Feature Films
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Africa is a Woman’s Name
Documentary, 63 min
Kenya/South Africa/Zimbabwe, 2009
Director: Ingrid Sinclair, Wanjiru Kinyanui, Bridget Pickering
Njoki Ngund’u, a Kenyan attorney voted the 2006 Person of the Year by the United Nations for her work on gender violence. Phuti Ragophala, the South African primary school principal who involved her community, one of most impoverished in the country, in an educational project. Aami Rosie, a courageous Zimbabwean housewife turned business woman. In Africa is a Woman’s Name these extraordinary African women from very different backgrounds reflect on their achievements and failures. How do they look at their own apparent ability to generate radical change and what is driving them - personal ambitions, altruism or a little bit of both?
All About Darfur
Documentary, 81 min
Sudan/UK, 2005
Director: Taghreed Elsanhouri
In her directorial debut, Taghreed Elsanhouri puts the lens on the people who usually just appear briefly in newscast footage, as if they were merely extras in the tragedy taking place in their country. She seeks to understand their plight on a humane level while creating a platform for ordinary Sudanese men and women to voice their suggestions for a brighter future. In intimate and respectful conversations Elsanhouri shows a Khartoum where people are disagreeing over a cup of coffee, rather than with guns in their hands. The film won the Award of Commendation from the American Anthropological Association in 2006 and the Chair Person’s prize at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) 2005. It has been screened at numerous film festivals including the Toronto International Film Festival 2005.
Mother Unknown
 Documentary, 49 min
Sudan/UK, 2009
Director: Taghreed Elsanhouri
In a conservative Muslim society, the birth of a child out of wedlock brings shame and stigma upon the family. Anchored around an orphanage in Khartoum where the abandoned babies of unwed mothers are taken care of, Mother Unknown follows the stories of two young unmarried mothers and one unmarried father who want to keep their babies. The film won the Unicef Child Rights award when it premiered at the Zanzibar Film Festival 2009.
Barakat!
 Fiction, 94 min
Algeria, 2006
Language: Arabic and French
Director: Djamila Sahraoui
Two Algerian women in search for the younger woman’s husband, a journalist who has disappeared as a result of his writing. When failing to solicit the help of the authorities she sets out to find him together with an older nurse. In the patriarchal, war-torn landscape that is Algeria in the 1990s, this takes courage. This road movie tells the story of two women who, in the face of obstacles such as the constant threat of ambush by militia, curfews and misogyny, do not only succeed in getting help from the initially reluctant men they meet on their way, but also gain a deeper understanding of the history of their country and its impact on their lives.
The Bull on the Roof
Experimental Feature, 85 min
South Africa, 2010
Director: Jyoti Mistry
Taking place in Johannesburg, Helsinki, Vienna and New York, the film provides a series of snapshots of life and space in disparate cities. Walking through streets, taking ferries, riding trains, having an escapist picnic, the geographic disorientation is further heightened by voiceovers in multiple languages. What holds everything together is the familiarity of everyday life, the things we all do; make love, do the laundry, drink coffee, read, write and find sanctuary in a womblike bath. Mistry’s variety of visual strategy, including cinema verité, surveillance, performance and animation, create an impressionistic essay on the small details of our lives that bind us together. The blend creates an impression of walking through a favorite art gallery while hearing good poetry read aloud.
Hollow City
 Fiction, 90 min
Angola, 2004
Director: Maria Joao Ganga
Hollow City is set in civil war torn Angola where an 11-year-old boy, N’dala, escapes to Luanda after witnessing the massacre of his family. In the big city he meets 13-year-old Ze who is rehearsing the part of a young heroic soldier in a school play. The soldier’s perseverance, despite fear, becomes a parable for N'dala's experience in the city. Ze takes N’dala home and pleads with his godmother to offer a home to his new friend. But left to his own devices, N'dala finds himself prey to the dangers of the city. This is the first Angolan full-length movie directed by a woman and was the first film to be produced in the country at the end of the civil war.
Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation
Documentary, 71 min
South Africa, 2009
Director: Catherine Meyburgh
World renowned South African artists William Kentridge and Marianne Dumas exchange experiences, inspirations and work processes in a relaxed conversation and in their Jo’burg studios their art is further explored. They express their ideas on the use of colour, photography, film and the studio space. While he explains how animation changes his approach to his art, she generously shares her thoughts both on her art selling for millions of dollar and on her rejected works. In open-hearted discussions about self portraits, pornography, sexuality, politics and death, two legendary artists demystify their art.
Night of Truth
Fiction, 100 min
Burkino Faso, 2004
Director: Fanta Régina Nacro
At the end of a ten year bloody ethnic war that has ravaged a fictitious country, the commanders of the two formerly warring factions - one of them now the country’s president – get together for a night of celebration of the hard-won peace in the company of their wives and their respective armies. Both sides have suffered losses and are traumatized by the country’s violent past, and as the evening unfolds old wounds are reopened, by themselves - despite their diplomatic intentions - and by those who thrive during times of unrest, jeopardizing the still fragile peace. In her first full length feature, Fanta Régina Nacro takes on the complex topic of truth and reconciliation and the impact of war on women.
Riskou - The Sharing of Cow
 Documentary, 52 min
Cameroon, 2008.
Director: Arice Siapi
In traditional cattle farming, every bit of the cow is used. The meat goes to the consumers. The hides go to the tanners, who process them to make leather. The fat is turned into soap and bones are crushed and incorporated into chicken feed. Even the dung is collected and used in farming. In The Sharing of Cow, the details of this process are described by the Peuhls (Fulanis), who are cattle farmers, and the Haoussas, who are butchers. These two communities, who meet regularly at the slaughterhouse, owe their very survival to many generations of cattle farming and slaughter. But now the government has decided to modernize the process and life as they know it is about to end. Can these two traditional communities survive the onset of modern farming?
Soul Boy
 Fiction, 78 min
Kenya, 2010
Director: Hawa Essuman
Nairobi, Kenya. 14 year-old Abila lives with his parents in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. One morning the teenager discovers his father huddled in a corner, delirious and claiming that someone has stolen his soul. Abila, shocked and confused, goes in search of a cure. Supported by his friend Shiku, he learns that his father has gambled his soul away in the company of a spiritual woman. The teenager sets about looking for the woman. When he finds her in the darkest corner of the ghetto, she gives him seven challenging tasks to save his father’s lost soul.
A Sting in a Tale
 Fiction, 115 min
Ghana, 2009
Director: Shirley Frimpong Manso
A twisted tale of two unemployed graduates, Kuuku and Nii Aryee, who are driven by the fear of poverty. These two friends go in search of a destiny that takes them to the most obscure places. In a tale where the unexpected is always lurking in the shadows, from the natural to the supernatural, among all ploys, grief and struggles, nothing prepares you for the unexpected ending. The film has been shown in numerous festivals and has won awards including African Movie Academy Awards 2010 (Best Director), African Movie Academy Awards 2010 (Best Sound Track) and 18th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (Audience Favorite-Narrative Feature).
Suwi
Fiction, 78 min
Zambia, 2009
Director: Musola Catherine Kaseketi
Suwiljani (Have Faith), a young woman with a bright future, is left incapacitated after a car accident and little Bupe loses her parents to HIV/AIDS. While Suwiljani loses her fiancé, the prospects of a carefree future and her sense of self, Bupe ends up living on the streets of Lusaka. Their destinies are woven together by the presence in both girls’ lives of the warm-hearted and progressive Dr Chimba. This Zambian/Finnish co-production is an inspirational tale about solidarity and determination to survive against all odds. It has been screened at film festivals all over the world and has won several awards, among them for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress at the National Association Media Arts Awards, Zambia in 2009.
50 Years of Love
 Documentary, 86 min
South Africa, 2008
Director: Karen Slater and Steven Bartlo
The filmmakers, a not yet married couple, embark on a journey across four continents to explore the institution of marriage. In conversations with couples with the only thing in common that they all survived 50 years of marriage with the same partner, the ambivalent filmmaker duo who, on one hand are considering tying the knot themselves, and on the other are dealing with deep-seated doubts about the relevance of this ancient institution, seek to uncover the secrets behind a lasting marriage. Through discussions covering a range of topics from sex and communication to divorce and death, and with a healthy dose of humour and irony, they probe the possibility of “happily ever after” while dealing with the stress of their own long distance relationship. The film won the award for Best African Documentary at Durban Film Festival in 2008.
Ngwenya, the Crocodile
 Documentary/Drama, 90 min
Mozambique, 2007
Director: Isabel Noronho
The film takes place in two different but adjoining universes, representing past and present. The past is a house, where two eight year old girls, Helena and Macisse, meet. In the present, some 30 years later, the girls return to the house and here begins an exploration into history and mythology. It’s a film about a country in transition, memory and homecoming. The film won Best Documentary of Africa, Asia and Latin America: Window to the World, Milan Film Festival, 2009.
Between the Cup And The Election
Documentary, 56 min
Benin/DRC, 2008
Director: Monique Mbeka Phoba and Guy Kabeya Muya
In 1974 the Leopards from Zaïre (today's
Democratic Republic of Congo) was the first Sub-
Saharan team to qualify for the Soccer World Cup.
After suffering three devastating losses the team returned home to a
displeased and unforgiving country ruled by a violent dictator. More than
30 years later the players of 1974 have been forgotten and some have sunk
into poverty. When, after 40 years of dictatorship and civil war, the first
political elections are held, two student filmmakers decide to link these two
historical events and create a platform for old and new dreams to meet.
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