TICKET, INFO and FESTIVAL PASSES

THANK YOU!

Dr. Atema Eclai, the director of programs at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, has worked with diverse groups of African women across tribal conflict lines. Her campaigns including working towards ending female genital mutilation, child soldiers and systematic rape by soldiers. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she has trained leaders throughout Africa—including Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—in conflict management and chaired sessions for African women at a number of UN Women’s Conferences.

Samba Gadjigo, the world’s foremost expert on Ousmane Sembène, has published a biography and numerous essays on the Senegalese filmmaker, and is the director of THE MAKING OF MOOLAADE. His work-in-progress SEMBENE! received a grant from the Sundance Institute. Born and raised in Senegal, Gadjigo has been on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College since 1986, and has lectured widely at universities including Harvard and Brown.

William Saa, co-director of everyday ghandis, works in West Africa with local groups and traditional healers to support the reviving of indigenous cultural practices. As a peacebuilder, he coordinates five media teams, in his native Liberia and in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, that share their stories of post-war reconciliation in their own words and infuse them into the mainstream media. His extensive and courageous work was honored with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Citizenship Award.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Friday, February 6
7:30p     Ballast

Saturday, February 7
10a-1p   Workshop: Lessons from Africa: 
              Truth, Reconciliation and
              Forgiveness
3:30p     as We forgive
              Followed by discussion with Atema Eclai
5:45p     Planet B-Boy
8p          Ballast

Sunday, February 8
1p          Pray the Devil Back to Hell Presented
              by Atema Eclai
3p          Iron Ladies of Liberia Followed by
              discussion with Atema Eclai and Bill Saa

Tuesday, February 10
7:30p     Future of Mud

Wednesday, February 11
7:30p     Ballast

Thursday February 12
8:15p     Ballast

Friday, January 30
5p         Mandabi Presented by Samba Gadjigo
7:30p    Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love              Preceded by live music by Casadimanza

Saturday, January 31
1:30p    Camp de Thiaroye Presented by Samba
             Gadjigo, followed by discussion
5:15p    Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love             Presented by Samba Gadjigo
7:30      Pray the Devil Back to Hell Presented
             by Atema Eclai, followed by discussion

Sunday, February 1
2p         In Prison My Whole Life Followed by a
             discussion on American judicial reform
5p         Pray the Devil Back to Hell Presented
             by Atema Eclai

Tuesday, February 3
7:30p    Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Wednesday, February 4
7:30p    Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Thursday, February 5
7:30p    Pray the Devil Back to Hell

SCHEDULE

INSTALLATION

BALLAST
7:30 pm Friday, February 6; 8 pm Saturday, February 7; 7:30 pm Wednesday February 10; 8:15 pm Thursday, February 11
“Extraordinary … engages audiences’ best human responses.” -Variety
Winner of the jury and best director awards at Sundance, along with awards at seven other festivals, this film follows a death that instantly changes the lives of three people in a Mississippi Delta township. Marlee is a single mother struggling to scratch a living for herself and James, her 12-year-old son, who has begun to stumble under bad influences. Renewing her uneasy relationship with Lawrence, Marlee tries to find stability. A product of collaboration with the non-professional actors, all deeply connected to the story, Lance Hammer’s film marks the work of a brilliant new talent. (U.S., 2008, 96m, 35mm)

Planet B-Boy
5:45 pm Saturday, February 7
“Exhilarating!” -Variety
“Jaw dropping!” -LA Times
From Osaka to Paris, Seoul to Las Vegas, urban youth have embraced the world of b-boying—the explosively creative artform also known as breakdancing. Director Benson Lee follows five teams training for the tense showdown in front of 10,000 screaming fans at the world championships. As they work their moves, navigate difficult family lives and build their crews, we discover a true populist, street-level form of dance, and a handful of young unexpected heroes. Lee’s upbeat, kinetic style makes this crowd-pleasing documentary a SPELLBOUND for the hip-hop set. (U.S., 2008, 95m, 35mm, Elephant Eye Films)

Pray the Devil Back to Hell
See schedule for full listing of times
“Uplifting, disheartening, inspiring, enraging—the mind reels while watching, even as the eyes water, the temples pound and the body trembles at this no-nonsense inquiry into human beings at their absolute worst and heartening best.” -New York Times
The men started the war. The women ended it. As the horrors of the Liberian civil war became too much to bear, thousands of women—mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim—first prayed for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded an end to the country’s civil war, helping force resolution during stalled peace talks. Gini Reticker’s Tribeca-winning film offers a story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, and proof that activism can alter history. (U.S.-Liberia, 2008, 72m, 35mm, Balcony Releasing)

Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
7:30 pm Friday, January 30;
5:15 pm Saturday, January 31
This music-infused cinematic journey celebrates power of one man’s voice to inspire change. One of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, the beloved Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour defied expectations with his most personal album, Egypt, presenting his Islamic faith as a peaceable and tolerant religion. Despite international acclaim, the album was denounced as blasphemy in his native Senegal. Director Chai Vasarhelyi followed Ndour for two years, through Africa, Europe, and America, as he wins over audiences at home and worldwide. The Friday, Jan. 30 screening will be preceded by music from Casadimanza. (U.S.-Senegal, 2008, 90m, 35mm, Oscilloscope Pictures)

PREMIERES

THE FUTURE OF MUD
7:30 pm Tuesday, February 10
“A compelling narrative about traditional building ... One gets a true sense of love and craft.” -TreeHugger.com
Through the story of a mason, Susan Vogel’s documentary examines Mali’s tradition of mud architecture, including thick walls with tiny windows that keep the interiors cool despite the stifling heat. The story is set in Djenne, whose striking designs have made it a World Heritage site. From the creation sun-dried bricks to the stirring, completely unexpected rituals around the annual repair of the city's Great Mosque, this film offers a view of a culture and architecture seldom seen. (Mali, 2007, 58m, video)

A discussion and slideshow with Simone Swan, director, Adobe Alliance, and architect Beverly Spears, author, American Adobes: Rural Houses of Northern New Mexico, will follow screening

AS WE FORGIVE
3:30 pm Saturday, February 7
Winner, Student Oscar, Best Documentary Winner, Heartland Film Festival, Angelus Film Festival, All Roads Film Festival
After one of the world's most brutal genocides, Rwanda undertook a bold experiment in reconciliation, one that festival guest Atema Eclai participated in. This program combines her first-hand accounts, a screening of Laura Waters Hinson's AS WE FORGIVE and a post-screening seminar on incorporating lessons from Rwanda into our daily lives. Hisnon's film asks: Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? The story follows two women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. Rosaria must confront Saveri, who murdered her sister. After confessing his crime, begins to build her a house to repent. Chantal, who lost 30 members of her family, finds the strength to face john, a former family friend who killed her father. With no easy answers, Rwandans are stretching our concepts of human redemption, rebuilding their lives, and a society, through reconciliation of the deepest kind. (U.S.-Rwanda, 2008, 53m, video)

IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE
2 pm Sunday, February 1
Winner, Grand Prize, Geneva Human Rights Festival
Though locked deep inside Death Row, Mumia AbuJamal has managed to penetrate the consciousness of people worldwide. Among them is William Francome, who happened to be born the day Mumia was arrested. Marc Evan's film explores the strange case of the man who, through his books, articles and broadcasts from prison, has become “the Voice of the Voiceless.” Tracking his case, and the resistance movement to American injustices, Francome talks to luminaries including Angela Davis, Mos Def, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Snoop Dogg, Steve Earle and Amy Goodman. Jane Davis of HOPE HOWSE will lead a post-film discussion about the human impacts of the American judicial and prison systems and talk about current reform initiatives. (U.S.-England, 2008, 90m, DVCam)

IRON LADIES OF LIBERIA
3 pm Sunday, February 8
“Four ½ stars … Compelling and greatly informative.” -Eye on Film
Following two decades of brutal civil war, Liberia is ripe for change. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is ready to lead. In January, 2006, the Harvard-educated grandmother of eight became Africa’s first elected female head of state. Even after winning a run-off election with 59 percent of the vote, the “Iron Lady” faces enormous obstacles in rebuilding her war-torn country, including a $5 billion debt to the West, massive corruption at home and armed opponents loyal to her predecessor, the vicious Charles Taylor. At her side, however, are a female police chief and ministers of finance, justice, commerce and gender. Can these women set a new agenda for Africa in the 21st century? As Daniel Junge and Siatta Scott Johnson’s film shows, they already are. (U.S.-Liberia, 2007, 77m, video)

Following the screening, Bill Saa and Atema Eclai will discuss the ways in which African women are leading the way towards a forward-looking politics of reconciliation and unity.

CINEMA SEMINARS

CAMP DE THIAROYE
1:30 pm Saturday, January 31
Introduced by Samba Gadjigo, author, Sembene: Revolutionary Artist
“A novelistic and often witty treatment of a complex subject.” -Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Of the many extraordinary films of the late Ousmane Sembene, the father of African cinema, this funny, heartbreaking, transformative tale may be his most revolutionary in terms of both form and content. Rarely seen in the U.S. and based on true events, this story follows Senegalese troops whose triumphant return from heroic duty on the European fronts of World War II are marred when the French Army unapologetically reneges on its commitments. One of cinema’s great tales of resistance, told with a combination of Beckett-like absurdity and historical verisimilitude, CAMP DE THIAROYE is an epic in miniature, with
all the richness and nuance of a great novel. Samba Gadjigo, Sembene’s official biographer, will introduce the film. (Senegal, 1987, 147m, 35mm, in French and Wolof w/ English subtitles, New Yorker Films)

MANDABI
5:15 pm Friday, Jan. 30
Introduced by Samba Gadjigo, author,
Sembene: Revolutionary Artist
“Displays a controlled sophistication that gives it a feeling of almost classic direct-ness and simplicity.” -New York Times

Sembene’s first comedy, first film in color and first work in an African language consists of a series of comic mishaps involving one man’s futile attempts to cash a check from France. Deceptively simple but rich with layered meaning, the story includes corrupt government officials, impoverished members of Dakar’s proletariat and a clash between villagers and Africa’s burgeoning commodity culture. Though attacked in the press upon initial release, Sembene’s satire today is recognized as a signal work of world cinema, and a tribute to Sembene’s vision and humanism. (Senegal, 1968, 90m, 35mm, in French and Wolof with English subtitles, New Yorker Films)

REMEMBERING SEMBENE

WORKSHOP

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 12, 2009
Presented with support from the Pond Foundation

We initiated the African Effect festival in 2003 to celebrate the impact of African cultures. This year’s festival asks a still more pressing question: What lessons can we learn from Africa’s current transformation? While many of us are familiar with Nelson Mandela’s bridge-building work in South Africa, other inspiring, courageous and instructive peaceful revolutions also deserve our attention. In Liberia, women joined together to challenge a vicious dictatorship, and then assumed leadership of their country. In Rwanda, survivors and perpetrators of a hellish genocide are now seeking ways to live together and heal deep psychic wounds. We’ll show films and present discussions on these historic moments. We’ll also spotlight Mumia Abu Jamal’s steadfast commitment to social justice, celebrate Youssou Ndour’s transcendent choice of faith above politics, dirty our hands with Malian mud, travel to Louisiana for a tale of redemption and discover American hip-hop’s influence on urban youth worldwide. And we’ll again showcase Ousmane Sembene, Africa’s leading cultural figure of the last half of the 20th century, whose entire career was dedicated to creating what he described as “liberating and galvanizing stories for Africa.”
To highlight the relevance these stories have to our everyday lives, three special guests will host this year’s festival. Samba Gadjigo, a treasured co-curator of this event for the past three years, is the world’s authority on Sembene, and will return to introduce two classics by his countryman from Senegal. Atema Eclai, a Kenyan native and director of programs at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, is one of the world’s leading human rights and mediation experts. And Liberia’s Bill Saa is a peace-builder and co-director of the internationally acclaimed NGO Everyday Gandhis. While the films themselves are inspiring, the presence of our guests, who demonstrate their progressive ideals through action, will resonate deeply during this time of crisis, transition and new visions.     

-Jason Silverman, Festival Director                

7TH ANNUAL AFRICAN EFFECT