General News
The 11th Annual AFRICA WORLD DOC FILM FEST February 9th -11th at The Missouri History Museum
The 11th annual Africa World Documentary Film Festival, sponsored by the E. Desmond Lee Professorship in African/African American Studies at the International Studies and Programs office, University of Missouri-St. Louis, MO will take place Friday, February 9th to Sunday, February 11, 2018 at the Missouri History Museum (5700 Lindell Blvd. in St. Louis, 63112). The international festival, which is committed to the promotion of knowledge, life and culture of the people of Africa worldwide, in a Pan-African context through cinema, will feature 24 films from 16 different countries, including South Africa, Norway, Nigeria, South United Kingdom, Brazil, Haiti and the USA during its official opening in St. Louis, MO. After the opening weekend in St. Louis, the festival travels to different venues in US and around the world, including Philadelphia, Ghana, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
For its eleventh season, the festival selected 50 excellent documentaries out of the 185+ submitted by filmmakers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Central Africa Republic, China, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Italy, Jordan, Liberia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom, Uganda, and USA. Some of the major subjects covered in these selected documentary films are Art, Business, Crime & Violence, Culture, Education, Gender, History, Human Trafficking, Immigration, Identity, Music & Dance, Traditional Religion, Personal Biographies, Politics, Poverty, Race, Society, Sport, as well as Women’s Issues.
The festival is free and open to the public and includes discussions with some of the filmmakers and experts in the subject areas following the screening of the films. Middle and high school students from St. Louis area, including students from Pamoja Preparatory Academy (an African centered St. Louis Public School) and Grand Center Arts Academy (a confluence Charter School that focuses on dance, orchestra, band, visual arts, choir, and theater), are expected to attend the opening day of the festival on Friday, February 9, 2018.
Popular St. Louis DJ, Dee Jay Wiz will provide live entertainment for the audience to commemorate legendary Chicago radio personality Herb ‘The Cool Gent’ Kent prior to viewing the documentary on Kent, titled “Froze in my Clothes” on Saturday at 6pm.
Other documentaries screening on Saturday are “The Honest Struggle” about a devout Muslim ex-offender from Chicago Southside, and his journey re-entering society after being incarcerated 3 times; “Afia Attacks”, which is a story about the hardships faced by Biafran women during the Nigerian Civil war; and “Covered in the Blood of Jesus” which explores the conditions of Oil, Poverty and Christianity in the Nigerian Niger Delta. A variety of short films will screen as part of the day-long festival on Sunday, February 11th.
Friday, February 9th 10am – Noon
GRIND by Yuri Alves
This format-bending profile of Robert Wilmote reveals the story of a Liberian refugee forced to flee the most drastic and terrible circumstances imaginable. Having narrowly escaped the ravages of war in Africa, Robert’s struggles continue in the U.S. when he succumbs to the gangster lifestyle, only to become a convicted felon in Newark, New Jersey.
THE GOOD ONES by Molly Blank
While sharing the challenges of South Africa’s unequal and broken education system, some schools are beating the odds. The Good Ones tracks the tenacious efforts of three of these public schools to change the trajectory of their students’ futures. Their lessons illuminate how schools can empower students, transform their futures and enable them to find their place in the outside world.
JACKENSON by Linda Diatta
Jackenson is a 13-year-old boxing hopeful from Haiti’s notorious Cité Soleil slum who is determined to box his way to the top. As he prepares for his upcoming fight against a rival club, he must surpass all expectations from his coaches, club and community.
MOTHERS FEARS by Shereen Williams
It is 10pm and flashing red and blue lights surround my car. Bright flashlights are beaming in my eyes. The officer shouts “Roll all the windows down…now. License and registration out the window.” I IMMEDIATELY roll every window in the car down and give him the requested information. Thoughts are racing through my head- What did I do?, Did I run the stop sign? Fear is gripping my body as I clench the steering wheel. The officer says “All clear. Ma’am, slow down”. I survived this time, but would my son?
MOVING AFRICA by Michele Manzini and Valeria Lo Meo
To work with the expressive form of a documentary means rethinking the idea of describing reality and redefining its structure and the limits, and it also means doing so in a place where the imagery and weight of that reality seems most strong and binding, as in the South African townships. This is an act that might confirm the existence of impossibility, because this is the basic gesture for conquering reality: to state that the impossible exists.
Saturday, February 10th 1pm – 4pm
AFIA ATTACKS by Ujuaku Akukwe
Afia Attack (trading behind enemy lines).This indigenous trade was a catalyst for survival during the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War. A story of lost hopes, pains, betrayals, sufferings, resilience, and bravery. The battle for survival that is usually borne silently by women in wartime.
COVERED WITH THE BLOOD OF JESUS by Tommaso Cotronei
Documentary film that explores the condition of the region of the Niger Delta, where oil companies exploit the wells by closing our eyes to the poverty of the surrounding population, often polluting land and sea.
Saturday, February 10th 4:30pm – 5:30pm
THE HONEST STRUGGLE by Justin Mashouf
The Honest Struggle is the story of a devout Muslim ex-offender and his journey re-entering society after being incarcerated 3 times. The film follows Sadiq, an energetic 55 year old man who has spent the majority of his life behind bars. Sadiq is chosen to live in a unique, faith-based reentry home in the Southside of Chicago.
MOVING AFRICA by Michele Manzini and Valeria Lo Meo
To work with the expressive form of a documentary means rethinking the idea of describing reality and redefining its structure and the limits, and it also means doing so in a place where the imagery and weight of that reality seems most strong and binding, as in the South African townships. This is an act that might confirm the existence of impossibility, because this is the basic gesture for conquering reality: to state that the impossible exists.
SKIN by Adam Gould
Dandara Zainabo has a scar around her belly button from eating bricks as a young child. Today, she is a 19 year old trans activist living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. This experimental portraiture seeks to preserve the spirit of this mighty woman as both powerful and precarious.
Saturday, February 10th 6:00pm – 9:00pm
FROZE IN MY CLOTHES by Isaiah Pittman
Froze In My Clothes is a 3D-film documentary reviewing personal events in the life of the legendary radio personality Herb ‘The Cool Gent’ Kent. Likely the first, and only, 3D documentary of any Radio Hall of Fame recipient, this documentary was filmed in stereoscopic-3D four years before Herb Kent’s death in October, 2016, bringing to an end over 70 years on air as a Chicago radio personality. Mr. Kent was the first African American inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, the first African American employee of NBC network serving as intern to Hugh Downs, and holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the ‘longest on air radio personality/male’.
Sunday, February 11th 1pm – 2:15pm
GREEN AND YELLOW by Miquel Galofre
Intimate conversations with homeless people in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. With Sketch and Yankee.
GRIND by Yuri Alves
This format-bending profile of Robert Wilmote reveals the story of a Liberian refugee forced to flee the most drastic and terrible circumstances imaginable. Having narrowly escaped the ravages of war in Africa, Robert’s struggles continue in the U.S. when he succumbs to the gangster lifestyle, only to become a convicted felon in Newark, New Jersey.
HYPHEN-NATION by Samah Ali
A conversation with five women, “hyphen-nation” looks at what it means to be a black woman in Canada after growing up in a culturally-steeped home, both domestically and internationally, and how it influences one’s identity.
MOTHERS FEARS by Shereen Williams
It is 10pm and flashing red and blue lights surround my car. Bright flashlights are beaming in my eyes. The officer shouts “Roll all the windows down…now. License and registration out the window.” I IMMEDIATELY roll every window in the car down and give him the requested information. Thoughts are racing through my head- What did I do?, Did I run the stop sign? Fear is gripping my body as I clench the steering wheel. The officer says “All clear. Ma’am, slow down”. I survived this time, but would my son?
Sunday, February 11th 2:15pm – 3:30pm
GREEN AT WHAT PRICE? by Nicky Milne
Reforestation, environmental development, growth in the developing world: when does a green economy come at too high a price?
DEHORNING by James Suter
A closer look at what it takes to save a species: Dehorning a rhino in the wild in order to save it from becoming a poaching target.
DESIGNS THAT HEAL by Thatcher Bean
In the thick of epidemic catastrophe, can architecture help to heal? Dr. Jean William Pape, a Haitian infectious disease specialist, believes it can.
WHERE ART THOU? by Terhys Persad
Dope contemporary artists from all over the world share things about their local communities that outsiders would never know. First season, South Africa.
Sunday, February 11th 3:45pm – 4:45pm
FRESH START by Cigdem Slankard
Fresh Start chronicles the experience of a refugee community who came to the US with one marketable skill, farming. It is the story of farmers with no farm, examining the American identity, the value of land and food in a brave new world.
LITTLE FIEL by Irina Patkanian
“Little Fiel” is a short documentary with stop motion animation about the unending civil war. It is based on childhood memories of a renowned Mozambican artist Fiel dos Santos who grew up during the 16-year civil war – another proxy war sustained by conflicting foreign powers.
LITTLE REBEL by Aimie Vallat
Little Rebel is about Isabu Jallow – a remarkable West African women from The Gambia, and now Seattle resident. Since seeking asylum in the USA in 2012, Isabu has pursued graduate degrees at the UW Law School while she continuously advocates for women, asylees, and people with disabilities.
MAMADOU WARMER by Yusuf Kapadia
Escaping political persecution in Burkina Faso, Mamadou Warma came to the United States for a new lease on life. He now earns his living as a NYC bicycle deliveryman.
MEN IN THE MIRROR by Siri Nerb
Men in the mirror is a portrait series with four Nigerian taxi drivers in Galway, Ireland. As director, Siri, spends time with them they share both happy and challenging moments in their cars with us.
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