A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival

A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival

Source. https://mailchi.mp/c8b7bc1e540b/black-women-in-film



NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR US BY US, GLOBAL CHANGEMAKERS TO CELEBRATE BLACK WOMEN IN FILM AT FESTIVAL DE CANNES, IN RESPONSE TO GROSS UNDERREPRESENTATION IN COMPETITION, THROUGHOUT 75-YEAR HISTORY

LOS ANGELES - May 17, 2022 - Yolonda Brinkley, creator of Diversity in Cannes, the independent film movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival, is pleased to announce Dear Cannes, Do Better: A Celebration of Black Women in Film at the Cannes Film Festival, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Presented by Cheryl Polote-Wiliamson’s Cheryl Magazine and Williamson Media Group, the festivities kick-off today with the launch of #DearCannes, a digital social media campaign, encouraging the Festival de Cannes to dismantle the patriarchy, embrace inclusion and select more black women to compete in competition. The culmination is a day of #blackgirlmagic including the world premiere of The Invitation, a short film commemorating 75 years of The Links, Incorporated, the world’s most formidable organization for black women changemakers, directed by Wendy Eley Jackson.

“In 75 years, the Cannes Film Festival has selected only one black woman director in competition, With the plethora of talented black female voices sounding off at other global film festivals, awareness is no longer an acceptable excuse for the gross underrepresentation of black women directors in competition,”  comments Diversity in Cannes’ Yolonda Brinkley. “As they celebrate their jubilee as the world’s most prestigious film festival and welcome their first female president, I believe change is inevitable. In the interim, delay is denial, and I welcome the opportunity to align with Cheryl Polote-Williamson to celebrate black women in film, at the 75th Festival de Cannes.”

 
A collaboration between Entertainment Publicist and Diversity in Cannes Founder, Yolonda Brinkley, Cheryl Polote-Williamson, editor-in-chief, Cheryl Magazine, Filmmaker Wendy Eley Jackson and Karine Barclais, founder of Pavillon Afriques, Dear Cannes, Do Better: A Celebration of Black Women in Film is the direct result of women changemakers, empowered to build their own table at the world’s most prestigious film festival. No longer awaiting permission from the patriarchy, they’ve created an opportunity for established and emerging black women in film to amplify their authentic voices during the Cannes Film Festival, where they’ve been ignored for the past 75 years.

"After a year working with our production teams and reflecting on the vast examples of how African American experiences have been captured in film, we are honored to demonstrate our commitment to creators of color by taking a stand with Diversity in Cannes”, said Cheryl P. Williamson, Co-Founder of Williamson Media Group." With this body of work, we aim to provide Black women in film with an honorable professional foundation to amplify their voices, create space for their stories and illuminate a path to a sustainable career in film."

In addition to Dear Cannes: Do Better, the digital social media campaign, launching today in harmony with Festival de Cannes’ 75th anniversary, the celebration of black women in film is Wednesday, May 25, 2022. It will kick off with an invitation only breakfast and will extend into the Marché du Film at Pavillon Afriques and the Cannes Short Film Corner.

In solidarity, black women and their allies attending the Celebration of Black Women in Film are invited to wear any combination of black, white and yellow attire and are encouraged to upload their own videos in response to the realization that there’s only been one black woman selected in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in its 75 years. Use hashtags #dearcannes #diversityincannes when posting.

Schedule of Events
11:00: Breakfast (Invitation only)                                                                         

13:00: World Premiere: The Invitation Q&A  (Pavillon Afriques)
14:00: Cannes Conversation: Black Women Tell All
16:00: Cannes Short Film Corner: Black Women in Film (Palais F)
19:00: Cocktail Reception (Pavillon Afriques)
All are welcome. RSVP required by May 23, 2022

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ABOUT DIVERSITY IN CANNES

Created in 2010 by Yolonda Brinkley, Diversity in Cannes is an independent filmmaker movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival. The movement was established to promote the presence of underrepresented filmmakers sharing stories about marginalized populations during the Cannes Film Festival. Specifically, the grassroots initiative provides a platform for globally diverse filmmakers to promote their talents, present their work and expand their international network during the Cannes Film Festival.

ABOUT YOLONDA BRINKLEY
Yolonda Brinkley, a full-service marketing communications professional, is an Illinois MBA with extensive brand development, event production and public relations experience. She holds a BA from Clark Atlanta University & is fluent in French with international experience. A corporately trained marketer, Yolonda worked 10 years at Ford Motor Company, including assignments with the Lincoln Mercury and Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover brands. During her 10-year tenure, Yolonda established herself as a valuable resource within the branded entertainment community. As an entrepreneur, the momentum continues. Since 2008, Yolonda has managed events for the NAACP Hollywood Bureau (Image Awards), the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Filmmakers Alliance. She’s represented actors and filmmakers at global film festivals including Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival. Yolonda constantly creates opportunities for herself and impacts the global entertainment industry as the creator of Diversity in Cannes, the independent filmmaker movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival.


 

PITCH O' FEMININ - Salon du cinéma au féminin 2 | Women's film fair 2 (On Move Magazine)

PITCH O' FEMININ

Salon du cinéma au féminin 2 | Women's film fair 2

On Move Magazine

 

https://www.onmovemag.com/salon-du-cinema-au-feminin-article-a-lire-bientot

 

Le pitch o’ Féminin est une activité ouverte aux étudiantes en cinéma et à toutes femmes étant à son premier projet cinématographique. Il s’agit  d’un concours qui vise à détecter la plus belle plume en matière de scénario et contribuer ainsi  à la promotion de ces jeunes talents dans l’exercice des métiers du 7ème Art. Pour cette édition, l’appel à candidature est ouvert aux porteuses de projets de court métrage et de capsule.

The Pitch o’ Féminin is an activity open to female film students and all those who are working on their first film project. This is a contest that aims to detect the most beautiful writing skill and thus contribute to the promotion of these young talents in a professional environment. For this edition, the call for applications is open to short film and shortcom.

[FR] Le salon du cinéma au féminin a ouvert depuis le mois d'Avril l'appel à candidature du concours pitch o féminin éditions 2. Pour candidater allez sur:  https://forms.gle/sQcan4n7ULrtsDLx5

[EN] The women film fair opened the call for applications of the Pitch o' feminin competition 2 edition since the month of Avril. To apply, go to: https://forms.gle/sQcan4n7ULrtsDLx5
 

 

Ngozi Onwurah Retrospective & Q&A - Film London

Ngozi Onwurah Retrospective & Q&A - Film London

 

Tue 17 - Sun 15 May

 

Source: https://filmlondon.org.uk/events/ngozi-onwurah-retrospective-q-a

Join TAPE Collective for a film retrospective and recorded Q&A with filmmaker Ngozi Onwura. The event offers an opportunity to hear Onwurah talk about her works integral to the British film canon. Filled with complex and insightful narratives that put the Black British experience at the forefront, Onwurah became the first Black British female director to have a film theatrically released in the UK with her feature debut Welcome II the Terrordome and Shoot The Messenger.

African Women in Cinema Addressing Mental Health in Africa and the Diaspora

African Women in Cinema Addressing Mental Health

in Africa and the Diaspora

Report by Beti Ellerson

 

Notes continuing...

 

In Une fenêtre ouverte (An open window, 2005) Khady Sylla's camera is the mirror into which she gazes directly as she addresses the viewers, interrogating their own sense of sanity. She asks: "You look at yourself in a broken mirror. You see pieces of your face. Your face is crumbling. And whoever looks at you in the broken mirror, sees pieces of images of your face. Which of you will come to reconstruct the puzzle? Are you not, perhaps, on the same side of the mirror?" She continues the monologue with the disquieting admission of her own mental illness. The film is a space in which Khady Sylla tries to open for Aminta Ngomgui, the protagonist of the story, as well as for herself, and for the public, on the world of mental illness.

Similarly, Ledet Muleta, a psychiatric nurse in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area addresses the ways that mental illness is stigmatized in Africa and in African diaspora communities. The objective of her film project is to empower those who are affected, to build awareness and to find more effective solutions.

The purpose of Noëlle Kenmoe's film is to raise awareness and to challenge societal perceptions regarding the realities of another mental health issue, autism in children in Africa. Because of this disorder, they are often marginalized and rejected. Based on their behavior they are viewed as crazy, as reincarnations of the devil, among other damning perceptions. Hence, beyond being a handicap or disorder, autism becomes a social condemnation.

The issues around social exclusion are recurring themes in Nathalie Pontalier's film projects. In her film Le maréchalat du roi-Dieu (The Marshal of the God-king, 2012), the protagonist André Ondo Mba suffers from acute paranoid schizophrenia and has become deaf. For the past twenty years he writes on walls, facades, and other parapets of Libreville, the Gabonese capital. The contents of his messages often remain obscure to the viewers who venture there. His two sons who care for him attempt to navigate his world of the imaginary.

In the short fiction, Taajabone, Fatoumata Bathily highlights the debilitating effects of depression that traumatize a young woman, who is consumed with guilt after the death of her husband. While Aisha Jama, relates the coping mechanisms that a young Black Muslim woman employs to confront anxiety in the film Neefso (Breathe). Nora Awolowo challenges the perception of the elated mother after the birth of her child. In Baby Blues she tackles the hidden issue of postpartum depression.

Tracing memories at the onset of cognitive decline, a mental health issue that family's face throughout the globe as an elder reaches her or his golden age, though for many, even before, is an increasingly visible theme in films. Karima Saïdi focuses the camera on her own mother Aïcha who develops Alzheimer’s. She constructs a film portrait journeying with her mother back into her past. More broadly, Mmabatho Monthsho addresses the mulitple issues around cognitive decline especially in the context of caregiving, in the "hope of inspiring support and conversations about condition and the physical, psychological, and social burden on female family caregivers."

 

A selection of articles on the African Women in Cinema Blog regarding African women addressing mental health issues in Africa and throughout the African Diaspora:

 

#Alzheimers

Karima Saidi: Dans la maison | A Way Home

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/04/artetv-karima-saidi-dans-la-maison-way.html

#anxiety

Aisha Jama: Neefso | Breathe

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/08/recent-films-aisha-jama-neefso-breathe.html

#autism

Noelle Kenmoe: Deux avril

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/01/raising-awareness-noelle-kenmoes-deux.html

#bipolar

Ledet Muleta: Chula

http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2016/07/producer-ledet-muleta-launches.html

 

#dementia #caregiving
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/02/mmabatho-montsho-desmonds-not-here.html

#postpartum #depression

Nora Awolowo: Baby Blues

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/10/nora-awolowo-baby-blues.html

#schizophrenia

Yveline Nathalie Pontalier : Le marechalat du roi-Dieu | The Marshal of the God-king

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2013/02/fespaco-2013-yveline-nathalie-pontalier.html

#mentalillness

 

Maïmouna Ndiaye: Le fou, le génie et le sage (The crazy, the genius, the sage)

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/02/fespaco-2019-le-fou-le-genie-et-le-sage.html

 

Hawa Aliou Ndiaye : Kuma!

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/02/festival-films-femmes-afrique-2020-hawa.html

 

Mai Mustafa Ekhou: It's not over yet

https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/05/recent-films-mai-mustafa-ekhou-its-not.html

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed. Globalisation and indigenous cinemas: a history of Ghanaian Dagbanli films

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed

Globalisation and indigenous cinemas:

a history of Ghanaian Dagbanli films

Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13216597.2022.2073256

Abstract
While there has been extensive research on English language media in Ghana, there remains a huge gap in indigenous language media research. Through in-depth interviews with movie industry stakeholders, this article examines the history of indigenous language film in Northern Ghana, paying attention to the evolution of the movie industry and the various cultural flows that have shaped its development. Grounding the study in indigenous African knowledge systems, I present the history of the Dagbanli movie industry. I argue that to understand how the Dagbanli movie industry has been sustained for three decades, it is imperative to examine critically the industry’s history and the innovative strategies filmmakers have employed to keep up with changing trends in technology and aesthetics in the film industry. Filmmakers draw on Dagbaŋ culture (one of the major ethnic groups in Ghana) and film industries in the Global South to address the needs of their audiences while funding their films independently. From these findings, practical and theoretical recommendations are presented to contribute to improving filmmaking and research on indigenous language filmmaking in Ghana.

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed is an assistant professor of global media at the College of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She is co-editor of the book, African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora (forthcoming 2022). Her research which focuses on feminisms, broadcast media, development communication, and political economy of communication have appeared in Communication Theory, Review of Communication, and the Howard Journal of Communications.

Mamounata Nikiéma : élue présidente de la Fédération nationale du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel du Burkina Faso | elected president of the National Federation of Cinema and the audiovisual of Burkina Faso

Mamounata Nikiéma :

élue présidente de la Fédération nationale du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel du Burkina Faso |

elected president of the National Federation of Cinema and the audiovisual of Burkina Faso

Translation from French. See original French text published 04 Mai 2022 : Africine.org

Mamounata Nikiema, filmmaker and producer from Burkina Faso, was elected president of la Fédération nationale du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel du Burkina Faso (the National federation of cinema and the audiovisual of Burkina Faso) at the extraordinary assembly on Saturday April 23, 2022 in Ouagadougou for a four-year term.

 

She is very involved in the filmmaker networks in Burkina Faso (Africadoc Burkina, Guilde des scénaristes, Association des producteurs du Burkina Faso, Fédération Nationale du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel...). Moreover, for the past several editions, Mamounata has been actively involved at FESPACO as president committee or member during the past several editions.
 

In 2018, she launched the event, Cine‐équipement  and the digital cinema platform Sulunsuku (www.sulunsuku.com). With this illustrious background, Mamounata Nikiema received the title of Knight of the Order of Merit, Arts, Letters and Communication with Agrafe ''Cinematographie'', during the 27th edition of FESPACO.

Women of the screen from the African diaspora of Belgium

Women of the screen from

the African diaspora of Belgium

 

Notes ongoing...by Beti Ellerson

 

Women of the screen from the African diaspora of Belgium include a cohort of afro-descendant women which include first-generation Belgium-born or raised of African parents, as well as those who have settled in Belgium after their studies or other sojourns in the country, and have since made it their home.

Monique Mbeka Phoba of Congolese-Kinshasa origins is a trailblazing filmmaker, cultural producer and activist, who has been mentor and inspiration to many. In addition she is involved in co-productions and African cinema organizational functions. Sisters Pauline Mulombe, filmmaker and Cecile Mulombe Mbombe, cinematographer are active in Belgium screen culture, especially in the promotion of African diasporans based in the country. Other Brussels-based women in cinema Congolese origin include Wendy Bashi, filmmaker and journalist, and host of the program Reflets Sud on TV5 Monde. She was a freelance journalist for the program Afrik'Hebdo broadcast on RTBF International (Belgian Francophone radio and television) and is also editor for Glo.be, the Magazine of the Belgian development cooperation. Similarly, journalist Djia Mambu, as film activist, is very involved in the promotion of African cinema throughout the globe, and advocates for positive and realistic representations of people of African origin. Marthe Djilo Kamga is founder and current coordinator of the Massimadi festival in Brussels, and her professional and person paths have revolved around her interest in questions of vulnerability, identity, and equal opportunity. Her interest in art and cultural production (film, performance, photography, etc.) empowers her to reappropriate images and public spaces for people in positions of invisibility. Reoccurring themes in her work are the coexistence of multiple identities and diverse modes of artistic and cultural expression. Kis Keya is the creator of Extranostro, the first Afro-Queer Francophone Web Series. Delphine Wil, born in Germany of a Belgian father and a Belgian-Congolese mother, is a filmmaker whose cultural diversity has shaped her path. She started her professional career as a radio journalist at the Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) before moving to the audio-visual sector, in addition, she works in the information field in Francophone Africa.

Cameroonian Rosine Mbakam's Chez Jolie Coiffure, traces the migratory journey of Sabine who works in Matongé one of the most important commercial African neighborhoods in Brussels, where she manages Jolie Coiffure Salon. The film provides the spectator a glimpse of this vibrant Belgian multicultural neighborhood.

 

In the short drama, Tout le monde a des raisons d'en vouloir à sa mère (Everyone has Reasons to be Angry with their Mother) filmmaker Pauline Mulombe reveals the myriad realities of three young Afro-Belgian sisters living in Brussels. In the span of two days the film portrays their diverse experiences as they are forced to face their many hang-ups and their darkest secrets. Their African mother, confronted with the opposing forces of Western culture, must deal with her daughters’ realities.

Following is a selection of articles focusing on African women of the Belgium Diaspora published on the African Women in Cinema Blog:

Rosine Mbakam
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2021/10/rosine-mbakam-les-prieres-de-delphine.html
Kis Keya: Creator of Extranostro
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2020/07/kis-keya-creator-of-extranostro-first.html
Djia Mambu: Journalist and Film Critic
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/05/djia-mambu-journalist-and-film-critic.html
Marthe Djilo Kamga
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/03/words-of-marthe-djilo-kamga-director-of.html
Wendy Bashi
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/07/wendy-bash-chronique-congolaise.html
Delphine Wil
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2018/07/interview-with-delphine-wil-director-of.html
Monique Mbeka Phoba
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2014/05/monique-mbeka-phoba-sister-oyo.html
Cecile Mulombe Mbombe, Pauline Mulombe
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2010/07/sisters-act-of-cecile-and-pauline.html