Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival Chicago

The Chicago African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) is back to celebrate 13 years of consecutive work in the Windy City. To be held from June 12-18, hosted by Facets Cinematheque and presented by ArtMattan Productions, the festival will showcase 17 documentary and fiction films set in The United States, Angola, Cuba, Brazil, Canada, Haiti, St Vincent, New Zealand, the UK, Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Argentina, Uruguay, and Honduras.

SEVERAL AFRICAN FILMS WILL BE SHOWCASED IN ADIFF CHICAGO 2015!

First presented at the Montreal World Film Festival is the Chicago Premiere of the impressive epic drama based on a true story, Njinga Queen of Angola about a 17th century Queen who fought for freedom against Portuguese colonialism.

Screened at the Toronto and Venice film festival in 2000 is the epic drama Adanggaman, a provocative retelling of the African slave experience, based on facts. ADIFF will also bring back The Pirogue (Cannes Film Festival, 2012), a powerful immigration drama about a group of African men and one woman who leave Senegal for Europe on a fishing boat at the risk of their lives. The pirogue by Moussa Toure is part of the Great African Films collection, a DVD series that celebrates great African filmmakers. The Pirogue can be found in Great African Films Vol. 4 with the work of Khady Sylla, a renowned Senegalese filmmaker.

Also premiering in the festival this year are Obama Mama, a documentary about Stanley Ann Dunham, mother of the nations first black president and the U.S. premiere of Ken Bugul - Nobody Wants Her, a powerful documentary who leads us into the secret world of an assertive African woman artist and writer and her brave fight for freedom and acceptance.

THE OTHER FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL

The festival will open with the US Premiere of Black (NWA), a fiction film that chronicles the lives of four people living in a neighborhood plagued by poverty and violence, aspiring to freedom and happiness. This gritty look at gang culture in Montreal North is incredibly timely in that central to the drama are the tense relations between the police and the black community. This has become a hot-button issue in recent months following a number of controversial high-profile cases of police officers in the U.S. shooting unarmed black men. - Montreal Gazette. Lead actor Remy St Eloi will be in attendance for a discussion after the screening.

The strong African retention in New World cultures as expressed through music, dance, and religious traditions is celebrated in four documentaries screening in ADIFF 2015. The program Candomble & Santeria with the screening of Oggun: an Eternal Presence & Summer of Gods explores African based religions. Tango Negro: The African Roots of Tango moves in and out of Uruguay and Argentina as it illustrates the ever present African component in Tango, Candombe, Milongon and other African based musical styles found in the Rio de la Plata region. In Candombe, musician Fernado Nunez sees himself as the heir to candombe, a dance and musical expression initiated by his enslaved ancestors.

For its CENTERPIECE, the festival will present the GARIFUNA CELEBRATION program with two documentaries: Revolutionary Medicine: A Story of the First Garifuna Hospital and Homeland (Yurumein) both about the Garifuna people in Honduras and St. Vincent respectively. The screenings will be followed by a discussion with local members of the Garifuna community.

The African Diaspora International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization.

The 13th Annual African Diaspora Film Festival-Chicago is made possible thanks to the generous support of the following institutions: Facets Cinemateque, ArtMattan Productions, the Center for Black Diaspora at DePaul University, The Dusable Heritage Association; TV5 Monde, The Quebec Government Office - Chicago and the Embassy of Switzerland - Washington DC.

Facets Cin math que is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For a full schedule and to order advance tickets online please call 773-281-4114 or 212-864-1760 or visit http://www.facets.org or http://www.NYADIFF.org. Tickets are $15 for Opening Night, $12 for the Centerpiece, $10 general admission, and $8 students and seniors.

For screeners, press information, and interviews for the 13th Annual African Diaspora Film Festival- Chicago, contact ArtMattan Productions at (212) 864-1760 / Fax (212) 316-6020 or E-mail PR@NYADIFF.org. Festival web site: www.NYADIFF.org.

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