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| Location | New York, NY |
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| Founded | 1990 |
| Website | https://www.africanfilmny.org |
African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) is a non-profit cultural organization that presents an annual film festival and year-round community programs. Based in New York City, the organization was founded in 1990. The organization is dedicated to promoting greater understanding of African culture through film.
AFF was established in 1990, by Mahen Bonetti and an ad hoc committee of African and American artists and scholars. [1] AFF's flagship program, the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) was launched in 1993 [2] under the banner of "Modern Days, Ancient Nights". The festival was co-presented with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and in association with Brooklyn Museum. It showcased classic and contemporary works including films such as Udju Azul di Yonta by Flora Gomes, [3] Yeelen by Souleymane Cissé, Kaddu Beykat by Safi Faye and Djibril Diop Mambéty's Badou Boy , among others. There was also a retrospective on the films of Ousmane Sembène. The festival has been held annually between the months of April and May.
The annual festival, co-presented with Film Society of Lincoln Center, [4] includes film screenings, live performances, art exhibits, panel discussions, [5] artist talkbacks, educational youth programs, master classes and workshops. In 2004, Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMcinématek became a co-presenter of the NYAFF. In 2011, Maysles Cinema Institute launched a segment of the festival screenings and presentations. AFF has introduced to American audiences the works of many African filmmakers, including Abderrahmane Sissako, [6] Lupita Nyong'o, [7] Tunde Kelani [8] among others. The festival runs for 8–14 days and showcases about 40 classic and contemporary films each year. The organization also hosts a National Traveling Series which consists of a package of short and feature films selected from the latest edition of the New York African Film Festival and is presented at institutions around the U.S. [9]
AFF collaborates on year-round cultural and educational programs around New York City with city-based institutions and agencies such as Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, [10] CityParks Foundation, Electronic Arts Intermix, [11] MoCADA, The Trust for Governors Island, Queens Museum and Bronx Museum of the Arts. [12] In addition, AFF also collaborates with festivals and organizations internationally.
Notable program attendees include, the late "Father of African Cinema", Ousmane Sembène, playwright, poet and Nobel Prize laureate, Wole Soyinka, [13] late singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba and singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist, Harry Belafonte. [14]
In 2003, AFF published the anthology Through African Eyes: Dialogues with the Directors, which featured conversations with pioneer and emerging African filmmakers. In 2010, AFF released the second edition of the publication, featuring an overview of African cinema in the 20th and 21st centuries through essays and interviews with African directors. In 2013, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the New York African Film Festival, AFF published an anniversary anthology, titled Looking Back, Looking Forward: 20 Years of the New York African Film Festival. [15] [16]
Ousmane Sembène, often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane which he seemed to favor as a way to underscore the "colonial imposition" of this naming ritual and subvert it, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father of African film". Descended from a Serer family through his mother from the line of Matar Sène, Ousmane Sembène was particularly drawn to Serer religious festivals especially the Tuur festival.
The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is a critically acclaimed film festival held in New York City, dedicated to the display of Asian film and culture. The New York Asian Film Festival generally features contemporary premieres and classic titles from Eastern Asia and Southeast Asia, though South Asian cinema has also been represented via films from India and Pakistan.
Cinema of Africa covers both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels were the primary cinematic technology in use. During the colonial era, African life was shown only by the work of white, colonial, Western filmmakers, who depicted Africans in a negative fashion, as exotic "others". As there are more than 50 countries with audiovisual traditions, there is no one single 'African cinema'. Both historically and culturally, there are major regional differences between North African and sub-Saharan cinemas, and between the cinemas of different countries.
Xala is a 1975 Senegalese film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It is an adaptation of Sembène's 1973 novel of the same name. The film depicts El Hadji, a businessman in Senegal, who is cursed with crippling erectile dysfunction upon the day of his marriage to his third wife. The film satirizes the corruption in African post-independence governments; El Hadji's impotence symbolizes the failure of such governments to be useful at all.
Black Girl is a 1966 French-Senegalese drama film, written and directed by Ousmane Sembène in his directorial debut. It is based on a short story from Sembène's 1962 collection Voltaique, which was in turn inspired by a real life incident. Black Girl stars Mbissine Thérèse Diop as Diouana, a young Senegalese woman who moves from Dakar, Senegal to Antibes, France to work for a French couple. In France, Diouana hopes to continue her former job as a nanny and anticipates a new cosmopolitan lifestyle. However, upon her arrival in Antibes, Diouana experiences harsh treatment from the couple, who force her to work as a servant. She becomes increasingly aware of her constrained and alienated situation and starts to question her life in France.
Borom Sarret or The Wagoner is a 1963 film by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, the first film over which he had full control. It is often called the first film made in Africa by an African; the first "professional" African film; or the first such film to be shown widely outside of Africa. However, this is disputed, with some other films, such as Song of Khartoum, Sarzan, and Mouramani having arguably been produced earlier. Thus, some authors refer to it as "among the first" films made in Africa by an African filmmaker. Borom Sarret is 18 minutes long and tells a story about a cart driver in Dakar. The film illustrates the poverty in Africa, showing that independence has not solved the problems of its people. It was shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Mandabi is a 1968 film written and directed by Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. The film is based on Sembène's novel The Money-Order and is the director's first film in his native Wolof language. Since most of the Senegalese population do not understand French, Sembène wanted to create cinema for Wolof speakers. This is believed to be the first full-length African language film from West Africa.
Manthia Diawara is a Malian writer, filmmaker, cultural theorist, scholar, and art historian. He holds the title of University Professor at New York University (NYU), where he is Director of the Institute of Afro-American Affairs.
The cinema of Senegal is a relatively small film industry which experienced its prime from the 1960s through to the early 1980s, but has since declined to less than five feature films produced in the last ten years. Senegal is the capital of African cinema and the most important place of African film production after its independence from France in 1960.
The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization established in 1997 to develop and promote film and other cultural industries as catalyst for the regional social and economic growth.
Guelwaar is a 1993 French-Senegalese drama film written and directed by Ousmane Sembène. The name is borrowed from the Serer pre-colonial dynasty of Guelowar. The film won The President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.
Ceddo, also known as The Outsiders, is a 1977 Senegalese drama film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It was entered into the 10th Moscow International Film Festival.
Emitaï is a 1971 Senegalese drama film directed by Ousmane Sembène.
Montclair Film is a nonprofit that organizes the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF). The festival is held between mid- to late- October in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works from American and international filmmakers. Films are programmed based on categories including: Fiction, Non-Fiction, World Cinema, Short, and Student Filmmaking.
The 29th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 25 August to 7 September 1968.
Sembene! is a 2015 documentary film focusing on the life of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène, who is considered to be the father of African cinema. It is co-directed by Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman. The film's world premiere took place at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015. It also played at the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.
Cheick Fantamady Camara was an award-winning Guinean film director. He was the director of two short films and two feature films. His 2006 film Il va pleuvoir sur Conakry won the 2007 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and the 2008 Prix Ousmane Sembène at the Khouribga African Cinema Festival in Morocco.
The Festival du Cinéma Africain de Khouribga (FCAK) or African Film Festival in Khouribga is a film festival for African cinema held in Khouribga in Morocco. Established in 1977, it is one of the oldest and most important film festivals in Morocco.
Samba Gadjigo, is a Senegalese filmmaker and writer. He is most notable as the director of critically acclaimed film Sembene!.
Moussa Bathily is a Senegalese history teacher, journalist, film director and producer, screen writer, and novelist.
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