Africa in Motion celebrates ten years of African cinema

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Africa in Motion celebrates ten years of African cinema --

Tue, 06 Oct 2015 16:05

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Africa in Motion is Scotland s annual celebration of African cinema. The programme this year will be packed with an array of films, director Q&A sessions, masterclasses, music events, an African TV lounge and children s workshops.

The theme of Africa in Motion 2015 is connections, exploring the interrelatedness of the myriad aspects of African experiences. The programme of films and events engages with the many diverse interpretations of connections - from political connections, artistic collaborations, generational ties, lost and restored cultural links, and pan-Africanism.

Highlights include the creatively curated documentary, The Dream of Shahrazad, that blends together multiple stories of art and activism. The rich traditions of African storytelling will be further discovered through a documentary about one of the most prominent female African writers in The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo. Family ties, kinship and lost relations are the focus of films such as Dis Ek, Anna (It s Me, Anna) and Ayanda, both by South African female filmmaker Sara Blecher.

Audiences will venture down African streets to discover the continent s cities in films such as the Egyptian classic Cairo Station and the UK premiere of the Ugandan feature film The Boda Boda Thieves.

Lost connections with the African continent will be uncovered in the powerful documentary Bound: African vs. African American. Fragments and disconnections within contemporary Africa are explored through a strand of experimental films, including the striking Rwandan feature Things of the Aimless Wanderer.

The festival will open in Edinburgh on Friday, 23 October, with Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambety s towering masterpiece Hy nes (Hyenas), an intimate story of love and revenge, and a critique of neo-colonialism and the effects of consumerism on African cultures. The screening will be followed by an opening party celebrating the 10th edition at Summerhall, an evening filled with African beats, circus acts, and African-style cocktails and snacks.

The tenth Africa in Motion Film Festival will be host to a number of UK premieres, and will be attended by a number of esteemed African filmmakers, including Philippe Lac te (Run) Sara Blecher (Dis Ek, Anna and Ayanda), Samba Gadjigo (Semb ne!), Kivu Ruhorahoza (Things of the Aimless Wanderer), and Yaba Badoe (The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo).

Other significant aspects of this year s festival include the Nigerian-Scottish Film Odyssey, which explores the connections between the film industries in Nigeria and Scotland through red carpet Nollywood film screenings, director Q&A sessions and an industry day. The newly inaugurated AiM TV Lounge located in the Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, will present a daily selection of popular African television shows including soaps, sports shows, mockumentaries, and cooking programmes. In keeping with the festival theme, a strand entitled The Unrepaired Past will focus on connecting the histories of slavery and colonisation to the present. Once again, the festival will be presenting films outside of the traditional theatrical setting, through the Nomad Cinema series, which will see films being viewed in a great diversity of settings, including lecture theatres, community centres, cafes and more.

AiM will also present a special exhibition of photographs on the theme Ways We Watch Films in Africa , which captures the diverse and innovative film-viewing habits across the African continent. This exhibition is comprised of a selection of photographs that were submitted to AiM as part of a competition and will be displayed in Filmhouse, Edinburgh and The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow for the duration of the festival. Further competition strands include the annual Africa in Motion Short Film Competition, this year rebranded as the Aduna Award for Best Short Film, and a brand-new documentary competition strand.

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