#USA: The Sundance Film Festival kicks off its 40th edition this week, January 18 to 28.
Pickings are slim for African stories this year, unlike the 2023 edition of the festival. As a result, I’m not attending in person (it’s an expensive trip!), but I will be covering remotely, thanks to the festival’s online option again this year, for accredited press.
Here’s what’s on my radar…
In the World Cinema Documentary Competition Section
– THE BATTLE FOR LAIKIPIA (Kenya, U.S.A.): Directed and produced by Daphne Matziaraki and Peter Murimi, with producer Toni Kamau. The documentary focuses on the conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, influenced by historical injustices and climate change.
– SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT by Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez. The documentary, which grapples with the complex history of the Congo and Belgium’s colonial atrocities, is narrated from the perspective of Andrée Madeleine Blouin, a forgotten political activist, human rights advocate, and writer from the Central African Republic.
In the International Fiction Short Films Section
– ESSEX GIRLS | U.K., Nigeria | Director: Yero Timi-Biu, Screenwriter: Busayo Ige | After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.
– TERRA MATER | Rwanda | Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Kantarama Gahigiri | Technology and waste in our lands, systems, and bones. Here she stands, confidently, like a goddess surrounded by endless mountains of plastic, stench, and rare earths. She cannot help but wonder, where is the space for healing?
In the Non-Fiction Short Films Section
– SALONE LOVE | U.S.A., U.K., Sierra Leone | Director: Tajana Tokyo | A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.
Two titles in the Spotlight Section were covered when they premiered at Cannes last year, so I likely won’t revisit them:
– THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES (Morocco), directed by Asmae El Moudir. It’s traveled quite a bit since its Cannes 2023 premiere, picking up numerous accolades, most recently shortlisted by the American Academy.
– AMA GLORIA (Cape Verde), directed by Marie Amachoukeli. It opened the 2023 International Critics’ Week parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. This will be the film’s US premiere. No US acquisition at this time. Its Sundance exposure may change that.
That’s it!
The 40th edition of the Festival will take place January 18 – 28, 2024.