The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) will celebrate its 27th anniversary from Nov. 29 to Dec. 15 with 59 narratives and documentaries to be presented at Columbia University’s Teachers College, Cinema Village and MIST Harlem.
Since 1993, ADIFF’s editorial line aims at remaining culturally relevant with a selection of meaningful, thought provoking titles presenting the human experience of people of Color. Some titles come directly from important national and international film festivals such as Sundance, Toronto, Durban, the Pan African Film Festival, FESPACO, Cannes, and Berlinale. Others are very independent productions made by filmmakers eager to share their message with an audience.
Opening night film, Ali’s Comeback: The Untold Story by Art Jones, is a fascinating documentary that recounts the unsung saga that broke boxing’s blacklist status of Muhammad Ali, the champion who said “no” to war and racism.
Closing Night film is the romantic comedy 2 Weeks in Lagos by Kathryn Fasegha, a turbulent and thrilling journey into the lives of Ejikeme and Lola which captures the excitement, vibrancy, and complexity of everyday life in Lagos, a dynamic city where anything is possible in 2 Weeks.
Other highlights in this year’s Festival:
[] Wagner Moura’s Marighella – which had its world premiere out of competition in Berlinale 2019. Currently censored in Brazil, Marighella is a new Brazilian action drama set in 1969 based on the life of Afro-Brazilian politician and guerrilla fighter Carlos Marighella. Facing a violent military dictatorship and with little support from a timid opposition, writer-turned-politician Carlos Marighella organizes a resistance movement.
[] Les Miserables by Ladj Ly, a powerful drama that depicts the tensions between the various neighborhood groups living in a sensitive district of the Paris suburbs in France. Les Miserables won the Jury Prize Cannes Film Festival 2019. It is France’s submission to the Academy of Motion Pictures in the International Cinema category.
[] Made in Bangladesh by Rubaiyat Hossain – which had its world premiere at TIFF this year – about a young woman working under very poor conditions in a factory in Bangladesh who decides to fight to set up a union despite threats from management and disapproval of her husband.
[] Official selection Sundance 2019, The Last Tree by Shola Amoo is a moving coming of age story about Femi, a British boy of Nigerian descent who, after a happy childhood in rural Lincolnshire, moves to inner London to live with his Nigerian mum.
[] Jocelyne Beroard, at Heart | Jocelyne, Mi Tchè Mwen by Maharaki. A musical documentary about the sole female member of the legendary Caribbean band KASSAV, Jocelyne Beroard, one of the greatest icons of the Caribbean and African communities.
[] Fear No Gumbo (Stop Stealing Our Sh*T) is the latest documentary by aspiring rapper Kimberly Rivers-Roberts whose work and life were feature in the Oscar Nominated heart-wrenching 2008 documentary about Katrina and its aftermath, Trouble the Water by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin.
[] Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond The Mask by Fredrick Lewis on the life and legacy of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), the first African American to achieve national fame as a writer.
For more information about the 27th Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival contact Diarah N’Daw-Spech at (212) 864-1760 or e-mail [email protected]
Festival web site: www.nyadiff.org
