The Dream of Shahrazad & r Amazing Tales

AfriDocs in March kicks off with the powerful and imaginatively told political documentary The Dream of Shahrazad, a film that brings together the famous story collection, The 1001 (or Arabian ) Nights, with recent political events in Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. AfriDocs is a proud funder of the film along with The Sundance Documentary Fund, the South African NFVF and other partners.

The amazing true stories continue throughout the month with films including Mama Africa -celebrating Miriam Makeba in the week of her birthday, Black Out, a literal and metaphorical journey towards enlightenment that shows how children reconcile their daily lives in Guinea, one of the world's poorest countries, with their desire to learn.

Award-winning feature length documentaries from China, Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Lebanon, Zambia and North Sudan will also screen every Tuesday and Thursday at 8pm (GMT + 2) on ED Channel 190 and GOtv channel 65.

3 March

Mama Africa by Mika Kaurism ki, 2011, South Africa, Guinea, USA, 88mins

An unforgettable portrait of Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), the world-famous South African artist and civil right activist, who devoted her life to promoting peace and justice and fighting racism around the planet. Her music and daily practice incarnated the hopes and fears of Africa through the convulsive 20th century, so that she has come to be considered the voice and mother of the Continent.

5 March

The Dream of Shahrazad by Francois Verster, 2014, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, 107mins

The Dream of Shahrazad is a feature-length documentary film which locates political expression before, during and after the Egyptian revolution - and also within recent times in Turkey and Lebanon - within a broader historical and cultural framework: that of storytelling and music. More particularly, it looks at the legacy of the famous collection of stories known as THE 1001 (or ARABIAN ) NIGHTS.

10 March

Maid for Sale by Dima Al-Joundi, 2006, Lebanon, France, 52mins

To flee from their country's extreme poverty, women from Sri Lanka leave their families, to work in the Middle-East, and particularly in Lebanon. Employed as domestic servants, they very often live in conditions far worse than those of their home country - deprived of their passports, locked up in houses, working for countless hours. Maid for Sale chronicles three women, Sahika, Janika, Anne-Ritta, and their stories that intertwine charged with tears and fear, anger and rebellion, hope and despair.

Grand Prize (INDH prize) & Jury Prize - 1st International Documentary Film Festival of Khouribga (Morocco)

With

Chips and Liver Girls by Boris Bertram & Caroline Kamya, 2010, Uganda, 30mins

Sex, sugar daddies and modern love in Kampala, Uganda. Some girls in Kampala don't want to get married; instead they go out with men who can pay them money for sex and their company. In Kampala, this is not seen as prostitution but as a way to climb the social ladder, and a way to obtain a comfortable and modern lifestyle. It is called transactional sex', and is common in East Africa. Sonia is a young actress. She takes full advantage of the new times and the sugar daddies whom surrounds her and are seeking her company. One older man who wants to spend time with Sonia is a minister in the government. He calls himself honorable while she refers to him as ATM . It however takes an effort to keep the balance between privacy and the demanding sugar daddies.

12 March

Black Out by Eva Weber, 2012, Guinea, 47mins

Every day during exam season, as the sun sets over Conakry, Guinea, hundreds of school children begin a nightly pilgrimage to the airport, petrol stations and wealthy parts of the city, searching for light. This evocative documentary tells the story of these children's inspiring struggle for education in the face of the country's own fight for change.

Best Medium Length Documentary at Cinemambiente, 2013

With

AFRIPEDIA: Senegal by Teddy Goitom, Benjamin Taft & Senay Berhe, 2014, Senegal, 28mins

Dakar has quickly become one of the most buzzing cities on the continent, infused by a new sense of creativity that cross-pollinates influences across genres and cultures. In AfriPedia: Senegal we meet fashion designer SELLY RABY KANE, who sculpts the digital image of a future alien city in an old railway station. Photographer OMAR VICTOR DIOP playfully reimagines Hollywood's most iconic images with a Senegalese twist, while dancer KHOUDIA ROODIA is organising and building for a future where Africa dominates street dance.

17 March

Last Train Home by Lixin Fan, 2009, China, 87mins

Every spring, China's cities are plunged into chaos, as all at once, a tidal wave of humanity attempts to return home by train for the Chinese New Year. The wave is made up of millions of migrant factory workers. The homes they seek are the rural villages and families they left behind to seek work in the booming coastal cities. It is an epic spectacle that tells us much about China, a country discarding traditional ways as it hurtles towards modernity and global economic dominance.

2009 Winner, Best Documentary Feature - IDFA

19 March

Five Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat & Guy Davidi, Palestine, 2012, 94mins

When his fourth son, Gibreel, is born, Emad, a Palestinian villager, gets his first camera. In his village, Bilin, a separation barrier is being built and the villagers start to resist this decision. For more than five years, Emad films the struggle, which is led by two of his best friends, alongside filming how Gibreel grows. Very soon it affects his family and his own life. Daily arrests and night raids scare his family; his friends, brothers and himself are either shot or arrested. One camera after another is shot at or smashed. Each of the 5 cameras tells part of his story.

2013 Nominated, Best Documentary Featu

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