Organiser Nina Valeska Witzel had this to say about the "Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots" film series to be held in Berlin one evening each month from 21 February through 13 June:
"Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots" is a film event organised by Frauenkreise Berlin and the Educational Institute of Berlin Heinrich Böll Foundation in partnership with AfricAvenir International e.V and AFROTAK TV cyberNomads. Frauenkreise Berlin's objective is to provide a platform for creative work by women, who continue to be underrepresented in the world of business as well as in the arts; black women in particular.
During five evenings between 21 February to 13 June 2013 films will be screened by Black women with African roots. The filmmakers deal with issues of identity and cultural positioning. In addition to film screenings there are also discussions with the directors.
With the film series "Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots", Frauenkreise Berlin would like to give eight Black female filmmakers the opportunity to speak for themselves and tell their stories and experiences from their own perspective. Therefore, films from different corners of the world have been collected, which include those that will be shown for the first time in Germany.
While a person's race certainly has no correlation with the quality of the films they make, unfortunately, it does affect the amount of opportunity they receive. The same fact is essential for being a woman. Female filmmakers are still underrepresented not only in Africa but also in the European film industry. And it probably has an effect on the type of stories they tell us. Hopefully with this line-up of films we will introduce you to some directors and their films about Black culture and people that you never knew existed. Perhaps one may ask why black female directors need to be lumped together in a forum dedicated only to them, the answer is simple: to give them visibility.
Her Stories - Filmmakers with African Roots Film Event
21 February 2013
A Lot Like You (USA, 2011) by Eliaichi Kimaro
14 March 2013
The Place in Between | Notre étrangére (France | Burkina Faso, 2010) by Sarah Bouyain
11 April 2013
Tal der Ahnungslosen | Valley of the Innocent (Germany, 2003) by Branwen Okpako
17 May 2013
Footprints of My Other | Noire ici, blanche là-bas (France | South Africa, 2011) by Claude Haffner
13 June 2013
Gubi, the Birth of Fruit by Philippa Ndisi Hermann
Blackout by Natasha Ngaiza
Landing by Branwen Okpako
Yellow Fever by Ng'endo Mukii
Die Schonheitsverschworung by Tsitsi Dangarembga