Watch-Africa 2024
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THE BRONZE MAN OF CAMEROON
BY FLORENCE AYISI
2020
Cameroon | 2020 | 55’ | TBC | Florence Ayisi
19/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
The Bronze Men of Cameroon is a documentary film and about cultural heritage, continuity and change. The film presents a portrait of bronze casting as a valued traditional practice that has defined the identity of Bamum People in the Western Region of Cameroon. This once flourishing tradition is now endangered as global trends impact on the treasured way of life that has sustained livelihoods over several generations.
YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY
BY AMJAD ABU ALALAL
2019
Sudan | 2019 | 103’ | adv15 | Amjad Abu Alalal
20/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
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In a Sudanese village, a mother gives birth to Muzamil, a boy cursed by a Dervish prophecy that he will die at 20. Muzamil grows up surrounded by looks of sympathy, until Suleiman, acinematographer who has worked in the city, returns. Suleiman's cinema projector opens a window to a new world for Muzamil. In time, he comes to doubt the prophecy. When his 20th birthday arrives, he is torn between death and a bus to the world he is eager to know about.
PIECES D'IDENTITES
BY MWEZE NGANGURA
1998
Belgium | 1998 | 97’ | TBC | Mweze Ngangura | Gérard Essomba, Dominique Mesa, Jean-Louis Daulne, Herbett Flack
21/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
This Belgian comedy follows African king Mani Kongo (Gerard Essomba), who journeys to Brussels in order to track down his daughter, Mwana (Dominique Mesa), who left their homeland to study medicine. As he searches for Mwana, the ruler discovers shocking revelations -- namely that she isn't in school, and leads a trouble-filled life that includes dating cabbie Chaka-Jo (Jean-Louis Daulne). While abroad, the king must also contend with considerable prejudice, making his quest far from easy.
WEND KUUNI
BY GODS GIFT
1982
Burkina Faso | 1982 | 75’ | TBC | Gaston Kaboré | Serge Yanogo, Rosine Yanogo, Joseph Nikiema
22/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
Wend Kuuni is a landmark in African filmmakers' attempts to "return to the sources" of their culture, to recover a "usable" African past to solve the problems of the African present. Filmmaker Gaston Kaboré adapts the measured rhythms of traditional African storytelling to create an authentically African cinematic language. He retells an ancient fable about a mute, memoryless orphan, driven from his homeland, who is renamed Wend Kuuni("God's Gift") by the grateful village which adopts him. Kaboré uses this simple tale to demonstrate that traditional Mossi values can still provide answers to many problems besetting modern Africa, fractured by rural dislocation, refugees and political conflict.
MLK/FBI
BY SAM POLLARD
2021
23/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
MLK / FBI is the first film to uncover the extent of the FBI's surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Based on newly discovered and declassified files, utilizing a trove of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and unsealed by the National Archives, as well as revelatory restored footage, the documentary explores the government's history of targeting Black activists, and the contested meaning behind some of our most cherished ideals. Featuring interviews with key cultural figures including former FBI Director James Comey and directed by Emmy® Award-winner and Oscar®-nominee Sam Pollard, MLK / FBI tells this astonishing and tragic story with searing relevance to our current moment.
STOP FILMING
US
BY JORIS POSTEMA
2020
Netherlands | 2020 | 95’ | TBC | Joris Postema
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24/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
Stop Filming Us is a film that dissects the mechanisms underpinning the dominance of Western perspectives of the Congo and Africa. A new generation of Congolese artists wants to show their own reality in response to the one-sided Western-dominated perceptions of their region.
THIS IS NOT A BURIAL,IT'S A RESURRECTION
BY LEMOHANG JEREMIAH MOSESE
2019
Lesotho | 2019 | 120’ | TBC | Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | Mary Twala
25/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
In a small village surrounded by mountains somewhere in Lesotho, the 80-year-old widow Mantoa waits for the return of her only surviving relative: her son, who works in a South African coal mine. It is Christmas and he would come home. Messengers, however, bring the sad news: her son died in a mining accident.
AIR CONDITIONER
BY FRADIQUE ANGOLA
2020
Angola | 2020 | 72’ | TBC | Fradique | José Kiteculo, Filomena Manuel
26/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
When the air-conditioners mysteriously start to fall in city of Luanda, Matacedo (security guard) and Zezinha (housemaid) have the mission of retrieving their boss’s ac.
MARIE-MADELEINE
BY FLORENCE AYISI
Wales | 2020 | 55’ | TBC | Florence Ayisi
27/02/2021
6PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
A woman is to be enthroned as chief in Nkol Ngock I, a small village in Cameroon. This is a rare occurrence in most African societies where the position of chief is customarily handed down from father to son. This documentary presents a rare glimpse into a community undergoing change. Social attitudes towards gender equality are changing, as men openly acknowledge and speak about the importance of women in development. One man says "women are doing more to encourage development than men. I believe a female chief will bring new things."
Even though some villagers consider Marie-Madeleine a 'stranger' because she lives in the capital city of Yaoundé, she is determined to learn about her culture and integrate into village life.
As Marie-Madeleine beats the real African drum on her enthronement day, the gentle sounds signal a break with tradition. It is the dawn of a new era in the village of Nkol Ngock I; a Woman will be their traditional leader. Residents are optimistic that she will bring much needed development to the village.
BUGANDA ROYAL MUSIC
REVIVAL
BY BASILE & JULES LOUIS KOECHLIN 2019
Switzerland | 2019 | 62’ | no cert | Basile Koechlin, Jules Louis
28/01/2021
1:45PM
AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR 24HRS
Whereas the traditional music of the kingdom of Buganda is on the verge of oblivion, some remaining royal musicians are brought together to sound their instruments once again.
