African Film Festival 2016

February 11–March 19, 2016

The festival spotlights new work from Africa and the African diaspora, including a new crop of documentaries.

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The Longest Kiss
Black Girl
Timbuktu
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Past Films

Kirikou and the Sorceress
- Saturday, March 19 3:30 PM
Michel Ocelot
France, Belgium, 1998
Free for BAMPFA members. RSVP to bampfamember@berkeley.edu
Recommended for ages 6 & up
English-Language Version

This gorgeously animated modern classic recounts the tale of little Kirikou, a brave newborn toddler who takes on an evil sorceress in order to save his village. Soundtrack by Youssou N’Dour.
Run
- Saturday, March 12 8:15 PM
Philippe Lacôte
France/Ivory Coast, 2014
A young man goes on the run after assassinating a politician in this picaresque coming-of-age tale, the first Ivorian feature screened at Cannes. Isaach de Bankolé (Night on Earth, White Material) costars.
Red Leaves
- Sunday, March 6 5:30 PM
Bazi Gete
Israel, 2014
Israel’s vibrant Ethiopian Jewish community—rarely portrayed on screen—is featured in this story of an elderly widower, inspired by King Lear.
The Longest Kiss
- Monday, February 22 7 PM
Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque
Canada, 2013
Filmed during the split between Sudan and South Sudan, this poetic, hopeful, heartbreaking documentary introduces us to the people (and future) of the region. With Omani short Cholo.
Timbuktu
- Saturday, February 20 6:30 PM
Abderrahmane Sissako
France/Mauritania, 2014
The real-life fall of Timbuktu to Islamic militants in 2012 forms the basis of this political fable from Abderrahmane Sissako (Waiting for Happiness, Bamako). “An extraordinary film” (New Yorker).
The Art of Africa: Short Films
- Thursday, February 18 7 PM
Three shorts profile artists and movements making waves in Africa today, from urban culture in Nairobi and Accra (Afripedia: Kenya, Afripedia: Ghana) to photographer Fabrice Monteiro’s project on the environment in Senegal (The Prophecy).
Black Girl
- Thursday, February 11 7 PM
Ousmane Sembène
Senegal, 1966
A young Senegalese woman takes a job as a maid in the French Riviera but finds her dreams dashed against the ordinary racism of the bourgeoisie in this landmark work of postcolonial resistance.
Housemaids
- Thursday, February 11 8:30 PM
Gabriel Mascaro
Brazil, 2013
Seven Brazilian teenagers from diverse backgrounds film their housemaids in this provocative work on race and class, an update to Black Girl.

African Film Festival 2016

February 11–March 19, 2016

This year’s edition of the African Film Festival moves from Sudan (before it split in two) to Brazil, the Ivory Coast to Israel, as it spotlights new work from Africa and the African diaspora. We’re delighted to bring feature debuts like Bazi Gete’s Red Leaves, a subtle drama set within the Ethiopian Jewish community of Israel, and Philippe Lacôte’s Run, a fiery new political coming-ofage fable from the Ivory Coast that was the first Ivorian feature ever invited to the Cannes Film Festival. We also welcome back some films by legendary makers, such as Mauritanian maestro Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu, a humanist satire on the jihadist takeover of that city, which earned acclaim and notoriety during its festival run, and the Senegalese pioneer Ousmane Sembene’s 1966 classic Black Girl, which is showcased in a new digital restoration. A more recent favorite, Michel Ocelot’s...

In addition to bringing us new intriguing short films on African art, the festival also presents a new crop of documentaries, including Gabriel Mascaro’s Housemaids, a profile of Brazilian housemaids filmed by their teenage charges, and Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque’s heartbreaking profile of the Sudan, The Longest Kiss.

Jason Sanders, Film Notes Writer

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The African Film Festival National Traveling Series is organized by the African Film Festival, Inc. and coordinated at BAMPFA by Film Curator Kathy Geritz, where it is copresented by the Department of African American Studies and the Center for African Studies at UC Berkeley. This touring series has been made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Lambent Foundation, and The Bradley Family Foundation. Special thanks to Mahen Bonetti, director, and Alimah Boyd, program coordinator, for their assistance and support. The festival at BAMPFA includes additional titles. Prints provided by the African Film Festival National Traveling Series, unless indicated otherwise.