[African Diaspora Film Festival]
This year’s African Diaspora Film Festival features “Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories” about important contributions African made to Flamenco music…
Photo: African Diaspora Film Festival
On Sunday, July 7, at 2:pm the African Diaspora International Film Festival will present Gurumbe: Afro-Andulusian Memories at Teachers College, Columbia University, at 525 west 120th street. This film explores the essential contributions Africans made to the development of Flamenco music.
Flamenco is synonymous with Spanish culture. Yet, since its inception, theorists have sidelined the fundamental contribution of Afro-Andalusians to this art form.
Commercial exploitation of the American colonies brought hundreds of Africans to Spain to be sold as slaves, forming a population which, over time, managed to gain space in a society wrought with racial prejudices. Music and dance were a fundamental part of their expression and the most important affirmation of their identity.
As the Black population began to disappear from Spain in the late 19th century, so too did their contribution to this extraordinary art form. In Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories, their story is finally told. The 72-minute 2016 documentary film is directed by M. Angel Rosales, in Spanish, with English subtitles.
Gurumbe is part of the African Diaspora International Film Festival. On Sunday, Gurumbe will be show at 2:pm followed by the documentary: International Art in Cuba: Black Mozart in Cuba & Resistance at 4:pm. The festival will end with the showing of Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba at 6:30pm.
For more information logon to:
www.nyadiff.org/spring-series-2019/
