nd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival Highlights African Cinema

For its 22nd edition to be held in Manhattan between November 28 and December 14, 2014, the New York African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) will showcase 89 films spanning 43 countries including 47 US and NY Premieres.

Much has been said about technology and films in the last 10 years. The African Diaspora International Film Festival has paid serious attention to the use of technology in the production of African films and is presenting a selection of 25 films that cover a wide range of stories that will please the most demanding of filmgoers.

South Africa is celebrating 20 years of democracy this year. In collaboration with the South African Department of Arts and Culture and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), ADIFF will present a selection of 14 South African films to celebrate 20 years of democracy in South Africa.

Among the films in this program are the entertaining South African hit dramedy Between Friends by Zuko Nodada to screen as the festival Centerpiece which will be headlined by Keynote Speaker Dr. Molefi Asante; The Two of Us by first time filmmaker Ernest Nkosi about a very turbulent sibling relationship between Thulas and Zanele and their lives in the Alexandra township; the hit comedy Material by Craig Friemond about a Muslim comedian and his rigid father; Letters to Zorha by Saskia Vredeveld, the untold story of Ahmed Kathrada, a freedom fighter who spent 26 years in prison in Robben island with Nelson Mandela; The Vula Connection by Marion Edmunds, about a white South African who sides against his country to help the ANC during Apartheid South Africa and the revealing documentary I, Afrikaner by Analet Steenkamp which documents four generations of the director's family in post-apartheid South Africa.

A delegation of eight South African filmmakers - accompanied by two NFVF representatives - will attend the New York African Diaspora International Film Festival to present their films.

Other films in the African selection are Imbabazi/The Pardon by Joel Karekezi, the story of two friends who are marked by the Rwandan genocide; Dakar Street Life by Hubert Laba Ndao, a film about young people, love, prostitution and violence in the streets of Dakar, the capital of Senegal and The Ugandan by Patrick Sekyaya, a drama that looks at the expulsion of the Ugandans of Indian descent by the Amin Dada regime and the explosive impact of that population being invited back in a changed in country some years later.

Also of note is the impressive epic drama based on a true story, Ninga Queen of Angola by Sergio Graciano -first presented at the Montreal World Film Festival - about a 17th century Queen who fought for freedom against Portuguese colonialism. Njinga, Queen of Angola is a powerful film that has continental proportions as Njinga is part of the history of the liberation struggle in Africa.

Many of the directors and actors for the films in the festival will be on hand for question-and-answer sessions following the screenings.

For more information about the 22nd Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival, to receive the complete line up, screeners and high resolution images please contact Diarah N'Daw-Spech at (212) 864-1760/ fax (212) 316-6020 or e-mail pr@nyadiff.org. Festival web site: www.nyadiff.org.

ABOUT THE AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Described by film critic Armond White as a festival that symbolizes diaspora as more than just anthropology, ADIFF has managed to increase the presence of independent Afrocentric films from all over the world in the general American specialty movie scene by launching films such as The Tracker by Rolf de Heer (Australia), Kirikou and the Sorceress by Michel Ocelot (France), Gospel Hill by Giancarlo Esposito (USA), Darrat/Dry Season by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), The First Rasta by Helene Lee (France/Jamaica), The Story of Lovers Rock by Menelik Shabazz (UK) Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story by Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt), The Pirogue by Moussa Tour and Jews of Egypt by Amir Ramses among others.

Attracting a wider cross-section of cinephiles and audiences of African-American, Caribbean, African, Latino and European ethnic backgrounds that share a common interest for good stories about the human experience of people of color, ADIFF is now a national and international event with festivals held in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, and Paris, France.

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

The 22nd annual New York African Diaspora International Film Festival is made possible thanks to the support of the following institutions and individuals: ArtMattan productions; the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Community Affairs, Teachers College, Columbia University; the New York City Council in the Arts; New York City Council Member Inez E. Dickens; the French Cultural Services; South African Department of Arts and Culture and the NFVF; The Academy of Motion Picture and Science, the Guadeloupe Island Tourist Board, Thalia Cinema at Symphony Space, the D l gation G n rale du Qu bec New York, TV5 Monde, The Village Voice, WBAI and Public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. ADIFF is a proud member of the Harlem Arts Alliance.

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