Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the New York African Film Festival honors the Malian auteur, whose films, deeply rooted in Mali’s history and culture, challenge Western perceptions and inspire a new generation of African filmmakers.
Author: Tambay A. Obenson
SHIMONI Review: Angela Wanjiku Wamai’s Minimalist and Harrowing Drama about Trauma, Guilt, and Redemption
This powerful and realistic examination of a complex and flawed perpetrator seeking redemption, screens at the 2023 New York African Film Festival.
XALÉ Review: Tradition and Tragedy in Senegalese Filmmaker Moussa Sène Absa’s Seamless Genre-Hybrid
The 2023 New York African Film Festival, celebrating its 30th anniversary, opens with the last film in Absa’s trilogy exploration of the lives of women in Senegal.
Documenting Africa: A Report on the Continent’s Emerging Documentary Landscape
A new report from the ACP-EU Culture program highlights the emergence of a new generation of African documentary filmmakers, who are telling the immediate story of the continent through their own eyes, tackling taboo subjects and increasing the visibility of African cinema on the international stage.
LE JEUNE IMAM (THE YOUNG IMAM) Review: A Complex and Thought-Provoking Portrait of Islam in France
An important film that explores the challenges and triumphs of being a young person of faith in a modern secular society.
African Stories at Cannes Film Festival 2023 (Predictions + Confirmations)
The time has come for speculation to begin about what to expect from the line-up of one of the most prestigious (“Big Five”) film festivals in the world
FESPACO 2023: Watch the Opening Ceremony for Africa’s Largest Film Festival
The 28th edition kicks off with the theme “African Cinema and Culture of Peace.”
Berlinale Briefs: THE CEMETERY OF CINEMA, The Essence and Influence of Art
THE CEMETERY OF CINEMA, a debut documentary by Guinean filmmaker Thierno Souleymane Diallo, embarks on a captivating journey to uncover the enigma of “Mouramani,” a 1953 film by fellow Guinean Mamadou Touré. Revered as the first film by a Black French-speaking director and a trailblazer in African cinema, the existence and content of “Mouramani” remain […]
Berlinale Briefs: A GOLDEN LIFE, Dangers and Dreams of Burkinabe Youth
A GOLDEN LIFE is a debut documentary by Burkinabè filmmaker Boubacar Sangaré, who follows the lives of young gold miners in his native country. The film focuses on 16-year-old Bolo, who works in a 100-metre-deep shaft with his friends, hoping to find gold and a better future. Also introduced are Missa and Dramane, two younger […]
Berlinale Briefs: DISCO BOY, Fever Dream Triptych
DISCO BOY, the first feature film from Italian director Giacomo Abbruzzese, is a captivating blend of reality and fantasy, offering a bold and striking exploration of identity, belonging, and transformation. Franz Rogowski stars as Aleksei, a Belarusian wanderer who enlists in the French Foreign Legion in search of a new beginning and sense of self. […]