Ugandan Eleanor Nabwiso, laureate of the African Focus Award for her film "Bed of Thorns", a film raising consciousness about gender-based violence against women

Ugandan Eleanor Nabwiso, laureate of the African Focus Award at the 2019 London ArtHouse Film Festival for her film "Bed of Thorns", a film raising consciousness about gender-based violence against women.

The film, produced and directed by Eleanor Nabwiso was made with an all-women crew.

"I want to put out more films about gender based violence in detail… The cultural norms in Africa believe that men should beat their wives, to show that they love them, or that a woman is beaten because she is guilty of something… A man beating his wife is wrong, not just in Africa but across the world. The message from this film is: 'don't keep quiet'... We call it 'bedroom matters', if you are fighting with your husband keep it in your bedroom…and when you come out of the bedroom, smile to the world, this is wrong, speak out, tell someone about it. (From BBC interview: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07qzj3s)

Synopsis:

Bed of Thorns follows the story of Stella who is getting married in a few weeks but friends around her know she is being battered by her fiancé and their aim is to stop the wedding from happening. All of her friends are actually undergoing domestic violence from emotional abuse, physical abuse, bullying, and rape.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/BEDofThornsfilm/

Appel à films | Call for entries 2020 : Mis Me Binga Festival International de Films de Femmes | International Women’s Film Festival (Cameroun | Cameroon)

Appel à films | Call for entries 2020

Mis Me Binga Festival International de Films de Femmes | International Women’s Film Festival

(Cameroun | Cameroon)

Mis Me Binga Festival International de Films de Femmes

23-27 Juin | June 2020

Les femmes cinéastes du monde nous devoilent

LE MONDE VU PAR ELLES

Women filmmakers of the world unveil the 2020 edition:

THE WORLD SEEN THROUGH WOMEN'S EYES

Longs-métrages et courts-métrages | Feature and short films

Inscriptions en ligne à | Online applications at : mismebinga@gmail.com

Envoyez des films avant le | Send films before : 28 février | February 2020

https://www.facebook.com/FestivalMisMebinga/

In Memory of Namibian filmmaker Oshosheni Hiveluah

In Memory of Namibian filmmaker Oshosheni Hiveluah

I have the sad news of the passing of Oshosheni Hiveluah on 09 October 2019. Let us give tribute to her, her work and her contribution to cinema. She will be dearly missed.

I am republishing excerpts of the interview with her on the African Women in Cinema Blog and her report of the 2014 International Images International Film Festival for Women (IIFF), also on the Blog.

Well in terms of growing up, I was born in exile in Angola. Since I was born during the war my perception was for a very long time very militant because of propaganda songs, videos and the lifestyle that I lived. Then I spent part of my childhood in the former GDR and my first cinema experience was so magical and enchanting-I think it was the 1984 film, Neverending Story and I was fascinated with cinemas from that day forth. This was the total opposite of what moving images had been for me before this, so as any child would have, I fell in love and hard. We didn't go to the cinema often but when we did I could not hide my enthusiasm for days ahead. Most of the regular weekly stuff I was exposed to were the TV shows like Batman etc. you know 80's shows-sitcoms, Cosby show, etc., but because we lived in a communist state the shows that were screened had to be in line with communistic ideals and of course all channels were majorly censored. Back in Namibia from 1990 I was exposed to a lot of commercial blockbuster Hollywood films and very few African films which made filmmaking in my eyes appear to be an exclusive and distant thing and for a selective few. Because I always wanted to tell stories however I opted for theatre at the time, because it was open to me to explore. Then I remember seeingSarraounia (Med Hondo, 1986) one evening as a teenager, a film shot in Burkina Faso, and it changed my outlook and perception on African cinema. I then started digging and searching for more foreign films, going to embassies for film screenings and trying to expose myself to films I was not accessing and films that had that heart, that passion that I shared when telling stories. Then I moved to Cape Town to study and I felt like I had arrived, there were alternative theaters (cinema nouveau and Labia) that screened independent films and it was during that time that I was also learning more about filmmaking, work on set, etc.

See the obituary at Namibi Insider: https://namibinsider.com/2019/10/10/remembering-namibian-filmmaker-oshosheni-hiveluah/

Call for Applications Open: Cinematography Workshop for Women from the Horn of Africa (Hargeysa, Somalia) - Deadline 10 November 2019

Call for Applications Open: Cinematography Workshop for Women from the Horn of Africa (Hargeysa, Somalia) - Deadline 10 November 2019  - The Carrot Co.

PRESS RELEASE: APPLICATION CALL (OPEN)

http://thecarrotco.org

Send application to: workshop@thecarrotco.org

The major part of storytelling is image composition. The framing, the lights, shades, moods, shapes and camera movement. And that’s why it’s called moving pictures.

As we continuously advocate for the creation of more African stories, we must deliberately include the participation of women in capturing them. In an attempt, we have now open an application call for women/girls who want to learn the art of image composition. To be a camera woman.

By the end of this workshop you will be able to demonstrate technical control over the basic elements of photography, including exposure, lighting and framing. You’ll develop an understanding in capturing moments and the collaboration between the cinematographer and the director. During and after the workshop you will be able to succesfully complete a variety of film projects and managing each project during the pre-production, production and post-production phases.

To apply, please fill in the form here https://forms.gle/cFsR5q9HhHxDxWr98

Application closes on the 10th of November, 2019.

The Art of Visual Storytelling Workshop for Women

Introduction to Camera/Camera Parts

-lightening and exposure

-white balance

-types of shots

-composition techniques

-camera angles

-camera movements

Introduction to Visual Storytelling

-documentary storytelling

-three-act structure

-developing unique stories

Pre-production

-planning

-location scouting

-assembling equipment

Production

-filming

-previewing rushes

Post production

-assembly for editing

-editing previewing director cut

-working on the final cut

The CARROT Co is an experiential art based organization formed to confront challenges facing the development sector using new media and tools to communicate to a targeted audience. 

The CARROT Co. is a collective of award winning African artists with IT experts, legal practitioners, community mobilisers, high level project managers and pan African activists working in the development sector to transform communication using the ART.

Our aim is to creatively simplify messaging, dignify African lives, and amplify social causes for an impactful and sustainable development. We have all worked, lived and experience several African countries with strength in multiple languages and cultural integration.

Source: Twitter and Facebook

Amel Guellaty: Black Mamba (Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019)

Amel Guellaty 

Black Mamba

Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019 

Amel Guellaty (Tunisia)

Black Mamba, 2017, 20 min.

African Shorts

http://afrikafilmfestivalkoeln.de/en/program-2019/short-films/african-shorts-fokus/

DESCRIPTION

English

For Sarra, a middle-class girl from Tunis, everything seems to be going as her mother planned: she is taking sewing lessons and she is soon to be married to a nice young man. But Sarra is hiding a dangerous plan from which she hopes to escape her current life.

Français

Sarra, jeune fille de la classe moyenne de Tunis, mène, en apparence,  la vie ordinaire que sa mère lui a tracée : elle prend des cours de couture et s’apprête à épouser un gentil garçon. Mais Sarra a d’autres plans inavoués à travers lesquels elle veut échapper à sa vie actuelle.

BIO: AMEL GUELLATY

English

Amel Guellaty is a Tunisian filmmaker and photographer. Parallel to her work in the cinema, she enrolled in 2014 at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York and began working for several brand names in the fashion industry, her photographs are published in magazines such as Elle France. She made her first personal exhibition "Voyage" in 2013 and participated in several other group exhibitions.

I wanted to write a story with a strong female character. I also have a rather dark aesthetic, violent, dirty.... Being a scriptwriter and director, writing and the image go hand in hand, and one influences the other. I write out my ideas without really knowing where I'm going. When I started writing I did not know how my film would end. I have an idea and then I get information, then I go looking for inspiration to build my characters. I do the work a bit in reverse...

Français

Amel Guellaty est réalisatrice et photographe tunisienne. En parallèle à son travail dans le cinéma, elle s'inscrit en 2014 à L'International Center of Photography (ICP) à New York et commence à travailler pour plusieurs marques dans le milieu de la mode, ses clichés sont publiés dans des magazines tel que "Elle France". Elle réalise sa première exposition personnelle "Voyage" en 2013 et participe à plusieurs autres expositions de groupe.

J’avais envie d’écrire une histoire avec un personnage féminin fort. J’ai aussi une esthétique assez sombre, violente, sale.... Étant scénariste et réalisatrice, l’écriture et l’image vont de pair, et l’un influence l’autre. J’écris au fil de mes idées sans vraiment savoir où je vais. Quand j’ai commencé à écrire je ne savais pas comment finirait mon film. J’ai une idée et ensuite je me renseigne, puis je vais chercher l’inspiration pour construire mes personnages. Je fais le travail un peu à l’envers... 

(Source: http://mydylarama.org.uk/Black-Mamba)

Image source: jcctunisie.org/

Meryam Joobeur: Brotherhood (Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019)

Meryam Joobeur 

Brotherhood

Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019 

Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia-USA-Canada)

Brotherhood, 2018, 25 min.

African Shorts

http://afrikafilmfestivalkoeln.de/en/program-2019/short-films/african-shorts-fokus/

DESCRIPTION

English

The film tells the story of Mohamed, an unsentimental shepherd living in rural Tunisia with his wife and two sons, deeply troubled by the return of his eldest son Malik from Syria. The latter, who has returned with a mysterious new wife, is confronted with his father’s disapproval. The tension between father and son intensifies over three days until it reaches a breaking point.

Français

The film raconte l’histoire de Mohamed, un berger endurci vivant en Tunisie rurale avec sa femme et ses deux fils, qui est profondément ébranlé lors du retour de Syrie de son fils ainé Malik. Celui-ci, de retour avec une mystérieuse nouvelle épouse fait face au regard désapprobateur de son père. La tension entre le père et le fils s’intensifie sur trois jours jusqu’a attendre un point de rupture. (Source : Kapitalis)

BIO: MERYAM JOOBEUR

English

Meryam Joobeur, a Tunisian-American filmmaker based in Montreal, completed her studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. Her first film, Gods, Weeds & Revolutions (2012) explores memory from the perspective of Alzheimer's disease and the Tunisian revolution. She is currently working on her first feature film "Roman Ruins."

Français

Meryam Joobeur est une réalisatrice tunisienne et américaine installée à Montréal; elle est diplômée de la Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. Son premier film Gods, Weeds & Revolutions (2012) explore la mémoire à travers la maladie d'Alzheimer et la révolution tunisienne. Elle travaille actuellement sur son premier long métrage "Roman Ruins."

(Image & Text Source: https://festivalregard.com/film/brotherhood)

Angèle Diabang: Un air de kora (Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019)

Angèle Diabang 

Un air de kora

Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019 

Angèle Diabang (Senegal)

Un air de kora, 2018, 23 min.

African Shorts

http://afrikafilmfestivalkoeln.de/en/program-2019/short-films/african-shorts-fokus/

DESCRIPTION

English

Salma, a veiled Muslim woman, dreams of becoming a kora player. But in her tradition, women do not play this instrument. One day, as she goes to the monastery to retrieve her father’s kora, she is given the opportunity to receive secret kora classes with brother Manuel. This encounter turns into an idyll. In a joyous melancholy, the musical notes become an oasis for this forbidden passion.

Français

Salma, une musulmane voilée, rêve d’être joueuse de Kora. Mais dans sa tradition, une femme ne peut pas jouer de cet instrument. Un jour, alors qu’elle va récupérer la Kora de son père au monastère, un moine lui donne l’opportunité de prendre secrètement des cours avec le frère Manuel. Ce qui devait être un apprentissage se transforme en une idylle. Dans une mélancolie joyeuse, les notes de musique deviennent un oasis pour cette passion interdite.

BIO: ANGÈLE DIABANG

English

Angèle Diabang was trained at Media Centre of Dakar (2003), at FEMIS, Paris, and Filmakademy in Germany. In 2005, she directed her debut documentary Mon beau sourire, winning several awards, followed by four others including, Congo, un médecin pour sauver les femmes. Angèle is also the director of Ma coépouse bien-aimée et Un air de kora. She is currently working on a feature film adapted from Mariama Bâ’s novel Une si longue lettre.

Français

Angèle Diabang est formée au Média Centre de Dakar (2003), à la FEMIS à Paris et à la Filmakademie en Allemagne. En 2005, elle réalise son premier documentaire "Mon beau sourire", plusieurs fois primés ; suivi de quatre autres dont "Congo, un médecin pour sauver les femmes". Angèle réalise aussi "Ma coépouse bien-aimée" et "Un air de kora". Actuellement, elle travaille sur un long- métrage adaptée du roman de Mariama Bâ, "Une si longue lettre".