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The de-colonization of Africa during the 1950s and
'60s allowed African directors to finally engage in
filmmaking and to produce their own powerful representations
of colonial and post-colonial Africa. A younger generation
of directors is now contributing to the explosive growth
of African cinema. Arranged in conjunction with the
Leslie Humanities Center, this program seeks to highlight
one of the most exciting current developments in world
cinema.
Thursday, January 3, 7:00 PM
LUMUMBA
D: Raoul Peck, Haiti/Germany, Fr. w/subtitles, 2000,
115 min.
Patrice Emery Lumumba's rapid rise from beer salesman
to the revolutionary leader who would lead Congo to
independence is the stuff of legend. But in Peck's gripping
political thriller, Lumumba's vision of a united Africa
and the U.S-backed forces that defeat this dream come
into clearer perspective, providing an historical backdrop
to present-day strife in Congo.
LUMUMBA will be introduced by Aboubakar Sidike Sanogo,
Curator of the Smithsonian exhibtion of New African
Cinema.
Thursday, January 10, 7:00 PM
ADANGGAMAN
D: Roger Gnoan M'Bala, Fr./Ivory Coast, Bambara w/subtitles,
2000, 90 min.
A young man, fleeing his village, journeys through a
kingdom where captives are held for sale to European
slave traders. With scenes of Africans overseeing other
Africans marching in chains, ADANGGAMAN is both a tribute
to the memory of the continent's martyrs and a searing
condemnation of African complicity in the enslavement
of its own people.
Thursday, January 17, 7:00 PM
TILAI
D: Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkino Faso, Moore w/subtitles,
1990, 81 min.
In this tale of love and honor, a young man begins a
secret affair with his ex-fiancée who is now
his father's wife. The relationship is deemed incestuous
by the village, so the young lovers escape, seeking
to live outside the reach of tilai–the law. Winner
of the Cannes Grand Jury Prize, this bitter romance
delves into grand universal themes with subtle keenness.
Thursday, January 24, 7:00 PM
FAAT-KINE
D: Ousmane Sembene, Senegal, Wolof. w/subtitles, 2000,
95 min.
Sembene, the acclaimed father of African cinema, returns
with a penetrating analysis of the interplay of gender,
economics and power in today's Africa. From its first
shot to its surprising last, Sembene's tribute to what
he calls the "everyday heroism of African women" is
a powerful critique of the despoliation of Africa by
a corrupt and ineffective patriarchy.
Thursday, January 31, 7:00 PM
HYENAS
D: Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal, Wolof. w/subtitles,
1992, 110 min.
Linguère, a woman "rich as the World Bank,"returns
to the decaying backwaters of Colobane, where she bribes
the villagers to kill her former lover. Mambéty's
second and last film adapts a timeless parable of human
greed into a biting satire of today's Africa, where
the hopes of independence are betrayed for the empty
promise of Western materialism.
Thursday, February 7, 7:00 PM
LIFE ON EARTH
D: A. Sissako, Fr./Mauritania, Fr. w/ subtitles, 1998,
96 min.
This poetic meditation on Mauritania was part of a European
television series which invited ten outstanding directors
to imagine the last day of the 20th century in their
own countries. Sissako focuses on the significance of
the start of the 21st century for people still struggling
to enter the 20th, showing Africa's simultaneous connection
to and isolation from modernity.
Thursday, February 14 7:00 PM
PIÈCES D'IDENTITÉS
D: Mweze Ngangura, Congo, Fr. w/ subtitles, 1998, 94
min.
This modern fairytale set in the vibrant African demi-monde
of contemporary Europe won the Etalon de Yennenga, African
cinema's most prestigious award. While seemingly a simple
tale of an old king, his beautiful daughter and her
prince charming, Ngangura's story probes into some of
the most important issues facing people of African descent
in the ever-widening Diaspora.
Thursday, February 21, 7:00 PM
DARESALAM
D: Issa Serge Coelo, Chad, Fr./Chadian w/subtitles,
2000, 115 min.
The first African feature film to focus on the civil
wars convulsing the continent from Sierra Leone to Somalia,
DARESALAM provides compelling insights into how innocent
people get swept up in extraordinary events. Its timeless
story of two childhood friends turned political foes
personalizes the terrible cost of internecine strife.
Thursday, February 28, 7:00 PM
YELEEN
D: Souleymane Cissé, Mali, Fr./with subtitles,
1987, 105 min.
In Mali, West Africa, where mythology centers on Komo
- a science of the Gods - a son of the Bambara people
must seek out his father and, in a primal struggle,
destroy any shamanic powers that would make for evil.
Acclaimed in European film festivals, YELEEN was overlooked
in the U.S. despite its stunning landscapes, remarkable
non-professional actors and luminous beauty.
Location: Arthur M. Loew Auditorium, located
below the Hood Museum of Art.
Individual Program Admission (except as noted):
General Public $6.00, Dartmouth IDs $5.00. On sale at
the Loew Box Office 30 minutes before showtime.
Loew Term Passes (for Thursday and Saturday films
only): General Public $30.00, Dartmouth IDs $20.00.
Sold in the Loew preceding showtime and at the Hopkins
Center Box Office during regular business hours. Cash
and DASH only.
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