29 July 2022

African Diasporas. Belgium. The Act of Breathing: Regards afro-féminins - Monique Mbeka Phoba, curator/programmatrice (Brussels/Bruxelles) 23.06-31-07 2022

African Diasporas. Belgium
The Act of Breathing:
 Regards afro-féminins 
Monique Mbeka Phoba, curator/programmatrice
(Brussels/Bruxelles)
23.06-31-07 2022

Source: Cinematek - YouTube

Spotlighting Congolese women cineastes, who are still too little present on this platform, the program will pay tribute on 28 July, with 'Regards afro-féminins': a series of short films where hip-hop, sorority, activism and trauma meet. The session will be followed by a conversation between Monique Mbeka Phoba, Malkia Mutiri and Girl Fact producer Mualuja.

Pour attirer notre attention sur des cinéastes congolaises, encore trop peu présentes dans les traditionnelles sorties salles du mercredi; le 28 juillet, celles-ci sont mises à l’honneur dans le programme ‘Regards afro-féminins’ : une série de courts-métrages où se côtoient hip-hop, sororité, activisme et traumatismes. La séance sera suivie d"une conversation entre Monique Mbeka Phoba, Malkia Mutiri et la productrice de Girl Fact, Mualuja.

Conversation entre Monique Mbeka Phoba et le réalisateur, acteur, poête Nganji Mutiri : "Toni Morrison dit : "Si vous pensez qu'un livre manque, écrivez-le vous-même." J'ai donc pris mes responsabilités. Sans me rendre compte qu'un film belgo-congolais n'avait pas été réalisé depuis longtemps. Je comprends aussi que c'est presque un passage obligé de rester proche de ce que l'on connaît bien au premier film. Mais je n'ai pas envie de remplir la case diversité. Juwaa n'est pas une leçon d'histoire, mais une histoire singulière. Amani et Riziki sont Amani et Riziki, ils ne représentent pas tous les Congolais. Ils ne le peuvent pas non plus. Ce que je crois et pense n'est pas ce que ma sœur croit et pense, bien que nous ayons grandi ensemble. Il existe déjà de grandes différences entre frères et sœurs au sein d'une même famille, alors pourquoi mettre tout un peuple dans le même sac ? Parce qu'il y a un manque de représentation et de diversité dans le cinéma et la télévision, cela se produit encore. Dommage, car dans une salle de cinéma, en compagnie de personnes que vous ne connaissez pas, vous pouvez être profondément ému par des personnages iraniens, coréens, français ou belges dont la religion, la culture, la couleur de peau ou les préférences sexuelles sont complètement différentes. C'est la magie du cinéma.” Nganji Mutiri dans BRUZZ.

The Act of Breathing offers a retrospective of 26 films selected by Monique Mbeka Phoba (23.06-31.07) and the exhibition of 10 in-situ works of art at the Asiat military base in Vilvoorde. At the same time, three other artists will meet in the 'Europa' space of Bozar in Brussels, at the exit of the CINEMATEK movie theatres. Orchestrating the narrative of the project are curators Sorana Munsya and Evelyn Simons. Living Traces, a bridging project between Kinshasa and Brussels, is articulated around various multidisciplinary artistic proposals that will be held between the two capitals between March 2022 and March 2023. The project reflects the desire of KANAL-Centre Pompidou to broaden people's perception by inviting them to discover the artistic diversity of the Congolese, Belgian and Belgian-Congolese communities.

Interview avec/with Monique Mbeka Phoba

 

 The Act of Breathing: Regards afro-féminins

 

  Généalogie d’un cinémabelgo-congolais 14.07.2022

 

28 July 2022

Alice Diop: Saint Omer - La Biennale di Venezia 79 - 2022

Alice Diop
Saint Omer
La Biennale di Venezia - 79
Leone d'argento
Gran premio della giuria
2h02min - France - Fiction - 2022

Synopsis

Rama, a novelist in her thirties, attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the court of Saint-Omer. The defendant is accused of killing her 15 month-old daughter, abandoning her on a beach in northern France at the rising tide. From this story Rama would like to write a contemporary adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea. But during the course of the trial, nothing goes as planned. About to become a mother herself, ultimately, this closed session proceeding brings into relief her own relationship to motherhood.


Rama, romancière d’une trentaine d’années, assiste au procès de Laurence Coly aux assises de Saint-Omer. Celle-ci est accusée d’avoir tué sa fille de quinze mois en l’abandonnant sur une plage du nord de la France, au moment où la marée montait. De cette histoire, Rama voudrait écrire une adaptation contemporaine du mythe antique de Médée. Mais au cours du procès, rien ne se passe comme prévu. C’est finalement son propre rapport à la maternité que le huis clos du procès vient questionner.

Co-written by novelist Marie NDiaye and film editor Amrita David

Also see acceptance speech of Grand Prix du Jury de la Mostra de Venise: https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2022/09/alice-diop-we-will-no-longer-be-silent.html 

27 July 2022

African Diasporas. Belgium. Regards afro-féminins ⁄ Afro-vrouwelijke blik (Belgique | Belgium)


African Diasporas. Belgium
Regards afro-féminins ⁄ Afro-vrouwelijke blik

Source: cinematek.be. Regards afro-féminins LINK


Dans Lula, une jeune femme de dix-huit ans ne respire que pour le hip hop. Amour, amitié, activisme: Nila les désire tous dans Ata ndele! Dans Girl Fact la découverte d’images traumatisantes sur le viol des femmes au Kivu en 2012 pousse Mualaja à se lancer dans la production d’un court-métrage, au regard féminin. Olongo est considéré comme un des meilleurs griots de deuil.

Séance du 28.07 suivie d’une rencontre entre Monique Mbeka Phoba, Malkia Mutiri et Mualuja 

Lula

⁄ 10' ⁄ ST-OND: –

Ladi Bidinga Mpoyi, Belgique - België 2008, Babetida Sadjo, Bankeni Bokito, Julie Quiriny


Ata ndele

⁄ 19' ⁄ ST-OND: –

Malkia Mutiri, Belgique - België 2020


Girl Fact

⁄ 19' ⁄ ST-OND: –

Maël Lagadec, Belgique - België 2017, Ted Bwatu, Monica Kamara, Angela Monteiro

Olongo


couleur - kleur

⁄ 23' ⁄ ST-OND: –

Clarisse Muvuba-Mwimbu, La République Démocratique du Congo-Democratische Republiek Congo 2012, Deb's Bukaka, Maguy Kalomba, Starlette Mathata


21 July 2022

IIFF International Images Film Festival for Women (Zimbabwe) 2022 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS IS OPEN!

IIFF 2022 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS IS OPEN!


Calling all Zimbabwean filmmakers!

Submit your film to

International Images Film Festival for Women


GO TO WEBSITE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM:

https://icapatrust.org/news/iiff-2022-call-for-submissions-out/


Deadline: 15 August 2022


The International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) is an internationally recognised festival held to inspire positive images of women, interrogate, debate and celebrate the world of women, as well as the communities that women live in through films that exhibit gender sensitive narratives. The International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) was founded in 2002. IIFF is the only women’s festival South of the Sahara and has become an integral part of the local and regional film calendars and is a focal point for Pan-African film makers. The focus of IIFF is to show films that depict women in a positive light as well as films where men are shown advancing the causes/rights of women. Workshops and special discussions are also held during the festival. The theme for the 19th edition of the International Images Film Festival for Women (IIFF) 2022 is Women Crossroads.


We are looking for films that;


show women's contribution to a better society and world


must be about a woman and have at least one female lead role


engage with global issues and how they affect women


focus on the journey of African women


are about allies for African and African diaspora women


Submission Requirements


Completed entry form


A password protected preview of the film (Vimeo link or dropbox).


Digital press kit. The press kit should include three high resolution colour stills, full cast/crew list, directors statement, film synopsis. Posters are welcome but cannot be substituted for stills.


Please email all materials to reception@icapatrust.org or whatsApp +263774717190


Entry Requirements


Films must not be available on the internet.


Films should not have been premiered or screened in Zimbabwe 3 months prior to festival.


Films must have been produced between January 2017 and June 2022.


All non-English language films must have legible English subtitles.

You may submit email with mp4 or mov to reception@icapatrust.org via Wetransfer,or Dropbox


Dates


The deadline for submission is August 15, 2022.


Festival Dates 23 November -26 November 2022.


* For further enquiries you send an email to reception@icapatrust.org or a text message using WhatsApp to +26377471719

13 July 2022

Farida Benlyazid: A Door To The Sky (Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong)

Farida Benlyazid:
A Door To The Sky
(Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong)

When she finds out her father is dying, Nadia, a Moroccan émigré to France, returns to Fes to say goodbye. At her father’s funeral, she hears a voice chanting the Quran and develops a friendship with the woman singing it.


As the friendship between the two women grows, Nadia is inspired to turn the house she has inherited from her father into a shelter for Muslim women. A beautifully told story that combines spirituality with social and economic concerns in Morocco, Door to the Sky interrogates the power of return and rediscovery.

Image: A Door to the Sky by Farida Benlyazid

12 July 2022

Lunchtime Talk: Global Women’s Film Heritage Networking Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong)

Lunchtime Talk: Global Women’s Film Heritage Networking

Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong)


Global Women’s Film Heritage project invites you to a networking lunch at Cinema Rediscovered. On Thursday 21 July, 12:30 – 1:30pm, we will hold an event focusing on women’s absences and presences in the global film archives. The focus will be on the work African and Arab, Latin American and Asian women have created and the way in which their inclusion in festivals, archives and scholarship can broaden and inform our understanding of feminist activist film from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.


https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/11270/lunchtime-talk-global-womens-film-heritage-networking


Image: Sambizanga by Sarah Maldoror

10 July 2022

The Visceral Afterlives of Trauma in Ellie Foumbi's Our Father, the Devil. A critique by Zélie Asava

The Visceral Afterlives of Trauma in Ellie Foumbi's Our Father, the Devil
A critique by Zélie Asava

Our Father, the Devil premiered at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival – making Ellie Foumbi the second Black female director to be selected in its history – and was an Official Selection of the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Stunning performances against neo-noir backdrops set the scene for shadowy characters, gripping twists, and a denouement that confounds generic expectations.  

Image: akoroko.com