are interested in participating in this filmmaking residency in Nara, Japan?

- Relevance - How do you think this filmmaking residency could help develop your capacities in filming?

- Sustainability - How can you use this residency to promote further the role of women in the film sector?

FOR MORE INFORMATION


***

L’UNESCO cherche des jeunes réalisatrices africaines pour une résidence artistique au Japon

L’UNESCO propose une résidence cinématographique de deux semaines (29 mars au 12 avril 2020) à 10 jeunes réalisatrices africaines, issues de différents pays sélectionnés en Afrique. Cette résidence artistique cinématographique permettra l’échange et le partage transnational d’expériences artistiques entre jeunes cinéastes africaines et japonaises dans un environnement créatif productif. Elle permettra aux résidentes d’obtenir des conseils artistiques et mettra en place une véritable plateforme de création expérimentale et de renouvellement artistique. Elle encouragera les collaborations entre artistes africaines et japonaises, permettra aux jeunes femmes artistes d’exposer leur travail à l’international, et ouvrira de nouvelles opportunités pour la création, la production et la diffusion artistiques.

Dans le cadre de cet atelier, les participantes réaliseront des courts métrages, du tournage au montage. Elles collaboreront et interagiront avec les autres participantes, discuteront de questions techniques et artistiques, et partageront avec le groupe les différentes étapes du montage. 

Les participantes seront aussi invitées à présenter le résultat de leur travail lors de la résidence au cours du Festival du film de Nara (18-22 septembre 2020), afin d’accroître les opportunités de mise en réseau, d’établir de solides liens internationaux et d’atteindre de nouveaux publics.

Mme Naomi KAWASE, réalisatrice internationalement reconnue, assurera la direction artistique de la résidence avec le soutien de son équipe du Festival du film de Nara. Mme Fatou Kande SENGHOR, réalisatrice et productrice sénégalaise, encadrera également les participantes.


QUI PEUT POSTULER?

Les candidates doivent être des réalisatrices émergentes, avec une expérience cinématographique et audiovisuelle et une bonne maîtrise de l’anglais. Elles doivent aussi être âgées de 21-35 ans et provenir des pays suivants. Un comité national en partenariat avec l’UNESCO sélectionnera deux candidates par pays.

- Burkina Faso
- Kenya
- Nigéria
- Sénégal
- Afrique du Sud

QUAND, OÙ ET QUOI?

Cette résidence artistique cinématographique aura lieu du 29 mars au 12 avril 2020. Les participantes vivront et travailleront dans le magnifique village de Tawara (Nara, Japon), où Naomi Kawase a tourné La Forêt de Mogari, qui a reçu le Grand Prix du Festival de Cannes en 2007. 

L’équipe de Nara fournira une assistance artistique, technique et logistique. Du matériel de tournage sera mis à la disposition des participantes.

Les participantes seront ensuite invitées à présenter au Festival international du film de Nara le travail qu’elles auront réalisé au cours de la résidence, du 18 au 22 septembre 2020. Elles participeront à des discussions publiques, des « master class » et des sessions de mise en réseau avec des professionnels de l’industrie cinématographique japonaise.


CRITÈRES DE SÉLECTION

Les candidates seront évaluées selon les critères suivants :

- Motivation. Pourquoi souhaitez-vous participer à cette résidence cinématographique à Nara, Japon ?

- Pertinence. En quoi pensez-vous que cette résidence pourrait vous aider à développer vos capacités cinématographiques ?

- Durabilité. Comment pouvez-vous utiliser cette résidence pour promouvoir davantage le rôle des femmes dans le secteur du cinéma ?


POUR PLUS DE RENSEIGNEMENTS, CONSULTEZ:

12 December 2019

Suicide by Sunlight (2019) a horror film by Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo

Suicide by Sunlight a horror film by Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo

Suicide by Sunlight (2019, the 17-minute film is about Valentina, a day-walking black vampire, forced to restrained her blood-lust in order to regain custody of her estranged daughters. She must repress who she is in order to become a normal member of society.

Inspired by the late science-fiction novelist Octavia Butler, Sierra Leonean American filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu is influenced by Sierra Leonean and West African mythology. Her interest in telling the story of a black vampire came from her desire "to explore what it would be like to turned that disenfranchisement upside down and essentially remix the vampire mythology." (Source: Youtube interview Sundance Institute Shorts Competition - U.S. Narrative Shorts Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6GVo6dl5vQ


SUICIDE BY SUNLIGHT from NIKYATU on Vimeo.

10 December 2019

Ekwa Msangi: "Farewell Amor"

Ekwa Msangi: "Farewell Amor"
selected at Sundance 2020

SYNOPSIS
Farewell Amor / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ekwa Msangi, Producers: Huriyyah Muhammad, Sam Bisbee, Josh Penn) — Reunited after a 17 year separation, Walter, an Angolan immigrant, is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teenage daughter. Now absolute strangers sharing a one-bedroom apartment, they discover a shared love of dance that may help overcome the emotional distance between them. 

BIO
Ekwa Msangi has written & directed several shorts, most recently award-winning comedy Soko Sonko (The Market King), recipient of the Ousmane Sembene Short Film Development award, which produced her short film Farewell Meu Amor starring Tony Award nominee Sahr Ngauja, and actress Nana Mensah of the famed series An African City.

Maïmouna Doucouré: « Mignonnes » selected at | sélectionné à Sundance 2020

Maïmouna Doucouré: « Mignonnes »
selected at | sélectionné à
Sundance 2020

SYNOPSIS
English
Eleven-year-old pre-teen Amy discovers in her new elementary school a group of dancers called: “Les Mignonnes”. Fascinated, she begins a sexy dance, the twerk, hoping to join their band and escape a family upheaval.

Français
Amy, 11 ans, rencontre un groupe de danseuses appelé : « Les Mignonnes ». Fascinée, elle s’initie à une danse sensuelle, dans l’espoir d’intégrer leur bande et de fuir un bouleversement familial.


BIO
English
Maïmouna Doucouré won the Global Filmmaking Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 for the screenplay of her first feature Mignonnes, and Maman(s) – claimed the Grand Jury Prize in 2015. 

Français
Maïmouna Doucouré revient à Sundance après un Prix du Jury en 2016 pour son court métrage Maman(s), puis le Global Filmmaking Award, en 2017, pour le scénario de Mignonnes, son premier long métrage.

22 November 2019

Cineastes Non-Alignées (Non-aligned Women Cinéastes Collective) : La représentation de la femme d'Afrique et de la diaspora | Representation of women in Africa and the diaspora : (Le festival international du film d'Amiens 2019)

Cineastes Non-Alignées 
Non-aligned Women Cinéastes Collective : 
La représentation de la femme d'Afrique et de la diaspora | 
Representation of women in Africa and the diaspora :  
Le festival international du film d'Amiens 2019

La représentation de la femme d'Afrique et de la diaspora, le 22/11 à 10h maison de la culture Amiens - Le Festival international du film d'Amiens

English translation soon


21 November 2019

The Africa Women Filmmakers Trust (AWFT): Using participatory media in development communication

The Africa Women Filmmakers Trust (AWFT) Using participatory media in development communication

The Africa Women Filmmakers Trust (AWFT), created in 1992 by founding members Tendai Munawa, Rebecca Kapenzi and Chido Matewa, works to advance gender equality and justice through the use of information and communication technologies by facilitating content production and dissemination that supports girls, women and disadvantaged communities to take informed choices. 

Taking into cognizance that information communication technologies are a gendered tool, AWFT strives to address imbalances in the access and use of ICT’s hence the adoption of the participatory approach which is empowering to its subjects, giving them a voice hence becoming protagonists of their own development.

The AWFT website provides important resources for those interested in deepening their knowledge of empowerment through participatory media. In addition, it presents AWFT ongoing and completed projects, testimonies and other useful information. 

Chido Matewa’s doctoral thesis entitled "Media and the empowerment of communities for social change" (2002) PDF, which makes a case-study on the Zimbabwean-based Africa Women Filmmakers Trust, offers further research on the important role that media women have played in the use of communication technologies as a tool for empowerment.

07 November 2019

A Fool God, un/a film de/by Hiwot Getaneh - Analyse/Analysis par/by Djia Mambu (Africine.org)

A Fool God, un/a film de/by Hiwot Getaneh - Analyse/Analysis par/by Djia Mambu (Africine.org)

Source: africine.org. Publ: 27/09/2019
Translated from French by Beti Ellerson, an African Women in Cinema Blog collaboration with Africine.org


Ethiopian director Hiwot Getaneh returns to the Toronto International Film Festival (September 5-15, 2019) with her short film A Fool God, where she delves into the world of a little girl in deep reflection about guilt.

A Fool God explores the universe of Mesi, who seeks to exculpate herself from the condemnation of her grandmother for having cut off the head of a hen, a ritual reserved for men, and hence should have been done by her brother. While Mesi thinks she has done well in trying to help the latter who did not succeed, her grandmother holds her responsible for the death of her mother, who dies afterwards. As a sign of mourning, the grandmother shaves Mesi's head and takes the opportunity to recount a time-honored classic tale: the guilt of a poor farmer who steals from his uncle and then goes to God, asking for forgiveness. In order to prove her good faith to her grandmother, every chance she gets Mesi reinterprets the tale in her own way. Can we do wrong if our intention is good? Why blame someone who has committed an act in good faith? For Mesi, the one who condemns is a fool; and God included, if he does not pardon the condemned person.

The cinéaste Hiwot Getaneh once again puts a child at the forefront inviting us to openly question ourselves beyond all the influences impregnated by our environment, as well as our own values: faith, culture, justice, solidarity, etc. As in her previous film New Eyes where a young girl having just reached puberty begins to develop sensual feelings and desires, after witnessing a couple in amorous embrace, we are led to observe the unfolding of an innocent body and pure spirit.

The Ethiopian director takes as a starting point an original story that her grandmother recounted often when she was growing up and that she liked a lot. Moreover, Hiwot Getaneh recalls that as a child, she often accompanied her grandmother to the pension fund distribution centre, very common in a country where parents, mostly widows and mothers, go to collect the pension of a husband or soldier son who has disappeared--as we see Mesi accompany her grandmother.

A Fool God takes us back to our youth where we saw our unrestrained acts being corrected by adults, where we were confronted by prohibitions and where we had to evaluate our judgments; which we finally understood, only when we became adults.

***
A Fool God,  un film de Hiwot Getaneh
Djia Mambu,
Toronto, Septembre 2019

La réalisatrice éthiopienne Hiwot Getaneh revient au Festival International de film de Toronto (5-15 septembre 2019) avec son court métrage A Fool God où elle questionne l'univers d'une petite fille en pleine réflexion sur la culpabilité.
Version originale en Français. Lire l’article en intégralité sur http://africine.org/?menu=art&no=14767


04 November 2019

Mame Woury Thioubou: "5 étoiles", un récit sur la désillusion de l’exil | a story about the disillusionment of exile: Analyse/Analysis de/by Fatou Kiné Sène

Mame Woury Thioubou: "5 étoiles", un récit sur la désillusion de l’exil |  a story about the disillusionment of exile: Analyse/Analysis de/by Fatou Kiné Sène

Source : aps.sn

Version originale en Français : http://aps.sn/actualites/culture/cinema/article/5-etoiles-de-mame-woury-thioubou-un-recit-sur-la-desillusion-de-l-exil

5 Etoiles by Mame Woury Thioubou (2019)
Tunisia, Oct 31 (APS) - The short film 5 Étoiles by the Senegalese Mame Woury Thioubou, screened Wednesday at the City of Culture in Tunis, as part of the 2019 edition of the Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage (JCC, 26 October-2 November), deals with "the disillusionment of exile", subtly bringing emigrants to realise their own precariousness in order to better talk about the issue.

The film highlights the lives of African migrants in Lille, France in order to bring these "undocumented migrants" to the realisation that after braving the desert and the sea to arrive in France, Europe is only the beginning of their ordeal.

"The film does not tell young Africans not to leave, but what I want them to know" is that Europe "is not going to be the end of the ordeal, that it is the beginning of a new struggle," said the director.

Mame Woury Thioubou had always wondered about the motivation of these young people who choose to leave the African continent for the West. Her cinematographic approach, hence, leads her on an inquiry into these young migrants' journey through the Sahara desert—for those leaving from Mali or Guinea.

Obviously, she evokes the horrors suffered by migrants from the Libyan route evident by the difficult experience of crossing the Mediterranean.

Far from knowing the epilogue of this ordeal once in Europe, in reality, it is only the beginning.

The director gives pride of place to the protagonists of the film who make a self-analysis of their precarious situation. Her camera insists on the faces, the feet, but especially their "5 Étoiles (tr. star), an old insanitary factory, a squatting place for the migrants.

Mame Woury relates their difficult living conditions in their struggle for "dignity" in the face of ordinary racism and daily humiliation.

The subject also reveals, through its reference to history, by way of a reminder that the issue of migration is not a new subject and has marked and transformed the lives of all human societies.

Mame Woury Thioubou illustrates this point with a focus on the statue of Faidherbe, one of the architects of colonisation in Senegal, and who in Lille is seen as a positive figure celebrated at the Republic Square, in this French metropolis where the "sans-papers" (the undocumented) rally each week.

Through this approach the director also challenges the French, inviting them to look in the mirror.

"This movement by these migrants, Faidherbe has already done by coming to our country without authorisation. Yet today, when our young people want to go to the West, barriers are imposed on them. I also want the French to see themselves and to question themselves,” says the director.

Biography | Biographie

Mame Woury Thioubou was born and raised in Senegal. After a MA in geography at the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and a diploma in journalism at the University of St. Louis, Senegal. She is a journalist/reporter at the newspaper "Quotidien" and for the company Avenir Communication, and technical assistant for Programme Agenda 21 in the city of Matam.

In 2009, she decided to return to her studies continuing in the area of journalism but from a more artistic approach by engaging in creative documentary filmmaking, now considered a genre in itself. She enrolled in the Master II Réalisation de Documentaire de Création  (Creative Documentary Filmmaking) at the University Gaston Berger in St. Louis (Senegal), under the tutelage of Africadoc.

***

Mame Woury Thioubou est née et a grandi au Sénégal. Après une maîtrise de géographie à l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar et l’obtention d’un diplôme en Journalisme à l’Université de Saint-Louis du Sénégal, elle devient Journaliste/reporter au “Quotidien”, pour la société Avenir Communication et assistante technique du Programme Agenda 21 de la Ville de Matam. 

En 2009, elle décide de reprendre ses études et complète son point de vue journalistique par une approche plus artistique en se lançant dans le documentaire de création, aujourd’hui considéré comme un genre cinématographique à part entière. Elle suit ainsi le Master II de Réalisation de Documentaire de Création à l’Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis (Sénégal), formation sous la tutelle d’Africadoc.

PALMARES | AWARDS : JCC 2019 - Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage | Carthage Film Festival


PALMARES | AWARDS
Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage
Carthage Film Festival


LONG METRAGE | FEATURE FICTION

Tanit d'or | Golden Tanit

Tanit d'argent | Silver Tanit

Tanit de bronze | Bronze Tanit
Scales. Shahad Ameen Arabie Saoudite | Saudia Arabia (2019)

Meilleur scénario | Best Scenario
You will die at twenty. Amjad Abu Alala - Soudan | Sudan (2019)

Meilleure comedien | Best male performance : 
Abou Leila. Amin Sidi-Boumediene - Algérie | Algeria (2019)

Meilleure comedienne | Best female performance : Hend Sabri
Noura rêve. Hinde Boujemaa - Tunisie | Tunisia (2019)

Meilleure musique | Best Music
Atlantique. Mati Diop - Sénégal (2019)

Meilleure image | Best Cinematography
Adam. Mariam Touzani - Maroc | Morocco (2019)

Meilleur montage | Best Editing
Adam. Mariam Touzani - Maroc | Morocco (2019)


SHORT FICTION FILMS | COURTS MÉTRAGES

Tanit d'or | Golden Tanit
True Story. Amine Lakhnech - Tunisia | Tunisie (2019)

Tanit d'argent | Silver Tanit
Charter. Sabry Bouzid - Tunisia | Tunisie (2019)

Tanit de bronze | Bronze Tanit
Mthunzi. Tebogo Malebogo - South Africa | Afrique du Sud (2019)


FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES | LONGS MÉTRAGES DOCUMENTAIRES 

Tanit d'or | Golden Tanit
Talking about trees. Suhaib Gasmelbari - Soudan | Sudan (2019)

Tanit d'argent | Silver Tanit
For Sama. Waad Al-Kateab - Syrie | Syria (2019)

Tanit de bronze | Bronze Tanit

Mention speciále | Special mention
Pas d’or pour Kalsaka. K Michel Zongo - Burkina Faso (2019)


SHORT DOCUMENTARIES | DOCUMENTAIRES COURTS MÉTRAGES 

Tanit d'or | Golden Tanit
All come from dust. Younes Ben Slimane – Tunisia | Tunisie (2018)

Tanit d'argent | Silver Tanit
Pacific. Angie Obeid - Lebanon | Liban (2019)

Tanit de bronze | Bronze Tanit


PRIX PREMIÈRE OEUVRE | FIRST FILM AWARD

Prix | Award TV5 Monde
You will die at twenty. Amjad Abu Alala - Soudan | Sudan (2019)

Taher Cheriaa Award

Mention speciále du Jury | Special mention Jury
Un fils. Mehdi M. Barsaoui - Tunisie | Tunisia (2019)

Prix du public | Audience Award
Entre deux frères. Joud Jawdat Said - Syrie | Syria (2019)


LAUREATS PRIX PARALLÈLE | PARALLEL SECTION AWARDS

UGTT : Prix du premier assistant à la réalisation | First Assistant Director Award
à/to Sawssen Jemni. Noura rêve de/by Hinde Boujemaa - Tunisie | Tunisia (2019)

FACC : Prix de la FACC | FACC Award

FIPSCI : Prix du FIPSCI | FIPSCI Award
You will die at twenty. Amjad Abu Alala - Soudan | Sudan (2019)

Le prix | Award Cinephilia
Chebba. Yasmine BenAbdallah. Maroc | Morocco (2019)


LES PRIX | AWARDS : CARTHAGE CINÉ-PROMESSE 2019

Prix carthage ciné-promesse: Le dernier voyage. Latefa Ahrrare - Maroc | Morocco

Prix ciné-promesse : Prix Hakka distribution Le dernier voyage. Latefa Ahrrare - Maroc | Morocco

Prix ciné-promesse : Mention Spéciale | Special mention
TF2011. Nour El Hayet Ben Abdallah - Tunisie - Maroc 


01 November 2019

JCC 2019 - Nicole Schafer : Buddha in Africa (South Africa)


Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage | Carthage Film Festival

Nicole Schafer
South Africa
Buddha in Africa (2019) 110 min.
Documentary


Synopsis
Enock is a Malawian teenager nearing the end of his high school studies. Since the age of six, he has lived inside a Taiwanese Buddhist orphanage – one of several built across sub-Saharan Africa. As his final examinations approach, Enock is forced to decide what direction he wants to take in his future.


Biography
Nicole Schafer is a South African writer, film director, producer, editor and cinematographer. She completed her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in film and television production at the University of Cape Town.

JCC 2019 - Fatma Riahi : A Haunted Past (Tunisia | Tunisie)


Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage
Carthage Film Festival

Fatma Riahi
Tunisia | Tunisie
A Haunted Past (90 min)
2018
Documentary | Documentaire


In her youth, filmmaker Fatma Riahi lived in Tunis with a family hosted by her mother: three little girls and their Bosnian mother, Marcida, whose Tunisian husband, Tawfiq, was serving a prison sentence for terrorism. Ten years after the family disappeared, Riahi sets out to find them. She learns that Tawfiq is now raising his girls in the countryside, and that Marcida abandoned them. The filmmaker meets the bitter young women, their dreams shattered, and the former jihadi, traumatized and enraged by his past experiences. Approaching her subjects’ sometimes-dubious perspectives and opinions frankly, she gradually unearths the secrets of lives reshaped by the complexities of international conflicts and state violence. (CS)

Dans sa jeunesse, la réalisatrice Fatma Riahi a vécu à Tunis sous le même toit qu’une famille hébergée par sa mère : trois fillettes et leur mère bosniaque, Marcida, dont le mari tunisien Tawfiq purgeait une peine de prison pour terrorisme. Dix ans après la disparition de cette famille, Riahi décide de les retrouver. Elle découvre que Tawfiq élève aujourd’hui ses filles à la campagne, et que Marcida les a abandonnés. La cinéaste fait face à des jeunes femmes amères aux rêves évanouis, et à un ancien jihadiste aussi furieux que traumatisé par ses expériences passées. Confrontant avec franchise les perspectives et opinions parfois discutables de ses sujets, elle déterre petit à petit les secrets de vies bouleversées par la complexité de conflits internationaux et la violence des États. (CS)


JCC 2019 - Wided Zoghlami : Fathallah tv, 10 ans et une revolution plus tard (Tunisie | Tunisia)



Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage
Carthage Film Festival

Wided Zoghlami
Tunisie | Tunisia
Fathallah tv, 
10 ans et une revolution plus tard 
2019
Documentary

Synopsis
Source: Africine.org

In 2007 under the dictatorship of Ben Ali, four young people from a working class district of Tunis, try to build a better future, some through music while others will take more risky paths. All struggle against the omnipresent oppression of dictatorship and unknowingly announce a nascent revolution. 10 years and a revolution later, what have become of them, did they realize their dreams?

En 2007 sous la dictature de Ben Ali, quatre jeunes issus d'un quartier populaire de Tunis, tentent de se construire un avenir meilleur, certains par le biais de la musique alors que d'autres emprunterons des chemins plus risqués. Tous luttent contre l'oppression omniprésente de la dictature et annoncent sans le savoir une révolution naissante. 10 ans et une révolution plus tard, que sont-ils devenus, ont-ils concrétisé leurs rêves ?

Bio : Wided Zoghlami
Source: Africine.org

Tunisian Filmmaker. In 2016, she pitched, her documentary project, 10 ans et une revolution plus tard at the 14th Rencontres Tënk de co-production, in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

Réalisatrice tunisienne. En 2016, elle participe avec son projet de documentaire 110 ans et une revolution plus tard aux 14è Rencontres Tënk de co-production, à Saint-Louis, Sénégal.





JCC 2019 - Hinde Boujemaa : Noura rêve | Noura's Dream (Tunisie | Tunisia)

Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage | Carthage Film Festival

Hinde Boujemaa
Tunisie | Tunisia
Noura rêve | Noura's Dream (2019)
Fiction (90 min)


Synopsis

Noura meets the love of her life, Lassaad, while her husband, Sofiane, is in jail. She raises her three children alone and works in a laundry to make ends meet. A few days before the divorce Noura requested is granted, the new lovers' dream of living together is jeopardised by Sofiane's imminent release. Noura and Lassaad decide to flee.

Noura a rencontré l'amour de sa vie, Lassad, alors que son mari Sofiane est en prison. Elle élève seule ses enfants; Eya 14 ans, Rahma 8 ans et Ayoub 10 ans tout en travaillant comme lingère dans un hôpital. Il ne reste plus que quelques jours avant le jugement du divorce que Noura a demandé. Les deux amants cachent leur liaison, menacés de 5 ans d'emprisonnement si celle-ci est révélée. Les amoureux sont freinés dans leur projet lorsque Sofiane est libéré.

Bio : Hinde Boujemaa

Hinde Boujemaa is a Tunisian director. Her filmography includes Ya Man Aach (It Was Better Tomorrow), which was her first documentary and was screened at several film festivals. It won the Best Muhr Arab Documentary prize at DIFF 2012. Her short...And Romeo Married Juliette (2014) won the Best Muhr Short Film at Dubai DIFF 2014.

Réalisatrice et scénariste tunisienne. Diplômée en marketing à l'Institut économique de Bruxelles, Hinde Boujemaa suit une formation en scénario à Educatel-Paris. Elle collabore ensuite aux scénarii de nombreux longs métrages tunisiens. En 2008, elle signe son premier court métrage, 1144. Elle participe avec son scénario de long métrage Sous le paradis au programme de formation Meda Film Développement et à Sud Écriture. Le scénario obtient également une bourse d'aide au développement à l'Atelier de Projets des Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage 2008. C'etait mieux demain, son premier long métrage documentaire, a été projeté en sélection officielle à la 69ème Mostra de Venise, à Namur 2012 et dans plusieurs festivals. Le film a remporté le Muhr du Meilleur Documentaire Arabe à Dubaï (DIFF 2012). Elle a de nouveau été primée à Dubaï où son film Et Romeo epousa Juliette (...And Romeo Married Juliette, 2014, court, 18 mins) a eu le Muhr du Meilleur court métrage de fiction au DIFF 2014. Hinde Boujemaa est membre de l'organisation des Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage 2014.

31 October 2019

JCC 2019 - Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage | Carthage Film Festival

JCC 2019 
Les journées cinématographiques de Carthage | Carthage Film Festival




Le Grand Jury

Alain Gomis (Sénégal - France) - Président
Hassan Kachach (Algérie | Algeria)
Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud (Tunisie| Tunisia)
Yasmine Khlat (Liban - Égypte )


Le Jury Documentaires | Documentaries

Jérôme Gary (États-Unis | United States) - Président
Jean-Marie Teno (Cameroun | Cameroon)
Mohamed Mediouni (Tunisie | Tunisia)
Mohamed Siam (Égypte)

Jury compétition première œuvre | First work : Prix Taher Chériaa

Mouhamad Keblawi (Palestine - Suède) - Président
Anissa Daoud (Tunisie | Tunisia)
Joël Karekezi (Rwanda) 


OFFICIAL COMPETITION | COMPÉTITION OFFICIELLE

Feature films | Longs métrages de fictions

Certified Mail. Hishem Saqr - Égypte (2019)
Abou Leila. Amin Sidi-Boumediene - Algérie | Algeria (2019)
Entre deux frères. Joud Jawdat Said - Syrie | Syria (2019)
Haifa Street. Mohanad Hayal - Iraq (2019)
De la guerre. Fadhel Jaziri - Tunisie | Tunisia (2018)
Un fils. Mehdi M. Barsaoui - Tunisie | Tunisia (2019)
Scales. Shahad Ameen - Arabie Saoudite | Saudia Arabia (2019)
You will die at twenty. Amjad Abu Alala - Soudan | Sudan (2019)

Feature Documentaries | Longs métrages documentaires 

The cave. Firas Fayyad - Syrie (2019)
A home of one's own. Ruba Atiyeh - Liban | Lebanon (2019)
For Sama. Waad Al-Kateab - Syrie | Syria (2019)
Pas d’or pour Kalsaka. K Michel Zongo - Burkina Faso (2019)
Talking about trees. Suhaib Gasmelbari - Soudan | Sudan (2019)
Sur la transversale. Sami Tlili - Tunisie | Tunisia (2019)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Sunday by Angella Emurwon (Uganda)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)

Sunday
Angella Emurwon
Uganda
Fiction

Synopsis
Anna and JJ have loved each other from childhood and have been married a long time. But JJ has a debilitating mental illness that has slowly chipped away at their life leaving nothing but flat routine.  Anna starts each day the same. She has made a ritual of her life that helps both her and JJ cope. (25 min 27 sec)

Biography
Angella Emurwon is a writer, award-winning playwright, and filmmaker. She divides her time between an uneventful writing life in Tororo, Uganda and her exciting work mentoring screenwriters. She has written two radio plays that have won BBC Radio Drama awards; one of which, Sunflowers behind a Dirty Fence, is being adapted into a feature film. In 2016, she wrote and directed a short film, Sunday. (Source: http://maishafilmlab.org/maisha-mentor/angella-emurwon/)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Dark Spot by Sandra Essel (Ghana)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)

Dark Spot (2017)
Sandra Essel
Ghana
Fiction

Synopsis
Verona finds out the reason behind her husband's lack of satisfying her in bed sexually and takes a hasty action. (10 min)

Biography
Sandra Essel went to Creativeland School of Film and Media Arts; afterwards she joined MK Content/Casting, and has also worked with acclaimed directors such as Clement Kofi Amish (Ghana), Linda Brooke Edith (Ghana). She worked as a script supervisor on the Ghanaian film In 3 Days and the short film Broken Wing. In addition, she was production assistant for the Netflix-BBC project “Black Earth Rising”.

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Rumba in the Jungle, the return by Yolanda Keabatswe Mogatusi (South Africa)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Rumba in the Jungle, the return (2018)
Yolanda Keabatswe Mogatusi
South Africa
Documentary


Synopsis
A glimpse into the world of competitive Dance Sport through a world renowned dance competition, hosted in Sun City, South Africa that went defunct after 1999. As it returns 18 years later, we follow two legendary dance icons as they prepare a new generation of dancers for the competition that launched their own dance careers. (82 min)

Biography
Yolanda Keabetswe Mogatusi is a South African writer, filmmaker and actress who is passionate about putting Africa on the global map. Her TV credits include the Afrikaans SABC sitcom, Askies, which she co-created and wrote a number of scripts on while providing some creative direction as the show’s creator as well as the teen lifestyle program for SABC 3, Meet Joe Food, which is a Hybrid teen lifestyle magazine show that she also created and directed. She has written a number of bubblegum films for Mzansi Magic and is currently working on a couple of feature films, Hair That Moves – the movie and Thula Thula which is supported by the KZN Film Commission.

Yolanda is an ex-storyliner and a Talent Campus and Focus Features’ Africa First Alumni, who loves telling stories, whether it’s behind the camera or in front of it or even with just the use of words. 

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: In Search by Beryl Magoko (Kenya)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


In Search (2018)
Beryl Magoko
Documentary

Synopsis
A courageous and determined young woman talks about her experiences going through Female Genital Mutilation and the need to undergo reconstructive surgery on her genitals. Beryl is trying to find out whether she should undergo this surgery, a journey into the unknown for a second time. (90 min.) 

At 10, director Beryl Magoko suffered female genital mutilation (FGM). She now knows reconstructive surgery is a possibility, but she’s not sure whether it will help her feel better. Talking to other victims and reviewing her past, she will try to understand what happened.
Recalling her childhood in a rural village in Kenya, as a little girl Beryl Magoko thought it was a simple rite of passage to adult life and acceptance within her community, but no one warned her of the physical and emotional pain, nor the humiliation that this would entail in the future. In Search explores the director’s own emotional dilemmas and those of other women who have gone through the same experience. Source: http://www.film-documentaire.fr/4DACTION/w_fiche_film/56233_1

Biography
Beryl Magoko was born and raised in Komotobo (Kuria - Kenya). After studying Graphic Design at Mombasa Polytechnic she went to Uganda at Kampala University, initially in mass communication, then Film-TV-Video- Production. During this time she worked on different films as sound recordist and camera woman. Encourage by her professor Andreas Frowein she choose a very difficult topic for her diploma film: FGM.

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Trapped by Erica Owusu-Ansah (Ghana)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Trapped
Erica Owusu-Ansah
Ghana
Fiction

Synopsis
Emefa, is in an abusive marriage with Kwame. She assumes that Kwame's abusive nature is as a result of their childlessness. She gets pregnant and assumes that the baby will be able to save their marriage but it does not.

Biography
Erica Owusu-Ansah, filmmaker, writer and director, is CEO of Golden Arrow Productions.

30 October 2019

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Subira by Sippy Chadha (Kenya)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Subira (2018)
Sippy Chadha
Kenya
Fiction

Synopsis
A free-spirited young girl in Lamu struggles to live out her unique dream of swimming in the ocean, against local customs and in an arranged upper-class marriage. (99 min.)

Biography
Ravneet Sippy Chadha is a Kenyan Writer-Director, based in Nairobi. She quit financial services in 2007, as she had a powerful urge to tell her own stories through film. As a child she had to conform to a rigid set of rules. She rebelled against rules that denied her self expression.
(Source: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2341217/?ref_=tt_ov_dr)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Remnants by Hannah Awo Bonney (Ghana)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Remnants (2018)
Hannah Awo Bonney
Ghana
Documentary



Synopsis
This film explores the cultural and historical impact of the TransAtlantic slave trade in Ghana. In Ghana, the story of the slave trade is not popular or widely talked about. People feel uncomfortable having conversations regarding this dark past and memories associated with it although they did not experience it. (42 min).

Biography
Hannah Awo Nkeba Bonney, currently a lecturer at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) in Accra, graduated from the same institution and later proceeded to the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Germany for her post graduate studies.

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: A Thousand Needles by Nikitta Adjirakor (Ghana, Germany)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


A Thousand Needles (2018)
Nikitta Adjirakor
Ghana, Germany
Documentary

Synopsis
A Thousand Needles is a short documentary film on women’s health. It chronicles the journey of a lead character, exploring the effects of women’s sexual and reproductive health issues such endometriosis and uterine fibroids on her life. The story unfolds especially through monologues, artistic visuals and poetry.


Biography

Nikitta Adjirakor who is Ghanaian by birth is currently a PhD candidate in Literatures in African Languages at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.  A writer herself, her interests and background lay in words manifested through different mediums such as music, poetry, novels and film. The concept of the film was built from one of her poems which shares the same title as the film. Having lived with varying sexual and reproductive health issues since she was 13, this film serves a platform for her to reveal the often times, invisible realities of sexual and reproductive health issues. The film forms part of an eponymous concept project she is working on which merges different creative art forms in creating awareness about women's health.

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Reverberation - Performed by Brenda Dokmah Bakomora (Ghana)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Reverberation
Performed by Brenda Dokmah Bakomora
Ghana
Experimental

Synopsis
An experimental short film that aims to create raw, powerful physical language and emotions in a continuing effect. It puts the performer into an exhaustive physical struggle within the limits of the mind and body. The performance is the dramatization of resounding words and persistent questions from society’s expectations and the need to fit into specific constructs of marriage, career and body image in order to be validated. 

Performed by Ghana poet Brenda Dokmah Bakomora.

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 2019: Ha jan bana by Cecilia Oppong-Badu (Ghana)

Ndiva Women’s Film Festival 
(Ghana)


Ha jan bana
Cecilia Oppong-Badu
Ghana
Fiction

Synopsis
Two women fight for the rights of the citizens by suing the state amid death threats by people who are likely to be affected if the judge rules in favour of them.

Biography
Cecilia Oppong-Badu, enrolled at the National Film and Television Institute Ghana, worked for TV3 Network Ltd as a Producer/Director for fourteen years. She manages her company Cobvision Inscape Ltd, a media production house. In addition, she has produced several commercials and documentaries for Samara Group, Galaxy Int. School among others. (Source: https://www.freshcraftseries.com/who/participants/#cecilia)

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