From: Cornelius Moore [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] For Immediate Release
For more information go to <http://www.newsreel.org/> www.newsreel.org NEW AFRICAN FILM SERIES -Program Hosted by Danny Glover Airs during February 2003 on Public Television- -First National Broadcast of African Dramatic Films Shows Africa through African Eyes- -Presented by California Newsreel and KQED Public Television San Francisco- AFRICA IN THE PICTURE, a series of recent dramatic films by acclaimed African directors, premieres on public television during February 2003,Black History Month. The three-part AFRICA IN THE PICTURE series is a groundbreaking event in American television history, marking the first national broadcast of African-produced films. The series illustrates the rich diversity of styles and genres that African filmmakers are using to address the urgent social issues facing their continent. Viewers will have the opportunity to see films that genuinely represent Africa through African eyes rather than images filtered through Western lenses. A presentation of KQED Public Television San Francisco, AFRICA IN THE PICTURE is produced by California Newsreel, the distributor of the largest collection of African films in North America. Noted actor and activist Danny Glover hosts the series. The programs in order of presentation are: "Faat Kine" This is the most recent work by internationally recognized director Ousmane Sembene, regarded by many as the father of African cinema. Sembene describes the film as an homage to the "everyday heroism of African women." The film features a few climactic days in the life of Faat Kine, a middle-aged liberated single mother and successful businesswoman, and is interspersed with brief flashbacks to her past relationships with the men who betrayed her and, symbolically, the needs of the country as well. "One of the 10 best films of 2001," says The New York Times. The film is in French and Wolof with English subtitles. "Tales of Ordinary People" This program consists of the two films in a proposed trilogy by the late Senegalese visionary director, Djibril Diop Mambety. Using fables and humor, Mambety juxtaposed the harsh economic and social realities against the dream of economic and social justice in Africa. In the first segment, "Le Franc", a down-on-his-luck-musician and West African "everyman," reminiscent of Chaplin's "little tramp," stakes all his hopes on the national lottery. In the second segment, "La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil" ("The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun"), a feisty 12-year-old paraplegic wants to become the first female news vendor in Dakar. "One of the top 10 films of 2000," says The Village Voice. Both segments are in Wolof with English subtitles. "Daresalam" Emerging director Issa Serge Coelo sets "Daresalam", one of the first features from the central African nation of Chad, in the 1970s when that country was plagued by civil war, and shows how ordinary people get swept up into larger political events. Two young friends join the rebel army after their village is brutalized by the government army and their friendship is later destroyed when they take opposite sides after the rebels split into factions. In Chadian Arabic and French with English subtitles. Funding for AFRICA IN THE PICTURE is provided by grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Black Programming Consortium. Additional generous support was provided by KQED Public Television. California Newsreel is a 35-year-old non-profit film/video distribution and production center. It is dedicated to building an audience for African films and using the medium to increase awareness about African issues. <http://www.newsreel.org> www.newsreel.org --- You are currently subscribed to african-cinema-conference as: [archive@jab.org] To unsubscribe, forward this message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
