The Film Club Network brings school children in Kenya and Bristol together, allowing them to virtually exchange films through their new cinema clubs.

As volunteer coordinator, I am excited to be exploring how Afrika Eye can grow and become more integrated with the Bristol community through the commitment of its volunteers. We are setting up a series of pre-festival pop up screenings across Bristol unifying communities through cinema. Volunteers are driving these developments. The future looks very bright indeed! – George Salt.

The Film Club Network is inspiring young people in Kenya and Bristol to become active global citizens through the magic of film. FCN is excited to be working with Afrika Eye this year, providing a short filmmaking workshop for young people in Bristol, with a simultaneous workshop being held in Nairobi.

A Film Club Network session in Nairobi. Photos from George Salt.

Place des Cineastes, Burkina Faso's monument to film.

Celebrated in the dusty streets of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, this festival is hot, really hot. Some days it was 43 degrees in the shade. Famed for showing the best of African cinema (and at times the worst) it is still the best place to meet some of the leading characters who have shaped African cinema over the past sixty years. Famed Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé was there; as was Cheick Oumar Sissoko, filmmaker and former minister of culture for Mali. Afrika Eye’s Simon Bright was invited to the festival and his film Robert Mugabe… What Happened? was selected for the official competition.

The Ouagadougou Declaration

It is here that much of African film policy is crafted and agreed, and so the four British African film festivals Afrika Eye, Africa in Motion,  Film Africa and the Cambridge African Film Festival met and formulated the Ouagadougou declaration. Through this we all agreed to share films and filmmakers in a touring package and to work towards a common funding bid in the future in order to better serve the interests of showing African cinema in the UK and improve cross cultural understanding. The outcome will be three festivals that remain as distinct as before, yet have increased power to improve and develop into the future.

Beyond the business of festival collaborations, there was a series of talks looking at African literature and cinema. This part of the festival brought leading lights in African literature to discuss issues such as the adaptation of historical African stories from text to the screen. Nobel prize winner Wole Soyinka presented a brilliant paper critically undermining the destructive power of fundamentalism, from whatever source.

Wole Soyinka gave the opening address of the literature strand.

FESPACO is also a serious market for craft from all over West Africa. We met up with one of the Africa Eye Directors Louise Lynas, who along with her colleague Akua Ofosuhene, had bused up from Ghana to run a market stall of textiles they had manufactured there. They also have a second string to their innovative income generating bow which is as script writers of Ghanaian soap operas. Akua meanwhile is developing a brilliant animation about a Ghanaian Queen.

Louise Lynas and Akua

We met a bunch of old friends including Fanta Regina Nacro from Burkina Faso. Fanta’s film Bintou screened at Africa Eye in 2011. Ingrid Sinclair of Afrika Eye also met Djamila Sahraoui, an old friend from Algeria who went on to win the Silver Stallion in the feature film category with her film Yema.

Fanta Nacra wearing a Xhosa hat.

FESPACO is great on pagentary. The name Burkina Faso owes it’s origin to a legendary Amazonian cavalry warrior and you can still see horses trotting the streets in amongst the phalanxes of mobilettes. So the first prize is a statue of a golden stallion, whilst the jury arrive in horse drawn carriages.

The festival jury arriving by horse-drawn carriage.

And the winner is… Senegalese Director Alain Gomis for Tey. Afrika Eye is currently negotiating for the rights to show Tey this November.

Alain Gomis receiving the Golden Stallion for Tey.

Our opening night kicked off joyously with The Plantation’s famous Jamaican punch and Tan Teddy, a local Jamaican group, greeting arrivals with a couple of gorgeous songs on the Harbourside outside the Watershed. With Watershed’s largest cinema packed to capacity, director Ingrid Sinclair welcomed everyone, Tan Teddy performed another song, Fish4ever talked briefly talk about the need for sustainable fishing and we were off. Gripping and realistic, opening film ‘La Pirogue’ left the audience with a real appreciation of some of the traumas experienced by Senegalese asylum seekers and refugees. But the serious mood was immediately lifted by a fabulous party in the Watershed bar with Jamaican MC/dancer Ripton Lindsay and long time collaborator Mr Benn on the turntables. David Cox’s Jamaican inspired artwork played on a screen behind the musicians and 2 hours of non-stop dancing took us to the end of another great Afrika Eye opening night.

One of the highlights of the Saturday was the very impressive turnout for our panel discussions. After watching the powerful documentaries Weapon of War and State of Mind, over 70 people came to hear about different therapeutic approaches to dealing with trauma from around the world.

On the Sunday the Healing theme came to its conclusion with two extremely moving, though entirely contrasting films. Set against the backdrop of Chad’s recent civil war, Darrat was a slow, brooding and highly personal exploration of the tension between revenge and reconciliation. At the other end of the emotional spectrum was Kinshasa Symphony, a jubilant look at the hopes and dreams of the musicians in Congo’s one and only symphony orchestra as they work up to a triumphant rendition of Beethoven’s 9th.

[Show as slideshow]

Afrika Eye Film Festival 2012 launches on Friday 9^th November with a sensational blend of African film and Jamaican music and dance – inaugurating a festival that celebrates 50 years of Jamaican independence and pays tribute to the power of healing trauma in Africa.

The festival will be opening with a sensational new film from Senegalese director Moussa Touré. Winning a standing ovations at this year’s Cannes festival, LA PIROGUE is the moving story of a group of Senegalese men who, desperate to escape poverty, set off for Europe on a simple fishing boat, hoping for a better life. This will be followed by Afrika Eye’s famed opening night party in the Watershed bar, this year bringing together a stunning Jamaican dance and MC turntable collaboration from Ripton Lindsey and Mr Benn.  The night also features Jamaican folk song and dance from local Bristol group Tan Teddy and a short Jamaican dance interpretation by pupils from Cotham School following their Afrika Eye workshop with Ripton and Mr Benn.

For more information on the programme of films, talks and workshops, click here.

LA PIROGUE   87’ Dir: Moussa Touré, Senegal. French and Wolof. Subtitled

Winning standing ovations at this year’s Cannes festival, La Pirogue is the moving story of a group of Senegalese men who set off for Europe on a simple fishing boat, hoping for a better life. Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue who dreams of earning a better living for his family. When he is offered the chance to lead one of the many expeditions that head towards Europe via the Canary Islands, he reluctantly accepts the job, knowing the dangers that lie ahead. Adroitly capturing the dilemmas facing these desperate men, “La Pirogue” is a powerful depiction of a story that is relevant worldwide.

Tickets £8/£6.50

Our famous after party will take place in the Watershed café/bar with Ripton Linsdey and Mr Benn on the dance floor, turntables and mics, complete with Jamaican DJ shack. Watch out for Jamaican folk song and dance from local group Tan Teddy, and the premiere of a new young people’s mix from the Afrika Eye Cotham School workshop.

MR BENN: Producer/DJ. His blend of reggae and hip hop introduced the new Bristol sound to the world. He’s DJd alongside Massive Attack’s Daddy G, Queen Bee and MC Souls Liberation, and hIs range of production techniques combined with DJ and selector skills will have you jumping.

RIPTON LINDSEY: Dancer /MC. Ripton grew up in Jamaica immersed in music and dance. He’s worked with Africa Bambaata, DJ Babu, DJ Mr Benn and Massive Attack. Incorporating traditional and contemporary Jamaican music with hip hop and reggae, he’s a sought after tutor and a mesmerising performer.

Entry free with ticket to opening film. 

Sat 10 November – 16.40

Life and Debt

80 min Dir: Stephanie Black, 2001, USA/ Jamaica, Cert: 18

Jamaica: land of sea, sand and sun, and a prime example of the complexities of economic globalisation on the world’s developing countries. This searing documentary takes a bold look at the impact globalisation policies – including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank – have had on Jamaica’s economic and social wellbeing. An unapologetic look at the ‘new world order’ from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, government and policy officials, who see the reality of globalisation – from the ground up.

Fee: £5.50 / £4.00 concs.

Sat 10 November – 18:30

Better Has Come – Jamaican Creative Industries (Seminar)

A stunning line up of artists will discuss the state of Jamaican creative industries today with the audience. Graeme Evelyn (visual artist); Ripton Lindsay (music and dnace) Andy Mundy-Castle (film director), Paul Bucknor (music and film producer BETTER MUS’ COME and THE FULL MONTY). Afrika Eye Festival patron Lord Paul Boateng will moderate.

Fee: £5.50 / £4.00 concs.

Sat 10 November – 21.00

Better Mus’ Come

104 min Dir: Storm Saulter, 2011, Jamaica, Cert: 18 (subtitled)

Passion, politics and poverty collide as this stunning love story, one of the most important films from Jamaica today, unfolds against a backdrop of political turmoil in 70s Kingston. We follow Ricky (Sheldon Shepherd), recently released from jail as a political prisoner, as he tries to find peace among warring gangs in Kingston. When he meets Kemala (Nicole Sky Grey), a beautiful young woman who lives on the opposite side of town where a gang leader rules, Ricky’s choices soon become both clearer, and more difficult. Followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer Paul Bucknor.

Fee: £8.00 full / £6.50 concs.

Sun 11 November – 14:30

The Fade + Director Q & A

4 barbers, 4 lives, 1 story. The Fade is an intimate portrait of four Afro barbers across the world over seven days. This observational documentary reveals exactly what this profession means to society in the 21^st century. Set in Ghana, Jamaica, the USA and the UK, the film interweaves their stories and examines the polarised opposites of the locations; creating an international dialogue of the colourful lives of four men who do the same thing, in different time zones, with very different realities. It’s more than just a haircut!

All tickets available from Watershed.

SAT 10 NOVEMBER – 14.30

Weapon of War

59’ Dir: Ilse & Femke van Velzen, Congo/Netherlands (subtitled). The first film from the festival’s Healing strand. During decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were savagely raped. In WEAPON OF WAR, military perpetrators unveil what lies behind this brutal behavior and the strategies of rape as a war crime.

Tickets: £5.50/£4.00

Weapon of War, State of Mind and Seminar including tea/coffee: £16/£12 To book this offer please call Box Office on 0117 927 5100

SAT 10 NOVEMBER 15.45

State of Mind 

Dir: Djo Tunda Wa Munga, DRC (subtitled). Pioneering therapist Albert Pesso is invited to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where many people suffer from years of post traumatic stress disorder.  STATE OF MIND captures the sessions in a series of fly-on-the-wall scenes, and candid, heartbreaking interviews with the participants put the effort in a larger context.

Tickets: £5.50/£4.00

SAT 10 NOVEMBER 17.00

STATE OF MIND (Seminar)

A panel of therapists and healers look at some of the therapies in the DRC, where so many have suffered the trauma of civil war. How do such forms of healing work and can they be transferred across cultures? A panel of experts give their views with audience input. This seminar forms part of a half-day session which includes the films WEAPON OF WAR about healing for rapists and those they have raped, STATE OF MIND dealing with post-traumatic stress, and KINSHASHA SYMPHONY exploring the restorative power of music.

Panellists include Sally Potter, Pesso Boyden therapist; Amelia Rana, counsellor specialising in hate crime and trans-cultural training. We are happy to give certificates of attendance for CPD purposes.

Tickets: Seminar only £5.50/£4.00

SUN 11 NOVEMBER - 16.15

Daratt 

96 min Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, 2006, France/Belgium/ Chad/Austria, Cert: 18 (subtitled).  Set in Chad, this film beautifully combines Chad’s magnetic desert colours with a story that is both African and universal. Following a government amnesty, sixteen year old Atim is given a gun by his grandfather to kill the man who murdered his father. Despite his disgust, Atim comes to recognise in the killer the father he has always needed, while the killer sees the teenager as a potential son.

Tickets: £5.50/£4

All tickets available from Watershed.