Director:Drissa Toure From:Burkina Faso and France Year:1995Minutes:87 Language:French with English subtitles Genre:comedy
Ouagadougou, its buildings and shantytowns... Wealth in a modern town and poverty in the suburbs. Through Fousseini -- a Muslim firmly attached to his faith and traditions - and his family HARAMUYA draws a picture of Ouagadougou in the traps of modernism and traditionalism. Fousseini tries to take care of his family according to the old precepts and the code of honor inherited from his ancestors. One of his sons is a cinema projectionist and supports all the family against the will of his wife. The other son idles around all day long in Ouagadougou, looking for a girlfriend.
35mm rental:$250 video sale:$90 DVD sale:$295 DVD entitled GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 1 - also includes feature filmFaraw! Mother of the Dunes
STORIES OF POST-COLONIALISMis a double DVD that is a source of information, reflection, retrospective and critical thinking regarding the presence of foreign powers on the continent and what that entails for the general population as very well illustrated inTHE BIG BANANA. In the nation building process, governments have to face a multiplicity of tasks to build the countries' economic, educational, health, and justice systems, to name a few.CELL 512illustrates the challenges of building a democratic society in a new nation.
THE BIG BANANA
Banned in Cameroon,The Big Banana illustrates the poor working conditions in banana plantations and exposes the adverse impact on the people of a corporatocracy government that affords super profits for corporations at the expense of the local population.
The Big Bananaoutlines land grabbing tactics by company Plantation du Haut Penja (PHP) and the ensuing devastation for communities: poverty, pollution, and sickness from pesticides. Bieleu, who spent two years filming residents in the remote countryside of Cameroon also features local cooperatives resisting the devastation through business alliances with fair trade organizations.
By Franck Bieleu, Cameroon, 2011, 85min, Documentary in French with English subtitles.
CELL 512
A spoiled young man makes a bet with his friends: riding a motorbike at a brisk pace without brakes or lights for a week, without being worried. He will be hit by Honorine, a woman driving her car. She will end up in jail. Should corruption, rape and denial of justice be the lot of those without financial means to defend themselves?
By Missa Hebie, 2015, Burkina Faso, Drama, 99 min, French w/ English subtitles.
Two fiction films that explore the life of women in Africa. Set in Burkina Fasso AN UNCOMMON WOMAN is a comedy about a cuckold woman who decides to take a second husband. CAPE VERDE MY LOVE is drama that takes a critical look at the lives of women in contemporary Cape Verde.
AN UNCOMMON WOMAN
Mina is tired of her husband's infidelity and decides to take a drastic decision: She takes a second husband. Based on his conversations with women involved in polygamist relationships, he illustrates - to very funny effects - the daily life of two persons - in this case two men - who share a spouse. On a comedic tone, Abdoulaye Dao tells us a story of jealousy, infidelity, romance and revenge.Directed by Dao Abdoulaye, 2009, 101 min, Burkina Faso, Comedy, French with English subtitles.
An Uncommon Woman-Une Femme Pas Comme Les Autres- was a success in its native Burkina Faso and is cast with some the best actors of Burkinabe cinema.
Official selection, African Diaspora International Film Festival 2010.
CAPE VERDE MY LOVE
Praia, Cape Verde. Laura, Flavia and Bela are childhood friends. Each leads her own life and they sometimes meet to dance, dine and have fun. But one day the calm rivers of their lives break their banks and become wild torrents: Ricardo, Flavia's husband, rapes his pupil Indira, Laura's 13-year old eldest daughter. A film that takes a critical look at the lives of women in Cape Verde .
By Ana Lucia Ramos Lisboa, 2007, Cape Verde, Drama, 77min, Cape Verdean Portuguese w/ English subtitles.
Didi Cheeka works as a director and film critic and has been working for years to reappraise the Nigerian film heritage. He initiated the archive project “Reclaiming History, Unveiling Memory” with the aim of restoring, digitizing and curating rediscovered Nigerian films.
SHAIHU UMAR is one of the most important works in Nigerian film history, but was long considered lost. Located in northern Nigeria at the end of the 19th century, the film is based on a novel by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who later became Nigeria’s first prime minister. Only the rediscovery of the camera negative in 2016 made the reconstruction of the film possible. The digitally restored version had its premiere at the Berlinale in February 2018.
Set in northern Nigeria towards the end of the 19th century,Shaihu Umarstarts with a discussion between Islamic students and their renowned teacher, the wise man Shaihu Umar. Asked about his origins, Umar begins to tell his story: he comes from a modest background and is separated from his mother after his father dies and his stepfather is banished. His subsequent trials and tribulations are marked by slavery, and he is put to any number of tests until he finally becomes the adopted son of his Arabic master Abdulkarim. He attends Koran School and is made an imam upon reaching adulthood. Following a particular dream, he resolves to search for his mother.
Adamu Halilu filmedShaihu Umarin Hausa in 1976. Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art restored the film with the support of the German Embassy in Abuja.
byAdamu Halilu, Epic Drama,Nigeria, 1976, 142', Hausa with English Subtitles.
Adamu Halilu, based on the novel of the same title by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Director of Photography
Yusuf Mohammed, Zakari Yusufu
Editing
Edwin Apim
Sound
Baba Gana
Production Design
Assad Yasin
Producers
Umaru Ladan, Umaru Dembo
BIOGRAPHY
Adamu Halilu
Born in the state of Adamawa, Nigeria in 1936. He studied screenwriting and editing in London. Along with his work as a feature film director, Adamu Halilu also wrote screenplays and took part in the production of almost 70 documentary films. Adamu Halilu died in 2001.
Filmography (selection)
1963Mama Learns a Lesson; 48 min.1971Child Bride; 70 min.1976Shaihu Umar1978Kanta of Kebbi1981Moment of Truth; 90 min.1982Zainab
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018
PRODUCED BY
Federal Ministry of Information (Federal Film Unit Kaduna)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, FRANCE, GERMANY, NORWAY, QATAR, SWITZERLAND/ 2018/ LINGALA | FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES/ 75 MIN
SYNOPSIS
In January 2015, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, sought a constitutional amendment that would allow him to be elected president for a third time.
This film documents the resulting demonstrations and follows three protagonists of the resistance. Ben, who lives in exile in New York, takes the advice of his fellow countrymen in exile and decides to join the struggle in the Congo. Jean Marie, who has just been released from prison, continues his public campaign for his country’s freedom and is persecuted by the secret service. Christian fights unperturbed in the streets of Kinshasa, even after former Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi, on whom the opposition had pinned their hopes, dies and the movement against Kabila’s extension of his time in office seems paralysed.
Should one resist in exile, or fight on the ground in the Congo? Should resistance be non-violent or should force be used if required? Filmed throughout with a handheld camera that stays very close to the protagonists, even in precarious conditions, Dieudo Hamadi explores the pros and cons of different forms of resistance.
Directed by Kinfe Banbu, 2014 | Ethiopia | Drama | 105 min | Amharic w/ English subtitles
SYNOPSIS
Bilatena tells us the story of Abi, a young boy who is representative of million of children in Africa who do not attend school and work to sustain their families. Childhood Destroyed from Chad tells a similar story from a girl's perspective. Bilatena also introduces us to the problems of the Ethiopian health system.
Abi, a dynamic and resourceful twelve year old boy, lives with his mother Degua and his 26 year old university graduate unemployed brother Zelalem (Zele). Abi, who is a a hyper-industrious hard working 12-year-old boy with two jobs, supports his poor mother and his older unemployed brother through their day to day lives.
But when their mother dies of Hepatitis B and Abi is also infected with the virus, Zele must face the big challenge of supporting his own life and keeping his younger brother alive by earning the 20,000 Ethiopian birr per month needed for his brother's medication.
"A fairy tale with a real-life grit" ~ Celia Wren, The Washington Post
"Answering questions via e-mail from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Bilatenaproducer Melkam Yideg said the story drew on Banbu’s experience growing up in a neighborhood of the Ethiopian capital where children often skip school to earn money for their families. While drawing attention to this phenomenon, and to the importance of industriousness in general, the movie also aims to raise awareness about hepatitis, Yideg says. “From the feedback we [have received] from our audience, we can proudly say that we have met our goal,” she says." ~ Celia Wren, The Washington Post
BURKINA FASO / 2015 / FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 99 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Cell 512that takes a critical look at the prison and legal systems in Burkina Faso, the issue of corruption and the status of women in society.
Honorine, a married woman from a modest background with two young children and a loving husband is involved in a car accident that causes the death of a 17-year-old boy. The young man was the son of a rich and vindictive business man who makes every effort to ensure Honorine gets the worst treatment possible when she is sent to prison.
Through the life experiences of Honorine in prison, the film shows the harsh laws and vices of prison life: sexual harassment, physical and emotional violence, promiscuity and obligation to suffer without complaint or murmur. All these evils are the fruit of the imagination of officials and prison guards, and of prisoners themselves as they seek to meet their needs and their libido. Justice, only recourse of the weak, is mired in a system of corruption, influence peddling, where the reason of the strongest and the richest prevails.
Cell 512received the prestigious Catholic Church-sponsored SIGNIS award during FESPACO 2015. SIGNIS, as an international association, promotes media for a culture of peace. The SIGNIS prize is always awarded to a film that promotes gospel, human or Christian values. Cell 512 received the award for “addressing matters that promote the integrity of family values in the face of severe challenges, presenting the relationship between men and women as complementary, and for its attention for the poor.”
EGYPT / 2016 / ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 125 MIN
SYNOPSIS
From one of Egypt's most controversial and taboo-breaking filmmakers comes a drama of betrayal, passion and political upheaval. A year after the events that kicked off the Arab Spring, millions of Egyptians gathered to demand the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The January protests lasted 18 days and saw numerous attempts by the government to silence dissent using censorship and violence. In his latest film, director Khaled El Hagar establishes a parallel narrative, in which an erotic and symbolic struggle for freedom plays out on a farm while the urban revolt serves as a backdrop.
Confined to a marriage of convenience, Fatma (Nahed El Sebai) is torn between tradition and a drive to rebel against her oppressive circumstances. Her desire for renewal is ignited when an escaped convict turns up seeking shelter. The affair is extremely transgressive, especially given the rigorous religious standards that underpin Egyptian society. Much like the undemocratic political establishment, the farm's master governs with terrifying impunity. The film caused a firestorm of media debate over freedom of expression in its home country. Ironically, even under the newer government, the film was censored and subjected to numerous edits before Egyptians could view it. It's a scathing critique of the establishment, building to an unflinching ending that questions where the revolution is headed and what it has accomplished. (VIFF)
"Outstanding both as neo-film noir and as penetrating examination of class relations in Egypt that help explain the continuation of capitalist oligarchic rule." ~ Louis Project
BURKINA FASO / 2003 / DJULA AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 90 MIN
SYNOPSIS
A comedy set in contemporary Burkina Faso, Tasuma tells the story of a World War II veteran who has been trying for more than 50 years to obtain his well-deserved military pension. Convinced that he will be paid shortly, Sogo buys a mill on credit for the village. But the money does not arrive. When Sogo is put in prison because he cannot reimburse his loan, the women of the village rally to set him free.
DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Daniel Kollo Sanou
Starring: Ali Keita
Starring: Mamadou Zerbo
Starring: Noufou Ouédraogo
GENRES
Comedy
DVD entitled GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 2- also includes feature film Sia, the Dream of the Python
TUNISIA / 1999 / ENGLISH AND ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 52 MIN
SYNOPSIS
In Tunisia, the history of stambali goes back to the arrival of the first Africans taken as slaves from Mali, Timbuktu specifically. Practicing their music and worship in the house of their masters, the enslaved and their musical traditions survive to this day.
Stambali is a religious ritual in Tunisia, a journey with the rhythm of the "gombri" and "chkackek," traces an individual and collective hypnosis, an annual tribute that the disciples of Sidi Saad pay to their master during an initiatory journey and rite of purification that lasts three days.
In "Stambali," the camera, video and film follow the rhythm of the possession, dances, and goes into a trance, in the cemetery, in an open space of grass, trees, dust and sand, in the eroticism that is released by this physical and spiritual representation.
EGYPT / 2009 / ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 135 MIN
SYNOPSIS
SCHEHERAZADE: TELL ME A STORY is a tale ripped from today’s headlines and yet a clever reference to the myths and lore of the Middle East.  When her husband (Hassan Saeed) asks her to tone down the subversive political rhetoric on her program, Egyptian talk show host Hebba (Mona Zaki) draws even more heat by beginning a series that explores the experience of women in contemporary Egypt. As three women speak out about the mistreatment they've suffered in a deeply patriarchal society, Hoda must contend with her own disintegrating marriage. Yousry Nasrallah directs this drama.
DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Yousry Nasrallah
Starring: Mona Zaki
Starring: Rehab El Gamal
Starring: Hassan El Raddad
GENRES
Drama
Also features Fallen Angels Paradise
FALLEN ANGELS PARADISE (GANNAT AL SHAYATEEN)
DIRECTED BY OUSSAMA FAWZI
EGYPT / 1999 / ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 80 MIN
SYNOPSIS
A homeless man dies of an overdose in a popular Cairo neighborhood. He was once an ideal husband and represented security for his family. Then one day, everything changed. Upon his death his friends from the underworld drag the corpse around for a whole night of madness, drinking and hallucinating situations. A game with death where the dead man becomes more alive than the living and fallen angels live according to their own rules, laws and desires in the chaos of the Egyptian capital. The film is based on a famous short story written by the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado.
BURKINA FASO / 2001 / BAMBARA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 96 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Kombi is a poverty-stricken city dominated by a tyrant king. In order to bring back prosperity, the king is advised by his priests to make the traditional human sacrifice of a young virgin to a mystical snake god. Sia, the most beautiful young woman of the village, has been designated. Lieutenant Mamadi, her fiancé, rebels against the decision to perform this ritual and the village becomes divided. Struggles and revelations follow as the characters confront issues of honour, corruption and power.
EGYPT / 2002 / ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 14 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Sami and his wife Sarah are packing to move to the USA where they intend to open a restaurant. Rania, Sarah's sister, goes to their house to take them to the airport, but some unexpected and unforeseeable events take place in the apartment: games of seduction, murder and dead bodies to be disposed of. A surrealist comedy by Ahmed Hassouna who belongs to a new group of young promising Egyptian filmmakers.
SENEGAL AND BELGIUM / 2008 / WOLOF AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 48 MIN
SYNOPSIS
In a voice-over, we hear the thoughts of Amy, a girl from a rural area of Senegal who works as a domestic for a well-to-do family in Dakar. She complains about her employer, who continuously criticizes her and gets on her case, and she talks about her dream of one day opening her own eatery. Meanwhile, we see her sweep the pavement, prepare the food and clean the house. The contrast with her vast and barren native region is enormous. In Dakar, some 150,000 young women work as housekeepers for families whose daughters can go to school. "Why does the emancipation of some result in the servitude of others?" Amy wonders. The filmmakers interview other young maids who dream of going to school, and they film a woman who shouts her furious lyrics straight into the camera in rapper-like fashion: "I keep your houses squeaky clean, but you all think I'm dirty!" In a dramatized scene in a slum, the women demonstrate how they'd like to deal with a woman who doesn't pay her housekeeper enough. In response to the situation, the filmmakers make an appeal to change the rules of the world economy.
A housemaid, who is sexually abused by her boss and made pregnant, is forced to give up her son in order to go on with her education.
Six years later she comes back to claim her son. From Malawi comes this moving story about sexual abuse, women rights and the legal justice system in Malawi.
This film tackles universal themes in an African setting giving an understanding of some of the modernization and democratization processes in Africa.
Flora Suya stars as the lead character, Sungisa Malango, a maid turned lawyer who fights for custody of her child.
"This is not exactly a film I would have sought out but since it was made in Malawi by a Malawian director, I decided to watch it and am damned glad I did. This is a film that will tell you far more about the ascending middle class in Africa than any Thomas Friedman column plus it is a well-written and well-acted old fashioned tale of the sort that might have starred Bette Davis. Strongly recommended." - Film critic Louis Proyect
BURKINA FASO / 2009 / FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 101 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Mina is tired of her husband's infidelity and decides to take a drastic decision: She takes a second husband. Based on his conversations with women involved in polygamist relationships, he illustrates - to very funny effects - the daily life of two persons - in this case two men - who share a spouse. On a comedic tone, Abdoulaye Dao tells us a story of jealousy, infidelity, romance and revenge.
SENEGAL, FRANCE AND GERMANY / 2012 / WOLOF AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 87 MIN
SYNOPSIS
In Moussa Toure’s powerful epic fiction film, a group of 30 men sail to Europe in a pirogue, facing the sea - and the possibility of never reaching their destination - in exchange for the myth of a better life in Europe.
Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue. Like many of his Senegalese compatriots, he sometimes dreams of new horizons, where he can earn a better living for his family. When he is offered to lead one of the many pirogues that head towards Europe via the Canary Island, he reluctantly accepts the job, knowing full-well the dangers that lie ahead. Leading a group of 30 men who don't all speak the same language, some of whom have never seen the sea, Baye Laye will confront many perils in order to reach the distant coasts of Europe.
"Senegal, a West African nation on the Atlantic Ocean, was home to Africa’s greatest movie-maker, Ousmane Sembene. Today, Moussa Toure follows in the master’s footsteps with this drama of 30 men (and one woman, a stowaway) who set out on an illegal 7-day voyage to Spain - making the perilous trip in a pirogue - a boat resembling a vastly oversized dinghy. While sharing a common desire to build a better future, these men hail from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. The story grows from a finely delineated mosaic of personalities - reactions to the journey’s mounting danger - that span the emotional panoply of human experience. Toure’s compelling tale says as much about the universal nature of courage and perfidy as it does about the economic realities faced by so many of the world’s people. THE PIROGUE was featured in Cannes 2012, in the Un Certain Regard section." ~ Film Forum.
Nothing But The Truth is a gripping investigation into the complex dynamic between those blacks who remained in South Africa and risked their lives to lead the struggle against apartheid and those who returned victoriously after living in exile. In New Brighton, South Africa, 63-year-old librarian Sipho Makhaya prepares for the return of the ashes of his brother Themba, recently deceased while in exile in London after gaining a reputation as a hero of the anti-apartheid movement. Internationally recognized, multiple award-winning actor John Kani is the lead actor in this film version of the internationally acclaimed award-winning play Nothing But The Truth which he also authored.
“A deeply felt portrait that delicately weaves the extraordinary and the ordinary in its characters' lives.” - New York Times
Death and funeral traditions play a significant role in African culture. No Time to Die is director King Ampaw’s contribution to passing the tradition onto the next generation.
A hearse driver meets and falls in love with a young, beautiful dancer who is planning an elaborate homegoing celebration for her mother. This love and comedy feature length film follows David as he does everything to win her affection.
CHAD / 1994 / ARABIC ND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 22 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Images presented in Feminine Dilemma are almost unsustainable to watch. One witnesses the circumcision operation performed on two young girls as women surrounding them in a courtyard clap their hands, dance and sing "you will not cry or we will never forgive you". Following this harrowing sequence, the film presents a series of interviews with religious leaders, women group representatives, health workers, everyday people and the girls themselves and asks the question: why female circumcision? Should it be performed and how? And what are the consequences? Following the making of this film, scandal broke and threats and attacks against the filmmaker followed. But once the dust settled, a debate started in Chad which allowed for open discussions of a topic that is still taboo in many parts of the world today. As for the filmmaker, Zara M. Yacoub, she will remain marked for life by her experiences making and defending this very courageous and disturbing documentary.
CHAD / 1999 / ARABIC DIALECT AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 26 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Eleven year old Mariam works as a domestic to provide for her guardian, her unemployed Uncle Djimet, and his family. Mariam wakes up early each day to go to work while Djimet, his wife Isabelle and their children are still asleep. Mariam works as an all-purpose maid, housekeeper, cook and baby sitter for the Nadji family. With her many tasks, she is constantly under pressure from Nadji and his son Moussa, and must answer to the whims of his wife, and young children. One day, Mariam is arrested for having unwittingly thrown rubbish in a prohibited place. She is detained for five days in prison without her uncle or employer even inquiring of her whereabouts. "Childhood destroyed" denounces the living conditions of young girls in Chad in a delicate yet powerful way.
In this revealing African comedy-drama that contrasts the hectic life in Accra, the capital of Ghana, with the relative peace of Kukurantumi, a rural town, a truck driver makes runs between the two locations with few problems until he is forced to replace his truck. In order to raise the money to get a new vehicle, he sells some stolen watches and promises his daughter in marriage to a rich merchant. Rebelling against this fate, the daughter runs off to Accra with her boyfriend -- but then nothing turns out quite like she had planned, and the rich merchant looks better with each passing day.
"One of the most celebrated Ghanaian films to emerge before the country’s video industry, Kukurantumi is intelligent filmmaking, situating the troubles of one family within the wider context of political corruption, poverty and class struggle within Ghanaian society." ~ Film Africa 2020
"Kukurantumitreats a formidable theme--the erosion of traditional values in a modernizing country--in an upbeat, engaging tale that takes place, fittingly, on the road connecting a rural village to the Ghanaian capital of Accra." ~ BERKELEY ART MUSEUM & PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE
Charlie, Thabo and Peter, three "MK" veterans from the armed branch of the African National Congress, return to post-apartheid South Africa in 1996 after years of exile. It will not be easy for them to find their place in society again. Charlie dreams of opening a club, Thabo has to patch up his relationship with his wife and son and Peter continues to work in the Party and investigate the traitors of the ANC. Continuously hampered as he delves into the Government's files, his ensuing investigations provide shocking revelations of the identities of the traitors. Pared down from a successful mini series for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Homecoming draws its plot from the real life experiences of acclaimed filmmaker and writer, Zola Maseko, a former "MK" soldier of the ANC. Morman Maake (26) is perhaps the most promising young director from South Africa. He studied at ADFA, a dynamic young film- and drama school in Johannesburg. He has several films to his name, amongst which Sweet Home (1999), Soldiers of Rock (2003), and Homecoming (2005).
MALI / 1997 / SONGHOÏ WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 90 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Zamiatou is the mother of two quarrelsome boys and a depressed teenage girl. She is also the wife of a man arrested for political reasons who returns from prison mentally and physically destroyed. She struggles hard to survive in a poor and desolate area. She is ready to face anything to keep the family alive except prostituting her beautiful daughter. Her determination will take her far from her family…
DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Abbdoulaye Ascofaré
Starring: Aminata Ousmane
Starring: Balla Moussa Keita
Starring: Safiatou Mahamane
GENRES
Drama
DVD entitled GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 1 - also includes feature film Haramuya