Source: TransAfrica Forum
TransAfrica Forum, afrikafé and AFI Silver are proud to present the fifth annual New African Films Festival. The vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent will be on display. This year also includes a selection of classic African films recently restored by the World Cinema Foundation.
If you go:
The festival takes place at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. AFI Member passes will be accepted at all films in the 2009 New African Films Festival, except the opening night film.
OPENING NIGHT:
13 MONTHS OF SUNSHINE
Thur, Mar 19, 7:30 PM
First-time director Yehdego Abeselom demonstrates a light touch in this drama that explores the tensions between traditional values, cultural identity and the pursuit of one’s dreams. In Los Angeles, Soloman and Hanna enter a marriage of convenience that becomes complicated with intimacy, love, jealousy and a clash of cultural values. A uniquely Ethiopian experience of the American dream. (Note courtesy of British Film Institute) DIR/SCR/PROD Yehdego Abeselom; PROD Jeremiah Lewis. US, 2007, color, 98 min. In Amharic, English and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
SHOOT THE MESSENGER
Thur, Mar 19, 9:45
& Sat, Mar 21, 7:45 PM
A bold, funny and controversial film directed by the politically explosive Nigerian-Brit filmmaker Ngozi Onwurah. The film’s opening line,”…everything bad that has ever happened to me has involved a black person,” rouses and prepares us for a critically insightful and intellectually charged confrontation of ideological and cultural perspectives that is candidly rendered in this remarkably thought-provoking film. (Note courtesy of AFI 20/20) DIR Ngozi Onwurah; SCR Sharon Foster; PROD Anne Pivcevic. UK, 2006, color, 90 min. NOT RATED
Tickets for SHOOT THE MESSENGER $10 General Admission / $9 Seniors, Students (with valid ID),
and Military Personnel/ $8.50 AFI Members/ $6.00 Children (12 and
Under). For ticket information visit www.afi.com/silver.
Reception at 6:30, screening at 7:30. Tickets $15 General Admission / $12 AFI Members. No passes accepted.
Cocktail reception catered by Abol Ethiopian Cuisine www.abolethiopiancuisine.com and Ethiopian coffee provided by Highland Origin Coffee www.highlandorigincoffee.com.
This aftternoon at the AFI New African Films Festival –
HARVEST 3000 YEARS [Mirt Sost Shi Amit] Sun, Mar 22, 5:45 PM
Shot under extremely difficult circumstances in Ethiopia during the early 1970s right after the overthrow of Haile Selasse, Haile Gerima’s HARVEST 3000 YEARS gives epic treatment to the lives of Ethiopia’s rural peasantry, their struggles against oppression and quest for justice. A wealthy landowner treats his tenant farmers cruelly, but they are afraid to confront him for fear of losing their livelihood. Only the village “madman” is willing to speak truth to power. DIR/SCR/PROD Haile Gerima. Ethiopia, 1975, b&w, 150 min. In English and Amharic with English subtitles.
Venue: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910