Cascade Festival of African Films 2020: "Freedom Fields" by Naziha Arebi (Libya)

Cascade Festival of African Films 2020 Freedom Fields by Naziha Arebi

(Libya), 2018, 97 min
Featuring Women Filmmakers Week

Synopsis

Filmed over five years, Freedom Fields follows three women and their football team in post-revolution Libya, as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the Arab Spring begin to fade. Through the eyes of these accidental activists, we see the reality of a country in transition, where the personal stories of love and aspirations collide with History. An intimate film about hope, struggle and sacrifice in a land where dreams seem a luxury. A love letter to sisterhood and the power of team. Source: https://www.freedomfieldsfilm.com/the_film)

Bio

Naziha Arebi is a Libyan/British artist and filmmaker who returned to Libya during the revolution to work and explore her father's homeland. Naziha works at the intersection of art and activism and is co-founder of film collective HuNa. Alongside her first feature Freedom Fields she is currently producing the documentary feature "After a Revolution" and has a fiction film in development. Naziha is a Hot Docs Blue Ice fellow and a Sundance Lab fellow, a WEF Global Shaper and part of The Lumiere d'Afrique collective. Her artwork has been published extensively in print and exhibited globally. (Source: https://www.freedomfieldsfilm.com/the_film)

FREEDOM FIELDS (2018) - OFFICIAL TRAILER from Scottish Documentary Institute on Vimeo.

30th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films 2020: Featuring Women Filmmakers Week

30th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films

In Celebration of Black History Month

At Portland Community College

31 January to 29 February 2020

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

The 2020 lineup of films for Women Filmmakers Week 27-29 February 

Papicha by Mounia Meddour (Algeria) 2019, 106 min (Women Filmmakers Week)

Life is Fare by Sephora Woldu (Eritrea, USA) 2018, 61 min

Freedom Fields by Naziha Arebi (Libya), 2018, 97 min

Woven by Salome Mulugeta and Nagwa Ibrahim (Ethiopia USA) 2016

Also women-directed films in the 30th Cascade Film Festival selection:

Adam by Maryam Touzani (Morocco) 2019, 98 min

The Shadow of Cairo by Tara Shehata (Egypt) 2018, 15 min (Family Fest Matinee) 

Sela by Rafieka Davis (South Africa) 2019, 25 min (Family Fest Matinee)

Theatre

How to Have Fun in a Civil War (Live Theater Performance)

A one-woman show by Somali multimedia artist Ifrah Mansour, USA 2018, 55 min

2020 Films - 01-29 February (Festival website link to films) 

• Adam by Maryam Touzani (Morocco) 2019, 98 min
• Alyam, Alyam/Oh The Days by Ahmed El Maanouni (Morocco) 1978, 98 min
• (African Film Heritage Series)
• Boxing Libreville by Amedée Pacôme Nkoulou (Gabon) 2018, 54 min (Documentary Series)
• Everything Must Fall by Rehad Desai (South Africa) 2018, 85 min (Documentary Series)
• Family Fest Matinee with The Shadow of Cairo by Tara Shehata and Sela by Rafieka Davis 
• Fatwa by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud (Tunisia) 2018, 102 min
• Freedom Fields by Naziha Arebi (Libya), 2018, 97 min
• (Women Filmmakers Week)
• Gao, Resistance of a People by Kassim Sanogo (Mali) 2018, 54 min (Documentary Series)
• How to Have Fun in a Civil War, a one-woman show by Ifrah Monsour (Somalia, USA) 2018, 55 min (Live Theatre Performance)
• Ishaba by Yuhi Amuli (Rwanda) 2015, 4 min (Short film)
• La femme au couteau/The Woman with the Knife by Timité Bassori (Côte d'Ivoire) 1969, 80 min (African Film Heritage Series)
• Life is Fare by Sephora Woldu (Eritrea, USA), 2018, 61 min (Women Filmmakers Week)
• Mabata Bata by Sol de Carvalho (Mozambique) 2018, 74 min
• Munda Moto/The Child of Another by Jean-Pierre Dikongué-Pipa (Cameroon) 1975, 90 min (African Film Heritage Series)
• Nigerian Prince by Faraday Okoro (Nigeria, USA) 2018, 104 min
• Papicha by Mounia Meddour (Algeria) 2019, 106 min (Women Filmmakers Week)
• Photocopy by Tamer Ashry (Egypt) 2017, 90 min
• Soleil O by Med Hondo (Mauritania, France) 1970, 105 min (African Film Heritage Series)
• Spotlight on Senegal: Short Film Series
• Talk about Trees by Suhaib Gasmelbari (Sudan) 2019, 90 min
• The Burial of Kojo by Blitz Bazawule (Ghana) 2018, 80 min
• The Mercy of the Jungle by Joël Karekezi (Rwanda) 2018, 91 min
• Woven by Salome Mulugeta and Nagwa Ibrahim (Ethiopia USA) 2016 (Women Filmmakers Week)
• Zombies by Baloji (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 2019, 13 min (Short)

Naziha Arebi : Freedom Fields (Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019)

Naziha Arebi

Freedom Fields

Afrika Film Festival Köln 2019

Naziha Arebi (UK-Libya)

Freedom Fields, 2018, 99 min.

http://afrikafilmfestivalkoeln.de/en/program-2019/freedom-fields/ 

DESCRIPTION

English

Filmed over five years, Freedom Fields follows three women and their football team in post-revolution Libya, as the country descends into civil war and the utopian hopes of the Arab Spring begin to fade. Through the eyes of these accidental activists, we see the reality of a country in transition, where the personal stories of love and aspirations collide with History.

An intimate film about hope, struggle and sacrifice in a land where dreams seem a luxury. A love letter to sisterhood and the power of team. Source: https://www.freedomfieldsfilm.com/the_film)

Français

Tourné sur cinq ans, Freedom Fields suit trois footballeuses et leur équipe dans la Libye post-révolutionnaire, alors que le pays sombre dans la guerre civile et que les espoirs utopiques du Printemps arabe commencent à s’estomper. À travers les yeux de ces militantes inhabituelles, le film nous propose la réalité d’un pays en transition, où les histoires d’amour et d’aspirations personnelles se confrontent à l’Histoire. (Source: http://lalucarne.fr/la-realisatrice-naziha-arebi-marraine-de-la-lucarne-7/)

BIO: NAZIHA AREBI 

English

Director Naziha Arebi is a Libyan/British artist and filmmaker who returned to Libya during the revolution to work and explore her father's homeland. Naziha works at the intersection of art and activism and is co-founder of film collective HuNa. Alongside her first feature Freedom Fields she is currently producing the documentary feature "After a Revolution" and has a fiction film in development. Naziha is a Hot Docs Blue Ice fellow and a Sundance Lab fellow, a WEF Global Shaper and part of The Lumiere d'Afrique collective. Her artwork has been published extensively in print and exhibited globally. (Source: https://www.freedomfieldsfilm.com/the_film)

Français

Née en 1984 d’un père libyen et d’une mère anglaise, Naziha Arebi a grandi à Hastings, ville balnéaire du sud de l’Angleterre. Spécialisée dans le théâtre, elle se forme ensuite au cinéma, une passion qui va rapidement devenir son métier.

Après ses études, elle s’en va en Libye afin de mieux connaître la culture de son père. Là-bas, la vie quotidienne va rapidement inspirer son travail de photographe et de réalisatrice. Ses photographies et installations sont alors exposées dans le monde entier, de Tripoli à Paris en passant par Barcelone et Londres.

En 2012, elle cofonde, HuNa Productions, un collectif de cinéastes visant à améliorer et à développer le cinéma libyen en tant qu’outil de changement. Elle a réalisé des courts-métrages sur la réconciliation libyenne et un documentaire sur une militante libyenne assassinée avant d’entamer le tournage de Freedom Fields, son premier long-métrage sorti en 2018. (Source: http://lalucarne.fr/la-realisatrice-naziha-arebi-marraine-de-la-lucarne-7/)

Women at the | Frauen beim | Les Femmes au : Afrika Film Festival Köln - 19. -29 September 2019

Women at the | Frauen beim | Les Femmes au Afrika Film Festival Köln

19. -29 September 2019

Fokus:

Fundamentalismus & Migration

Fundamentalism and Migration

Fundamentalisme et Migration

http://afrikafilmfestivalkoeln.de/fr/programme-2019/  

Hawa Essuman (Kenya), 2019 Festival patron:

There’s a rediscovery of heritage on the continent and with that comes a shift in the relationship with Africa and Europe although not in a way that either side considered. Navigating this new space is delicate. A lot of thought is being given to what this looks like and what the ramifications are when put in the perspective of the shared histories that were never balanced. Is it now, despite the verbal will?

Fatima Sissani (Tunisia) : Cinema that reflects political history

Gastbeitrag | Guest Contribution | Contribution d’invitée 

Fibby Kioria (Uganda/Kenya)

Short film selection and discussion

FILM SELECTION

Dhalinyaro, 2018, 85 min.

Lula Ali Ismaïl (Djibouti-Canada)
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/lula-ali-ismail-dhalinyaro-afrika-film.html

Oufsaiyed Elkhortoum (Khartoum Offside), 2019, 75 min.

Marwa Zein (Sudan-Germany)
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/marwa-zein-oufsaiyed-elkhortoum.html

Sofia, 2018, 86 min,

Meryem Benm’Barek-Aloïsis (Morocco)
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/meryem-benmbarek-aloisis-sofia-afrika.html

Fig Tree, 2018, 93 min.

Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian (Israel-Ethiopia)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/aalam-warqe-davidian-fig-tree-afrika.html

Freedom Fields, 2018, 99 min.

Naziha Arebi (UK-Libya)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/naziha-arebi-freedom-fields-afrika-film.html

Entre eu e Deus (Between God and I), 2018, 60 min.

Yara Costa (Mozambique-Portugal)
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/yara-costa-entre-eu-e-deus-between-god.html

Les pastèques du Cheikh, 2018, 23 min.

Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia-France)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/kaouther-ben-hania-les-pasteques-du.html

AFRICAN SHORTS

Brotherhood, 2018, 25 min.

Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia-USA-Canada)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/meryam-joobeur-brotherhood-afrika-film.html

Family in Exile, 2018, 15 min.

Fatima Matousse (Morocco)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/fatima-matousse-family-in-exile-afrika.html

Un air de kora, 2018, 23 min.

Angèle Diabang (Senegal)
https://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/angele-diabang-un-air-de-kora-afrika.html

Black Mamba, 2017, 20 min.

Amel Guellaty (Tunisia)
http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com/2019/09/amel-guellaty-black-mamba-afrika-film.html