New York African Film Festival
The New York African Film Festival continues at Film at Lincoln Center with an amazing lineup, which includes:
SATURDAY FILMS
One of our crop of films from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country beset by other nations (African, Europe and America) for its natural resources, yet a well of creativity against all odds. The DRC is a major focus this year. We present Mweze by David-Pierre Fila with a Q&A with artist Jean-Michel Kibushi at 1:30 p.m.:
David-Pierre Fila’s documentary on the visionary Congolese filmmaker Mweze Ngangura unfolds as a meditation on history, politics, cinema, image, and time.
Another DRC film, Identity Pieces with a Q&A with artist Jean-Michel Kibushi at 3:45 p.m.
Mwezé Ngangura’s modern comic fairy tale, set in the vibrant African emigré demimonde of contemporary Europe, follows an African king who embarks on a trip to Belgium and confronts the best and worst of the Black diaspora.
Our Centerpiece film at 6:30 p.m. today, Memories of Love Returned,the wonderful award-winning documentary by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, an actor (Dexter: Resurrection, Lincoln Lawyer, The Chi, Treme), photographer and director.
On April 24, 2002, filmmaker Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s car broke down in the small town of Mbirizi, Uganda. While waiting for it to be repaired he stumbled upon a small photo studio and met photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo, whose work spanned from the late 1950s to his death in 2006. This chance encounter turned into a 22-year journey documenting and exploring Kibaate’s life and photography and the profound impact it had on Ntare’s life and the lives of the entire community he documented. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, this intimate, nuanced documentary about the transformative power of photography was named best documentary at the Africa International Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Pan African Film Festival.
We then head to South Africa tonight at 8:45 p.m. with a series of films in an exciting shorts program with a Q&A with director Ntokozo Mlaba.:
This collection of short films from South Africa includes Ntokozo Mlaba’s The Passage, Phumi Morare’s Why the Cattle Wait, Michelle Name and Onke Meje’s Intsikelelo Yamanzi, Nduduzo Shandu’s Gogo, Hachimiya Ahamada’s Zanatany, When Soulless Shrouds Whisper, Kgomotso Sekhu’s Shap Shap, and Zoe Ramushu’s Damsel, Not in Distress.
SUNDAY FILMS
Zoey Martinson’s The Fisherman, Sunday at 1 p.m. Zoey’s directed several episodes of the viral hit show Ziwe.
A traditional fisherman’s life takes a whimsical turn as he is partnered with a talking fish. Filled with laughter, magic, and the rich culture of Ghana, The Fisherman is a heartwarming tale of family, resilience, and the enduring spirit of a true fisherman.
At 3:30 pm. another impactful shorts series, Shorts Program 3: Centennial Legacies, which will reintroduce you to the freedom fighters and other figures like Malcolm X, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg and Ousmane Sembène who have challenged oppression, fought for representation and led the way to a better world!
Marking a century of history, culture, and resistance, this short film program honoring the visionaries and movements that shaped the past and continue to inspire the future includes films by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, Lebert Bethune, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, and Lou de Lemos.
Sunday at 6:30 p.m. we have Ndar, Saga Waalo, a film getting a lot of attention:
Saint-Louisians and historians tell us the rich and complex saga of Ndar—the original name of Saint-Louis, Senegal, the port of colonial penetration into West Africa four centuries ago—in Ousmane William Mbaye’s powerful documentary.
Sunday at 8:45 p.m. we have another film from the DRC, Juju Factory with a Q&A with director Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda.
Congolese history and Belgium’s ghosts intertwine with the story of a writer in Brussels who is inspired by his vision of complex and tormented souls that he meets at all proverbial and literal crossings.
More on the festival at: https://nyaff32.eventive.org/schedule.
