The African Diaspora International Film Festival is back!
From August 13-19 the 14th African Diaspora International Film Festival D.C. – in collaboration with its longtime partner in Washington DC the Africa World Now Project - will showcase a lineup of 23 titles coming from 18 different countries. The names of Rolf de Heer, Menelik Shabazz, Raja Amari, Rubaiyat Hossein, Skinner Myers and Allen Reisner represent a rich variety of talented filmmakers featured in ADIFF DC 2021!
Some of the titles selected come from prestigious festivals including The Venice Film Festival, Slamdance, TIFF, FESPACO, Berlinale and The PanAfrican Film Festival, just to name a few.
ADIFF-DC 2021 opens with The Sleeping Negro directed by Skinner Myers, a strong, thought-provoking drama that tells us the story of an African American man struggling with racism in America. Ulkar Alakbarova(moviemovesme.com) calls it “a superb character study of a black man […] surreal yet real and terrifying.” The Sleeping Negro had its world premiere at Slamdance 2021.
Fresh from the Encounters film festival in Cape Town, South Africa, Murder in Paris by Enver Samuel is a political crime thriller that traces the motives for the assassination of anti-Apartheid activist, Dulcie September in Paris in 1988.
It is not extremely popular to talk about Critical Race Theory in certain quarters of the United States. Betrayal of a Nation by Brandi Webb presents a serious historical analysis of the Black Experience in the United States. The country is on trial, and the charges are multiple.
The Afro-Latino Experience is explored in fictions and documentaries with films set in Ecuador, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Haiti and Panama. The highlight of the selection is Angelica by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad, a film about colorism presented through the eyes of a young woman from Puerto Rico who is Latina and Black.
It is also through the lens of colorism and sexism that the revealing documentary She Had a Dream by Raja Amari portrays the story of Ghofrane Binous, a young black Tunisian woman. A rare courageous film on a taboo topic.
This content can only be viewed in DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia
TICKETS:
Special events $15
Regular Screenings: $10
All Access Festival Pass: $95
SPECIAL EVENTS
Screenings followed by Zoom discussions
OPENING NIGHT – The Sleeping Negro by Skinner Myers (USA)
Screening starts on 8/13 @ 7PM EST – Zoom with director at 8:30PM EST
GALA - Betrayal Of A Nation by Brandi Webb (USA)
Screening starts on 8/14 @ 6PM EST – Zoom with director at 8PM EST
CENTERPIECE – Murder in Paris by Enver Samuel (SOUTH AFRICA)
Screening starts on 8/15 @ 1PM EST – Zoom with director at 3PM EST
CLOSING NIGHT – Angelica by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad (PUERTO RICO)
Screening starts on 8/19 @ 7PM EST – Zoom with director at 9PM EST
PROGRAMS
TRIBUTE TO MENELIK SHABAZZ (30 May 1954 - 28 June 2021) with Time and Judgment & The Story of Lovers Rock (UK)
CARIBBEAN LEADERS PROGRAM: Barrow: Freedom Fighter by Marcia Weeks (BARBADOS) & Catch a Fire by Menelik Shabbaz (JAMAICA)
OTHER FILMS
The Tracker by Rolf de Heer (AUSTRALIA)
Maya and her Lover by Nicole Sylvester (USA)
Kafe Negro by Mario Delatour (HAITI / CUBA)
Panama Al Brown by Carlos Aguilar Navarro (PANAMA)
Duga, The Scavengers by Abdoulaye Dao & Hervé Eric Lengani (BURKINA FASO)
Negra by Medhin Tewolde Serrano (MEXICO)
Myopia by Sanaa Akroud (MOROCCO)
St Louis Blues by Allen Resiner (USA)
Made in Bangladesh by Rubaiyat Hossain (BANGLADESH)
She Had a Dream by Raja Amari (TUNISIA)
Memoirs of a Black Girl by Thato Mwosa (USA)
Stand Down Soldier by Jeryl Prescott Sales (USA)
The Mali Cuba Connection by Edouard Salier and Richard Minier (FRANCE / MALI / CUBA)
The Esmeraldas Beach by Patrice Raynal (ECUADOR / FRANCE)
A Son by Mehdi Barsaoui (TUNISIA)
