WORLD PREMIERE Seventeen-year-old surfer, Deguene, blazes a trail for women in Senegal while nurturing her relationship to her family, and to the water. – DeWitt Davis The first screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and special guests. This film contains the following accessibility options for viewers:Closed Captioning for in-person screenings at IFC Center and […]
US PREMIERE In the village of Kolofata on the Nigerian border, the Cameroonian military has been dispatched to guard villagers from attacks by the religious terrorist group Boko Haram. In this milieu, filmmaker Cyrielle Raingou follows three young children as they navigate lost innocence while growing up in constant fear. Having sparked international outrage in […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE A captivating journey through the history of the essential African drum, the djembe, as seen through the remarkable life of revered Guinean percussionist Famoudou Konate. From his childhood playing the once-sacred instrument to his globe-trotting days with Les Ballets Africains, the film celebrates Konate’s unique role in African culture. An uplifting and gorgeous […]
NEW YORK PREMIERE Two men work alongside each other in the Central African Republic, the first a local laborer struggling to meet everyday needs and the other his boss, a Chinese expatriate construction manager far from home trying to improve his economic standing. While never wavering away from its two subjects, this striking documentary effectively […]
U.S. PREMIERE Filmmaker Chloé Aïcha Boro returns to her homeland, Burkina Faso, after the death of her uncle, killed while on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Boro documents the aftermath in her family’s compound as a rift about the estate develops between family members who embrace traditional Islamic law and those who would follow Burkina Faso’s […]
NYC PREMIERE Hailing from the African nation of Cape Verde, and gifted with an indisputable talent, singer-songwriter Cesária Évora rose to global fame later in life. Peppered with colorful anecdotes of this generous, down-to-earth, fiercely independent “Barefoot Diva,” this charming documentary follows “Cize” at home on her native island of São Vicente, backstage with beloved […]
US PREMIERE Students across the African continent come together for an annual contest of oratory skills and knowledge of the law. The film follows diverse teams of law students as they prepare for this prestigious, high-stakes mock trial, the African Human Rights Moot Competition. In her feature film debut, former lawyer-turned-filmmaker Shameela Seedat gives us […]
WORLD PREMIERE Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” are country music singers living in Swaziland. The film captures their wondrous ten-day road trip through the American south, gifting us with great music and leaving us questioning the intersectional issues of race, power, and whether any demographic can lay claim to country music, or any other […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE A Ghanaian mother of five survives the perilous journey to Europe in search of a better life, only to return to her village to reunite with her children, much to the disdain of family and neighbors. Steadfast in her convictions of what’s best, first-time filmmaker Fatimah Dadzie tells her own unique story […]
NYC PREMIERE Filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) returns with another explosive exposé. On a global scale, governments and uber-wealthy private investors move to secure control of the natural resources that will provide food and water to the world’s population for the next century and beyond, working either in the shadows or waging smokescreen wars to ruthlessly […]