AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL'S

9th SUMMER OUTDOOR SCREENINGS SERIES

Cinema Under the Stars


Starts Thursday, July 10th, 2008


!!! COME RAIN OR SHINE !!!


This summer the African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) is back for its 9th Summer Outdoor Series. Known for presenting dynamic outdoor events to diverse communities and neighborhoods all over NYC, this season's series will not disappoint. This year we return to some of our favorite outdoor destinations such as St. Nicholas Park in Harlem, the lawn at Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx, Corona Park in Queens, and Fulton Park in Bed Stuy. In addition, we are excited about some new venues and partnerships, including Central Park SummerStage, The Harlem School of the Arts, Governors Island, amongst others.


With fifteen events to choose from, children, teens and adults alike will be entertained by the adventure this summer series has to offer. Featuring live performances, storytelling, free arts and crafts workshops, African and Caribbean cuisine, free dance and drumming classes and most importantly a wide variety of films from the Africa and the African Diaspora, who wouldn't want to join in on the hottest fun of the summer? So pack a blanket, bring friends and family and join us for another season of great entertainment under the stars as we continue to celebrate the richness of African and African Diaspora culture!


CENTRAL PARK SUMMERSTAGE

LOCATION : Rumsey Playfield in Central Park.

Enter the park at 69th St. & 5th Ave or 72nd St. & Central Park West.

RAIN OR SHINE


Thursday, July 10, 7:00 pm

LIVE PERFORMANCE: I-Wayne - Roots Reggae Artist

FILM: The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, Jamaica, 1972, 120m.)
Ivanhoe Martin comes to the city to make it big singing Reggae. However, he finds life in the city to be harder than he thought, and is taken advantage of by both the record producer and the marijuana boss he later starts dealing for. When he kills a police officer, events start escalating that make him the most wanted man in Jamaica, and a momentary hero to all the oppressed Jamaicans. This film stars reggae sensation Jimmy Cliff, and is underscored by an outstanding reggae soundtrack.



PASSPORT FRIDAYS

LOCATION: Flushing Meadows Corona Park

RAIN VENUE: Queens Museum of Art


Friday, July 11, 6:30 pm

LIVE PERFORMANCE: Ballet International Africans

FILM: Kirikou And The Wild Beasts (Bénédicte Galup & Michel Ocelot, France, 2005, 75m.)
In French with English subtitles
Kirikou, the young hero of the marvelous Kirikou and the Sorceress is back and displaying his life-saving wits against both supernatural and environmental foes who threaten his African village. Four stories derived from traditional African folk tales have been strikingly animated. Simple but engaging, full of peril and resolution this animated film has a significant meaning for everyone.



THE HARLEM TEEN FILM FESTIVAL

LOCATION: The Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Ave. @ 141st St.

Saturday, July 12, 3:00 pm

FILM: Born Into Brothels (Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, USA, 2003, 85m.)
In English and Bengali with English subtitles
A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes. Together with Ross Kauffman, Briski captures the magical way in which beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places and how a bright and promising future becomes a possibility for children who previously had no future at all. 2005 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature.


Saturday, July 19, 3:00 pm

FILM: War Dance (Sean Fine and Andrea Nix, USA, 2007, 105m.)

Set in civil war-ravaged Northern Uganda, this Best Documentary nominee for the 2008 Oscars follows the lives of three youngsters who attend school in a refugee camp and find hope through a rich tradition of song and dance. Coming from a world in which children are abducted from their families and forced to fight in the rebel army, these kids give it their all when they travel to the capital city to take part in the prestigious Kampala Music Festival.



Saturday, July 26, 3:00 pm



LIVE PERFORMANCE: Les Merveilles de Guinean - Guinean Drummers and Dancers

FILM: Bling: A Planet Rock (Raquel Cepeda, Sierra Leone/ USA, 2007, 85m.)

In Enlgish and Krio with English subtitles

Bling: A Planet Rock is a feature documentary that takes a hard-hitting look at how diamond "blinging" in the flashy world of commercial hip-hop played a role in the 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone. This film takes U.S. hip-hop celebrities Paul Wall, Latin hip-hop artist Tego Calderon, and Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan on a journey to Sierra Leone's diamond mining communities, introducing them to former child soldiers, refugees and local hip-hop artists.


FIRST FRIDAY AFRICANISMO

LOCATION: Andrew Freeman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse at McClellan Street

RAIN VENUE: The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse

Friday, August 1, 7:30 pm

LIVE PERFORMANCE: DJ Chris Annibell (Afrokinetic), Micheal Markus & Magbana Drum and Dance

FILM: Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (Djibril Diop Mambety Senegal/Switzerland, 1999, 45m.)
In Wolof with English subtitles
This film is a luminous portrait of a young physically-challenged girl and her determination to be a street vendor of Le Soliel, the national newspaper of Senegal, against the wishes of the "street boys". It is at once a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the "street children" of Dakar and to the individual's capability for transforming his/her situation.

FOLLOWED BY:

FILM: Mambety (Papa Madieya Mbaye, Senegal, 2002, 28m.)
In Wolof with English subtitles
"Mambety" doesn't differ significantly from the stock "behind-the-scenes" documentaries that adorn most DVDs nowadays, except that Mambety's films have scenes you actually want to be taken behind. Because of the kind of attention that gets paid to African cinema, there's an initial intrigue to "Mambety," but that interest is sustained by Mambety's own lyrical insights into his aesthetics.


AFRICAN NIGHT AT ST. NICHOLAS PARK

LOCATION: St. Nicholas Park, 135th St. & St. Nicholas Ave.

RAIN VENUE: Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Ave. @ 142nd St.

Thursday, August 7, 7:30 pm

LIVE PERFORMANCE: Mouminatou Camara with Seewe African Dance Company

FILM: Shoot the Messenger (Ngozi Onwurah, Nigeria/UK, 2006, 100m.)

Shoot The Messenger is a reflection of the ongoing debates within the black community, questioning some of the things that black communities tell themselves and their children. Like a fable, this film depicts the story of Joe, who is a teacher with a mission. He's determined to save the black youngsters at his school from a life of gangs, crime and underachievement - whether they like it or not. But when a seemingly minor incident rapidly escalates out of control and he loses his job, he turns against his own community. He quickly descends into madness and hits rock bottom, before realizing he has a lot to learn about love, understanding and a different way of seeing his world. This controversial film was the winner of the Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award, in addition, to two BAFTA TV Awards.



FAMILY DAY CELEBRATION

LOCATION: Governors Island, Manhattan

RAIN VENUE: Rain or shine

Saturday, August 9, 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

The sights and sounds of Africa just a three-minute ferry ride away. Please join African Film Festival, Inc. and Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation for this exception all day celebration on Governors Island. This event will feature free dance classes with world-renown artists from Brazil, Senegal, and Guinea. There will also be storytelling, double-dutch and quilting demonstrations and workshops. Short African films by emerging directors will be shown continually throughout the day. African food vendors will be on site.


KIDflix FILM FESTIVAL

LOCATION: Fulton Park, Brooklyn
(Stuyvesant & Fulton)

RAIN DATE: The following Saturday Night

Fridays, August, 1, 18, 15, 22, 29 - 8:00 pm

Presented in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), KIDflix guarantees five evenings of entertaining and educational films for kids and families in Brooklyn's Fulton Park in the neighborhood of Bed Stuy. This year's film screenings include musical features, documentaries, works by local filmmakers and as always, the grand finale screening of The Wiz, complete with a costume and dance contest! Come as your favorite Wiz character for costume contest.



AFRICA UNITE

LOCATION: Harlem Meer, Central Park, Manhattan

Lawn adjacent to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, 110th St. between 5th and Lenox Aves.

RAIN VENUE: TBD

Wednesday, August 27, 7:30 pm

LIVE PERFORMANCE: Kotchegna Dance Company - Ivorian Drummers and Dancers

FILM: Africa Unite (Stephanie Black, Ethiopia/USA, 2007, 110m.)

This documentary highlights the vision for African unity that Bob Marley was devoted to throughout his music career and presents an inspiring tribute to a man who defined his own aim as "spreading the message of unity and equality, to end the needless suffering of mankind." The twelve-hour concert, featuring a host of internationally acclaimed artists, is interwoven throughout the film, highlighting the singer's global influence. The film features the "Africa Unite" concert performed for over 350,000 people gathered in the historic Meskel Square of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to celebrate what would have been Bob Marley's 60th birthday. The film also features highlights from the United Nations symposium of scholars and Pan African students. Starring Rita Marley, Danny Glover, Angélique Kidjo, Lauryn Hill and Marley's children Ziggy, Cedella, Sharon, Stephen, Kymani, Julian and Damian.



JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY

LOCATION: Great Hill, Central Park, Manhattan
Enter at 106th St. and Central Park West

RAIN VENUE: TBD



Wednesday, September 13, 7:30 pm
HAS BEEN CANCELED

LIVE PERFORMANCE: Live Jazz performance

FILM: Jazz On A Summer's Day (Bert Stern, USA, 1960, 85m.)

The first major film statement on jazz and the granddaddy of festival films. Noted photographer Bert Stern filmed a virtual Who's Who of jazz and blues at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival: including Thelonius Monk, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington and Mahalia Jackson.


Looking for a great way to spend a rainy evenings?

Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness

La MaMa ETC.
74 East Fourth Street, NYC
(Between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)

Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness, a very special show, has been written and directed by Wickham Boyle, a longtime Tribeca resident and a New York cultural icon. In December of 2001, Ms. Boyle published a collection of essays based on her experience of living downtown in the months after 9/11, "A Mother's Essays from Ground". Last year, with the help of various artists she knew through her work in theater, she turned those essays into Calling: An Opera of Forgiveness, which opens tonight (Friday, September 12th) at La MaMa. This thought provoking piece of theatre is sure to offer a new perspective to the post 9/11 discourse.

For more information & tickets, please visit website: www.callingtheopera.com






AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL, INC. presents

Classic African Cinema on DVD

Are you a fan of African Cinema who has longed to find the classic titles on DVD?

Have you seen a great African film at a festival and wished you could own it?

Are you looking to build your own collection of African Cinema DVDs?

Look no further… This summer African Film Festival will begin to sell rare and classic African and Diaspora Cinema on DVD.


Stay tuned for details…