African Women's Stories at the African Film Festival New York 2014

African Women's Stories at the

African Film Festival New York 2014

Aya of Yop City (Animation)

Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie, Cote d'Ivoire/France, 2013, 85min.

Tracking the adventures of a 19-year-old girl living in in the neighborhood of Yopougon, a working-class suburb of Abidjan, the film offers up an intriguing snapshot of West African life in the 1970s, with a fanciful vintage soundtrack to boot.

B for Boy 
Chika Anadu, Nigeria, 2013, 118min.
A contemporary drama set in Nigeria about one woman’s desperate need for a male child. The film explores the discrimination of women in the name of culture and religion.

Beleh
Eka Christa Assam, Cameroon, 2013, 30min.
Ekema’s hard and uncompromising attitude toward his very pregnant wife, Joffi, is quickly revised when he has to spend an entire day in her shoes.

Afronauts

Frances Bodomo, Ghana/USA, 2014, Format TK, 15m

On July 16, 1969, America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat America to the moon. Inspired by true events.

Aissa’s Story

Iquo B. Essien, Nigeria/USA, 2013, HDCam, 15m

An African immigrant housekeeper and single mother must decide whether to move on with her life or fight when the case against her assaulter is dismissed. 

Curse of an Addict
Lovinsa Kavuma, Zanzibar/Tanzania, 2013, 25min.
Seif, a young Muslim heroin addict, believes he is cursed. In a battle to be freed from his addiction, Seif seeks help from a sheikh.

Something Necessary
Judy Kibinge, Kenya/Germany, 2013, 85min.
An intimate moment in the life of Anne, a woman struggling to rebuild her life after Kenya’s post-election violence of 2008 which claimed the life of her husband, the health of her son, and left her isolated farm in ruins.

A Lot Like You
Eliaichi Kimaro, Tanzania/USA, 2011, 80min.
Eliaichi Kimaro is a mixed-race, first-generation American with a Tanzanian father and Korean mother. When her retired father moves back to Tanzania, Eliaichi begins to examine the intricate fabric of her multi-racial identity.

Soko Sonko (The Market King)

Ekwa Msangi-Omari, Kenya/USA, 2014, Blu-ray, 22m

When her mom gets sick, Kibibi’s dad takes her to the market to get her hair braided before school. A fish out of water, this well-intentioned dad goes on a roller coaster of a journey where no man has gone before... because only women have been there! 

Kwaku Ananse

Akosua Adoma Owusu, Ghana/Mexico/USA, 2013, DCP, 26m

Outsider Nyan attends her estranged father's funeral. Overwhelmed by the procession, she searches for him in the spirit world. Kwaku Ananse draws upon the rich mythology of Ghana and combines semi-autobiographical elements with the tale of Kwaku Ananse, a trickster in West African stories who appears as both spider and man. Co-presentation with Cinema Tropical.

UPDATE 12 MAY 2014