Goucher College is proud to host Baltimore’s 2013 African Film Festival, to be held February 22-24. Screenings of seven critically acclaimed short and feature-length films that represent Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Sudan will be presented with English subtitles in this year’s selections.
Post-film receptions and discussions will be held on February 22 from 9:45 to 10:30 p.m., February 23 from 4:30 to 6 p.m., and February 24 from 4:45 to 6 p.m. All events will be held in Goucher’s Merrick Lecture Hall and are free and open to the public. However, tickets must be reserved in advance by logging on to www.goucher.edu/tickets or by calling 410-337-6333.
The schedule of screenings is as follows:
Friday, February 22
Farewell Exile
Morocco, 2011, 15 minutes
In Arabic
7:15-7:30 p.m.
In an underprivileged Moroccan neighborhood, Fatima, 30, is waiting anxiously to receive immigration papers so she can join her husband, who migrated to France more than a year ago. The absence of her husband, the surrounding misery, her lack of job and finances, along with the harmful environment that her naïve son, Mohammed, 10, is immersed in gives Fatima very little hope. Will her husband’s letter secure a brighter future for Fatima and her son, or will she have to make a crucial sacrifice? Directed by Lamia Alami.
Microphone
Egypt, 2010, 120 minutes
In Arabic
7:45-9:45 p.m.
Using a mash-up of shooting styles, Microphone tells the story of Khaled, who returns to his native Alexandria after a long stay in the United States and becomes enmeshed in a thriving underground arts scene. Once more stimulated by the city he had long given up on, Khaled finds things getting complicated when a documentary film crew starts to take an interest in him. Directed by Ahmad Abdalla.
Saturday, February 23
Africa Shafted: Under One Roof
South Africa, 2011, 55 minutes
In English
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Filmed in Africa’s tallest residential building, which is located in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, this documentary gives an honest, yet tragic, glimpse of the reality of xenophobia through the eyes of people from every corner of Africa living under one roof. It also conveys the powerful message that respect can start to take root through dialogue and understanding. Directed by Ingrid Martens.
How to Steal 2 Million
South Africa, 2011, 85 minutes
In English and Zulu
2:45-4:15 p.m.
When Jack gets out of jail after five years for robbery, he finds that his partner Twala, who never got caught, has married his girlfriend. After being released Jack wants to start a construction business, but his loan gets rejected. Desperate for money, Jack agrees to help Twala commit a home invasion and robbery for two million Rand. However the robbery goes wrong, and secret plans come out. As the pressure mounts, tension builds toward a surprising and explosive finale. Written and directed by Charlie Vundla.
Sunday, February 24
Black Africa White Marble
USA/Italy, 2011, 77 minutes
In English, Italian, and French
12-1:15 p.m.
In the Republic of Congo, the longtime dictator plans to sweep aside the country’s most revered spiritual leader, and the capital Brazzaville is abuzz with rumors of skullduggery. A lavish spectacle, funded by the French multinational TOTAL, is set to betray the population’s ancient traditions and rewrite the nation’s history. One woman defies the regime and comes to King Makoko’s rescue. Directed by Clemente Bicocchi.
Monica Wangu Wamwere: The Unbroken Spirit
Kenya, 2010, 71 minutes
In Kikuyu and English
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Monica Wangu Wamwere—a mother of three sons, including political activist Koigi wa Wamwere—and 49 other detainees search for justice while they are a locked up during the clamor for multiparty democracy in Kenya. Wamwere participated in the 1992 Mothers’ Hunger Strike to release political prisoners and is a member of the Release Political Prisoners pressure group. Directed by Jane Murago.
Our Beloved Sudan
Sudan/UK, 2011, 92 minutes
In Arabic and English
3-4:30 p.m.
This documentary tracks the political destiny of the Sudanese nation from its birth in 1956 to its eventual partition in 2011. Juxtaposing a personal narrative with a larger social commentary, the film seeks to understand how the world reached the inevitable conclusion of Sudan’s partition, and the Sudanese people’s coming to terms with the events. Directed by Taghreed Elsanhouri.
Goucher’s African Film Festival is sponsored by the college’s International Scholars Program.