32 Annual Cascade Festival of African Films 2022: Featuring Women Filmmakers Week

 

32th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films

A Celebration of Black History Month
At Portland Community College
4 February - 5 March 2022

The Cascade Festival of African Films is held in Portland, Oregon USA. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature films:

The Cascade Festival of African Films shows us Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa packaged for Western viewers. The films celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose its failures, and reveal possibilities for a hopeful future. Although the films cannot represent an entire continent, we hope to encourage American viewers to become interested in and study African cultures. Text and image source: Cascade Festival of African Films. Festival poster by Jordin Garcia Portillo

 

The 2020 lineup of films with hyperlinks to Women Filmmakers Week selections

on the African Women in Cinema Blog

 

Suzannah Mirghani: Al-Sit (2021)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Sudan
March 5

Nantenaina Lova: Aza Kivy/ Morning Star
Madagascar
February 17

Amy Jephta: Barakat (2020)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
South Africa
March 4

Françoise Ellong: Buried (2020)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Cameroon
March 5

Fehinti Balogun: Can I Live? (2021)

Nigeria
February 16

Nabil Ayouch: Casablanca Beats (2021)

Morocco
February 5

Amir Ramses: Curfew (2021)
Egypt
February 26

Ephraim Asili: Diaspora Suite and Other Short Films (2010-17)

Diaspora
February 12

AJ Wone: Diatribe: From the Village to the Streets (2020)
USA
February 4

Abdoulaye Dao, Hervé Eric Lengani: Duga / The Scavengers (2019)
Burkina Faso
February 19

Jessica Beshir: Faya Dayi (2021)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Ethiopia
March 3

Moussa Diop, Thomas Grand: Golden Fish, African Fish (2018)
Senegal
February 17

Joao Ribeiro: Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret (2020)
Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal
February 26

Philippe Lacôte: La Nuit Des Rois / Night of the Kings (2020)
Cote d'Ivoire
February 19

Mahamet Saleh Haroun: Lingui, The Sacred Bonds (2021)
Chad
February 18

Amleset Muchie: Min Alesh? (2021)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Ethiopia
March 5

Michel K. Zongo: No Gold for Kalsaka (2019)
Burkina Faso
February 24

Mary-Noël Niba: Partir? (2019)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Cameroon
February 10

Maimouna Jallow: Tales of the Accidental City (2021)
See post on African Women in Cinema Blog
Kenya
March 5

Ephraim Asili: The Inheritance (2020)
USA
February 12

Shola Amoo: The Last Tree (2019)
Nigeria, UK
February 11

Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri: This is My Desire / Eyimofe (2020)
Nigeria
February 5

Amil Shivji: Tug of War (2021)
Tanzania
February 25

Elija Hasan: Who We Carry (2021)
USA
February 4

 

31st Annual Cascade Festival of African Films 2021 (USA) - Featuring Women Filmmakers Week

 31st Annual Cascade Festival of African Films 2021

A Virtual Online Festival in Celebration of

Black History Month

5  February - 10 March

Women Filmmakers Week

4 - 10 March

This year, the festival will be held virtually. Read the FAQs about watching films in the virtual format.
https://www.africanfilmfestival.org/festival/venues/

Download Calendar
https://www.africanfilmfestival.org/files/2021/01/CFAF2021Calendar.pdf

The Cascade Festival of African Films is the longest running  annual, non-profit, non-commercial, largely volunteer-run African Film Festival in the United States.

The Cascade Festival of African Films shows us Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa packaged for Western viewers. The films celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose its failures, and reveal possibilities for a hopeful future. Although the films cannot represent an entire continent, we hope to encourage American viewers to become interested in and study African cultures.

Source-Text and Image: Cascade Festival of African Films

Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA) 2019 - Featuring Women Filmmakers Week

29th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films

In Celebration of Black History Month

At Portland Community College

01 February - 02 March 2019

The Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA), is held during the months of February and March, thus commemorating the U.S. celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature film.

The Cascade Festival of African Films shows us Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa packaged for Western viewers. The films celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose its failures, and reveal possibilities for a hopeful future. Although the films cannot represent an entire continent, we hope to encourage American viewers to become interested in and study African cultures.

Source: (Texts and Images)

Cascade Festival of African Films

2019 Films - 01-23 February (Festival website link to films) 

Yomeddine 2018 by Abu Bakr Shawky 97min - Opening Night Film 

Shorts from Emerging African Filmmakers

The African Storm / L'Orage Africain, 2017 by Sylvestre Amoussou 89min

Wallay, 2017 by Berni Goldblat (Burkina Faso) 84min

Essebat*, 2017 by Amira Ghehanne Khalfallah (Algeria, Morocco) 6min

Akasha, 2018 by Hajooj Kuka (Sudan) 78min

Little Fiel, 2017 by Irina Patkanian (Mozambique/Russia) 15min

Winnie, 2017 by Pascale Lamche (France, South Africa) 98min

Keteke, 2017 by Peter Sedufia (Ghana) 98min

Razzia, 2017 by Nabil Ayouch (Morocco) 119min

Supa Modo, 2018 by Likarion Wainaina (Kenya) 74min 

Arthur's Bike, 2017 by Tafadzwa Chiriga (Zimbabwe) 18min 

Silas*, 2017 by Hawa Essuman and Anjali Nayar (Liberia) 80min

Five Fingers for Marseilles, 2017 by Michael Matthews (South Africa) 120min 

Fig Tree*, 2018 by Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian (Ethiopia Israel) 93min

Hathor Stone, 2017 by Gasser Gado (Egypt) 8min 

Uncertain Future / Lendemains Incertains, 2018 by Eddy Munyaneza (Burundi) 69min 

Liyana, 2017 by Aaron & Amanda Kopp (Swaziland/USA) 77min

The 2019 lineup of films for Women Filmmakers Week - 28 February to 2 March

Beauty and the Dog, 2017 by Kaouther Ben Hania(Tunisia) 100in

During a student party, Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, meets the mysterious Youssef and leaves with him. A long night will begin, during which she’ll have to fight for her rights and her dignity. But how can justice be served when it lies on the side of her tormentors? 

Sayeda, 2017 by Nesma Zazou (Egypt) 15min

A story of a mother who needs to get her child to a doctor’s appointment and encounters both bureaucratic and physical obstacles in her way.

Marie-Madeleine: a Female Chief, 2018 by Florence Ayisi (Cameroon) 66min

As Marie-Madeleine beats the African drum on her enthronement day, the gentle sounds signal a break with tradition. It is the dawn of a new era in the village of Nkol Ngock I. A woman will be their traditional leader. This is an unusual occurrence in most African societies, where the position of chief is customarily handed down from father to son. This documentary presents a rare glimpse into a community undergoing change. Social attitudes toward gender equality are changing, as men openly acknowledge and speak about the importance of women in development. Even though some villagers consider Marie-Madeleine a “stranger” because she lives in the capital city of Yaoundé, she is determined to learn about her culture and integrate into village life.

Restoring Focus, 2018 by Sue-Ellen Chitunya (Zimbabwe) 11min

In a country that is known for political controversies, one man, Dr. Solomon Guramatunhu, does all he can to uplift and empower Zimbabwean people through his work as a medical doctor and philanthropist.

I am not a Witch, 2017 by Nungano Nyoni (Zambia) 93min

An original and daringly satirical parable of magic and misogyny, superstition and social strictures, I Am Not a Witch tells the story of eight-year-old Shula, who turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village. The locals are suspicious of her. She becomes involved in a minor incident that escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life in a government-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision–whether to resign herself to life in the camp, or take a risk for freedom.

Rafiki, 2018 by Wanuri Kahui (Kenya) 83min

Rafiki, which means “friend” in Swahili, is a love story between two young Kenyan women who live in a country where homosexuality is banned. Forced to hide their love from family, friends and the public, Kena and Ziki create their own private world where their love flourishes in hidden, snatched moments of joy and happiness. Inevitably, however, Kena and Ziki are unable to escape their country’s harsh laws and prejudices against gay people, and they are forced to choose between happiness, family, and safety.

*Also women-directed films

Essebat, 2017 by Amira Ghehanne Khalfallah* (Algeria/ Morocco) 6min

A young boy must make a living cleaning shoes, but his imagination allows him to see the world from a new perspective.

Silas, 2017 by Hawa Essuman and Anjali Nayar (Liberia) 80min

The documentary profiles the life of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation. Siakor trains a network of citizen reporters, using smart phones with apps, to expose land grabs and corruption in West Africa. He also reveals ties between President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s relatives and logging interests.

Fig Tree, 2018 by Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian (Ethiopia Israel) 93min

Set in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the film focuses on Mina, an Ethiopian-Jewish teenager who learns of her family’s plan to escape the war by immigrating to Israel. She fears the worst for her Christian boyfriend, Eli, who hides out in a fig tree to avoid being captured and forced into joining Mengistu Haile Mariam’s army. Mina is determined to solve Eli’s problems.

Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA) 2018 - Women Filmmakers Week

28th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films

In Celebration of Black History Month

At Portland Community College

February 2-March 3, 2018

The Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA),  is held during the months of February and March, thus commemorating the U.S. celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature film.

The Cascade Festival of African Films shows us Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa packaged for Western viewers. The films celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose its failures, and reveal possibilities for a hopeful future. Although the films cannot represent an entire continent, we hope to encourage American viewers to become interested in and study African cultures.

Source: (Texts and Images): Cascade Festival of African Films

2018 Films

• ’76, Izu Ojukwu (Nigeria)
• A Season In France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (France, Chad)
• A Stray, Musa Sayed (USA/Somalia)
• Anger In The Wind, Amina Weira (Niger)
• Borders/Frontières, Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso)
• Coz Ov Moni 1 & 2, King Luu (Ghana)
• Foreign Body, Raja Amari (Tunisia)
• Kalushi: The Story Of Solomon Mahlangu, Mandla Walter Dube (South Africa)
• Kemtiyu, Cheikh Anta, Ousmane William Mbaye (Senegal, France)
• Kindil El Bahr, Damien Ounouri (Algeria)
• Mawlana/The Preacher, Magdi Ahmed Ali (Egypt)
• Queen Of Katwe, Mira Nair (Uganda, USA)
• The African Who Wanted To Fly, Samantha Biffot (Gabon, China)
• The Wedding Ring, Rahmatou Keïta (Niger)
• Tickling Giants, Sara Taksler (USA, Egypt)
• Vaya, Akin Amotoso (South Africa)
• Wùlu, Daouda Coulibaly (Mali)
• Zaineb Hates The Snow, Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, Canada)

The 2018 lineup of films for Women Filmmakers Week:

Zaineb Hates The Snow (Tunisia, Canada) Kaouther Ben Hania

Kaouther Ben Hania documents, over a period of six years, the changes and full range of human emotions that await nine-year-old Zaineb when her widowed mother remarries and moves Zaineb and her brother Haythem from Tunisia to Canada to live with her new husband and his daughter Wijdene. Given extraordinary access to the family, who are her relatives, Kaouther Ben Hania presents us with a case study of two families attempting to blend into a single family, while also dealing with displacement, change, growth and the meaning of family.

Borders/Frontières (Burkina Faso) Apolline Traoré

In this gritty West African road trip movie, four women from different regions develop friendships during a bus journey across West Africa. The film portrays the reality of the problems women face crossing the borders in Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, and Nigeria, where customs officials regularly harass and sexually abuse women who travel alone. By bonding together, Adja, Emma, Sali, and Vishaa learn to trust and help protect each other.

Foreign Body (Tunisia) Raja Amari

Following Tunisia’s 2011 political uprising, Samia flees to France to escape the brutality and control of her radicalized brother. Fearing his pursuit and retribution, Samia finds refuge with Imed, a former acquaintance from her village in Tunisia, and then with Leila, a rich widow who hires Samia to work for her. Samia soon discovers she has a strong sensual connection with Leila, which leaves Imed, in this blossoming ménage à trois, torn between his religious beliefs and his sexual desires. This film is another tale of women’s empowerment.

The Wedding Ring (Niger) Rahmatou Keïta

Tiyaa is a student, member of a prestigious aristocratic family. She is back home to sultanate of Damagaran, in Niger Republic, for the Winter holidays. As planned, she is expecting the young man she met in the university she is studying, in France, to make a formal proposal of marriage. He too comes from a prestigious family, not far from Damagaran, in the Emirate of Maïduguri and her parents cannot reject such an eligible fiancé.

Tiyaa is overwhelmed… While expecting him, she has time to inform her friends of this secret Parisian love. Life is pleasant and peaceful but time passes and the handsome suitor is slow to come. Tiyaa has the opportunity to discover in her surroundings other women whose love stories, marriage, desertion or divorce tell of the relationship between men and women in the Sahelian society.

Films also by women featured in the 2018 Festival:

Anger In The Wind, Amina Weira (Niger)

Filmmaker Amina Weira travels to her hometown of Arlit in northern Niger, where she interviews the town’s residents about the negative environmental and health consequences of plutonium mining. French mining companies have mined uranium there since 1976. Today the region is contaminated, and large numbers of people have died young and suffer from chronic illnesses. Ms. Wiera’s father, a retired uranium mineworker, is at the heart of this film. He shares his memories of 35 years spent in the mines.

Queen Of Katwe, Mira Nair (Uganda, USA)

Living in the slum in Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle for 10-year-old Phiona and her family. Her world changes when she meets Robert Katende, a missionary who teaches children how to play chess. Phiona soon becomes a top player. The film is based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, whose biography, The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster, was written by Tim Crothers. The film stars the Oscar-winning actress Lupita Niong’o as Phiona’s mother, the award-winning actor David Oyelowo as Robert Katende, and Madina Nalwanga, who won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Young Actor in her role as Phiona.

The African Who Wanted To Fly, Samantha Biffot (Gabon, China)

The African Who Wanted to Fly tells the incredible true story of Luc Bendza, a young Gabonese boy who discovers Kung Fu after watching the film The Big Boss and deciding he wants to “fly” like Bruce Lee and devote his life to the martial arts. At the age of 15, he sets off for China to make his dreams come true. He joins the prestigious wushu martial arts academy, and under the tutelage of Grand Master Meng Huifang, Luc eventually becomes number one in an art form that had previously never counted an African in its midst.

Tickling Giants, Sara Taksler (USA, Egypt)

Following Egypt’s Arab Spring in 2011 and in need of a laugh, Dr. Bassem Youssef left his career as a heart surgeon in Cairo to try his hand at comedy. He incorporated his observations from Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show to create Al Bernameg, the first political satire show in Egypt. Thirty million viewers watched each episode. Called an “ebullient ode to freedom,” the film investigates the challenges of non-violent action and the power of comedy.

Women Filmmakers Week: Cascade Festival of African Films 2017 (USA)

Women Filmmakers Week:

Cascade Festival of African Films 2017

(USA)

The Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA), which celebrates its 25th year, is held during the months of February and March, thus commemorating the U.S. celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature film.

Source: (Texts and Images): Cascade Festival of African Films

Poster: 2017 Festival Poster by Lauren Johnson

Women Films/ Filmmakers Week (2-4 March) 

Black Barbie (2016) Comfort Arthur (Ghana) 4 min. 

As I Open My Eyes (2015) Layla Bouzid (Tunisia) 102 min.

Price of Love (2015) Hermon Hailay (Ethiopia) 99 min.

Let's Rock (2016) Younes Yousfi (Morocco) 5 min.

They Will Have to Kill Us First (2015) Johanna Schwartz (Mali, UK) 105 min.

While You Weren't Looking (2015) Catherine Stewart (South Africa) 104 min.

African Women on the US Film Festival Circuit

As the film festival season comes into full swing, African women are featured at several venues in the United States with an impressive number of films being screened at the African Film Festival of New York and at the recently completed Cascade Festival of African Films  in Portland, Oregon. The 19th Annual Cascade Festival began in February in honor of Black History Month and ended in March with the Women Filmmakers Week in commemoration of Women’s History Month. This year there were four films by women: Cuba: An African Odyssey (2007) by Egyptian Jihan El Tahir; Cameroonian Osvalde Lewat-Hallade’s film, A Love During The War (2005); the film, Enough! / Barakat! (2006) by Algerian Djamila Sahraoui, and Katy Léna N'Diaye of Senegal with Awaiting for Men (2007).

The African Film Festival of New York, which has just opened on 8 April, celebrates its 16th year with the theme: Africa in Transition. Eight African women are featured in the festival: Egyptian Jihan El-Tahri’s Behind The Rainbow (2009) which is the centerpiece of the festival; Yandé Codou, la griotte de Senghor (2008) by Senegalese Angèle Diabang-Brener; three women from Kenya: Wanuri Kahiu’s From a Whisper (2008), two films by Judy Kibinge, Killer Necklace (2009) and Coming of Age (2008), and Lupita Nyong’o’s In My Genes (2009). Cameroonian Josephine Ndagnou’s film Paris or Nothing/Paris à tout prix (2008) is among these exciting listings as well as British-Nigerian Ngozi Onwurah’s Shoot the Messenger (2006). Katy Léna N'Diaye’s  Awaiting for Men,which was also featured in the Cascade Festival, is also among the film selections. Below are short synopses of the films along with relevant links.

Angèle Diabang-Brener (Senegal) Yandé Codou, la griotte de Senghor. Yandé Codou Sène, 80-something, is one of the last great singers of polyphonic Serer poetry. This film is an intimate look at a diva who has lived through Senegalese history at the side of one of its greatest near-mythical figures, President-poet Léopold Sédar Senghor.

Jihan El-Tahri (Egypt) Behind the Rainbow. The film explores the transition of the ANC-The African National Congress--from a liberation organization into South Africa's ruling party, through the evolution of the relationship between two of its most prominent cadres, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Exiled under Apartheid they were brothers in arms, under Mandela they loyally labored to build a non-racial state, now they are bitter rivals. Their duel threatens to tear apart the ANC and the country, as the poor desperately seek hope in change and the elite fight for the spoils of victory.

Jihan El Tahri (Egypt) Cuba: An African Odyssey. The previously untold story of Cuba's support for a variety of revolutionary and independence movements on the African continent from the mid-1960s through the early 1990s. These include Che Guevara's military campaign in the Congo to avenge the execution of the country's first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba; Cuba's support of Amilcar Cabral's uprising in Guinea-Bissau; and the battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola, which led to the independence of Namibia and the fall of apartheid in South Africa. 

Wanuri Kahiu (Kenya) From a Whisper. The film commemorates the 10th anniversary of the August 1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, in which over 250 people died and more than 5,000 were injured. The film tells the story of an artist and an intelligence officer, and how they find unique ways to move on from the tragedy that shattered their lives.

Judy Kibinge (Kenya) Killer Necklace. Boo is a handsome young banker with a bright future; Wai is a sultry young girl from a privileged background. Boo would do anything for Wai, but Wai has her eye on a different prize: the most beautiful golden necklace in the world. This  twisted tale of desire and deceit asks, is anybody what they appear to be?

Judy Kibinge (Kenya) Coming of Age. This coming of age story depicts the three ages and stages of democracy as seen through the eyes of a girl growing up. The Kenyatta era, a time of great optimism and post-independence euphoria is reflected in the innocence and naivety of the young girl. As Kenya enters its next era, of dictatorship under Daniel arap Moi, the gloom of oppression and confusion is reflected by teenage turmoil and finally, all grown up, we find ourselves in Kenya’s third stage of democracy under Mwai Kibaki and wondering if democracy, with all its free speech and openness can ever really come of age.

Osvalde Lewat-Hallade (Cameroon) A Love During The War. The documentary focuses on journalist Aziza and her husband who were separated when war broke out in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1996. Six years later, they reunite in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo. However, Aziza is haunted by memories of the horrors suffered by the women in eastern DRC during the war. She returns to visit these women who have started denouncing the abuses they suffered during the war.

Josephine Ndagnou (Cameroon) Paris or Nothing/Paris à tout prix. Suzy will do anything to go to Paris, but finds that it is not the paradise that she had dreamed.

Katy Léna N'Diaye (Senegal) Awaiting for Men. Three women in Oualata, Mauritania, on the edge of the Sahara desert, practice traditional painting by decorating the walls of the city. They express themselves openly about the relationship between men and women.

Lupita Nyong’o (Kenya) In My Genes. The documentary explores what is it like to be “white” in a “black” society. Agnes, a woman with albinism, overcomes the difficulties of being born with no pigment in a society that discriminates against people with the condition. The film explores the experiences of a member of one of the most hyper-visible and at the same time invisible groups of people in a predominantly black society.

Ngozi Onwurah (Nigeria/UK) Shoot the Messenger. Jose, a teacher, is determined to save the black youngsters at his school from a life of gangs, crime and underachievement. When a seemingly minor incident escalates out of control, Joe loses his job, and as a result, experiences a mental breakdown which leads him to turn against his community.

Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria) Enough!/Barakat! Amel, an emergency physician, joins forces with Khadija, a nurse who once fought for Algerian independence against the French, to search for her husband, a journalist whose writings led to his disappearance. Despite the extreme danger and difficulties of their quest, the two women forge a bond of mutual affection and respect that leads to a deeper understanding of how their lives were shaped by their country's history.