A world
first will be taking place this month when a full week of African documentary
films are broadcast across sub-Saharan Africa on DStv channel ED (channel 190) and GOtv (channel 65).
This unique
film event will see a diverse and exciting range of films screened across 49
countries of sub-Saharan Africa, to coincide with the Durban International Film
Festival, the largest film festival in South Africa that takes place from July 17th
– 27th.
During this week-long film event
sees a diverse and engaging range of West African films including Day by Day:
Femi Kuti (Nigeria), Niger’s
- For The Best and the Onion & Magic Radio, as well as Dolce Vita
Africana & Hamou Beya Sand Fisher, from Mali.
Day by Day; Femi Kuti
Billed as a
journey into the heart of making music, Day
By Day: Femi Kuti is more than a biopic, but rather gives real insight into
every aspect of the creative process.
As the film
follows the development of a track from Femi Kuti's latest album, it sets out
to explain the artistic decisions. These choices are inseparable from Femi’s
involvement in the political situation in his home country, Nigeria.
Screening on Wednesday July 23rd at
21:00 (GMT + 2)
For the Best & the Onion
The Galmi
purple, the onion from Niger, pervades West African markets with 400,000 tons a
year. In Galmi, Salamatou’s been waiting for her wedding for 2 years. Her
father Yaro, urged both by her future in-laws and the village gossip makes a
decision : The wedding will take place at the harvest ! Yaro is aware that to
be ready for this commitment, he has to produce more and sell at a higher price.
Screening on Wednesday July 23rd at
17:00 (GMT + 2)
Magic Radio
In Niger,
where more than 80% of the population is illiterate, radio is the main means of
mass communication. Simple yet reliable, the radio is everywhere, in the
streets, homes and the bush. It
entertains, educates, informs and helps provide
a check on
power. Today, through the radio waves, the citizens of Niger seize the
microphone and taste democracy. It’s an FM revolution.
Screening on Friday July 25th at
21:00 (GMT + 2)
Dolce Vita
Africana
This
documentary is a portrait of the African
photographer Malick Sidibé, and a journey through Malian history
inspired by his iconic images. Malick’s snapshots from
the late ‘50s
through to the
early ‘70s capture the carefree
spirit of a youth asserting their freedom from colonialism in the early days of
Malian independence – until a coup ushered in decades of austere military
dictatorship. Hence this is a film not only about art, but also about a culture
reflected through a camera lens, in a country that today is one of the poorest
in the world.
Screening Friday July 25th at 17:00
(GMT + 2)
Hamou Beya
Sand Fisher
In Mali, the Bozo
are renowned for their mastery of fishing. They have a connection with the
spirits of water that other communities do not seem to have. More recently
however, they come to Bamako to extract sand from the river to provide for the
ever expanding needs of property development. Through Gala,
the main character of the film,
we discover the
socio-economic and ecological
issues of this activity
and the uncertainty in the future due to its impact and the lower level of the
river Niger.
Screening Friday July 25th at 18:00
(GMT + 2)
ABOUT AFRIDOCS FILM WEEK
The AfriDocs Film Week will connect the largest film festival in Africa through a ‘film
festival at home’ featuring documentary films from thirteen countries in Africa
– D.R.C., Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South
Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
“So many
documentary films have been shot in Africa, but very few have been seen by
African audiences”, says AfriDocs
Executive Producer Don Edkins from Steps in Cape Town, “this heralds a new era
of distribution for the continent.”
Films by African
filmmakers Idrissa Guiro, Sani
Elhadj, Licinio Azevedo, Rehad Desai, Judy Kibinge, Andrey Samoute Diarra, together
with filmmakers Mika Karismäki, Thierry Michel, Roger Ross Williams, Abby
Ginsberg and Göran Olsson amongst others, will be seen for the first time by a
wide audience through this collaboration.
Seven of the films screening at the Durban Film
Festival (DIFF) will also be part of the programme, including the award-winning
Miners Shot Down, Concerning Violence, I
Afrikaner, The Irresistible Rise of
Moise Katumbi, Coach Zoran, Plot for Peace and Soft Vengeance.
These
African documentaries tell a range of stories; from films about great African
artists, such as singer and activist Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa) and the Malian photographer Malik Sibidé (Dolce Vita Africana), to political / historical films on leaders Patrice
Lumumba and Liberian President Sirleaf Johnson, as well as films about
revolutionaries, farmers, gangsters, and illegal immigrants.
This week long
film event is a special broadcast project from AfriDocs, the first weekly primetime documentary strand
broadcasting across Africa. Every Tuesday night on ED (DStv channel 190) and
GOtv (channel 65), AfriDocs screens
top African documentaries to 49 countries by satellite, and terrestrially to an
additional 100 cities in 8 countries.
AfriDocs is
an initiative of the multi-awarded South African documentary production and
distribution company, Steps, in partnership with the Bertha Foundation.
For the full
programme schedule and synopses of the films, please go to www.afridocs.net or www.facebook.com/AfriDocs
You
can also follow AfriDocs on twitter: @Afri_Docs
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @effiongeton
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