AFRIKAMERA 2021: Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture

Genre : Festival | Berlin

From monday 15 to sunday 21 november 2021

Times : 00:00
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv

(deutsch unten)
AFRIKAMERA 2021: Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture is part of a four-year festival focus on contemporary urban cinema from Africa. After "Politics & Revolution" in 2020, the focus in 2021 will be on "Youth & Youth Culture", followed by "Migration & Diaspora" (2022) and "Future & Utopias" (2023).

The urbanisation of the continent has been taking place extremely rapidly since the last quarter of the 20th century with a majority young urban population - depending on the country with a population share of about 40 to 50 %.

Last but not least, urban youth cultures in African cities are the subject of interest for young African filmmakers: New pop subcultures such as kwaito, zouglou or varieties of African hip-hop are finding their way into filmmaking - on the level of the soundtrack or as the subject of their stories.

This year's selection of around twenty current feature films and documentaries focuses on productions that deal with current youth and pop cultural phenomena in Africa's metropolises and make them the subject of their stories.

Preference will be given to films that are still underrepresented at international festivals, including Berlin premieres and German premieres.

In cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, AFRIKAMERA presents a special programme on hip-hop culture in Senegal. The author and director Fatou Kandé Senghor has created Walabok (Senegal 2021), a 30-part series centred on the talented Mossane, who strives for a career as a rapper despite many obstacles. The screening of three selected episodes will be followed by a talk with the director.


AFRIKAMERA at the Humboldt Forum

As part of its 14th edition, the film festival team is presenting a programme at the Humboldt Forum for the first time, combining screenings, audience talks, intercultural film education, a VR lounge and a "Ciné-Slam".

Alex Moussa Sawadogo, artistic director of AFRIKAMERA, is also the director of the film festival FESPACO in Burkina Faso, one of the most innovative film nations on the African continent. For the opening, the slammer Doueslik and two musicians will therefore interpret and present film sequences from 50 years of Burkinabe cinema with live music and poetry in a new guise - a "Ciné-Slam" as a German premiere.

The documentary Rumba Rules, New Genealogies by David N. Bernatchez and Sammy Baloji (DR Congo, Canada, Belgium 2020) portrays the work of the Brigade Sarbati Orchestra, which consists of more than 30 musicians and is now in its fifth generation of bringing the nightlife in Kinshasa to a boil. German premiere

#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm (Namibia 2019), a cop thriller by German-Namibian director Tim Huebschle follows police officer Meisie Willemse as she investigates a serial killer. In the process, she is confronted with a dark secret from her past that offers insights into the difficult coexistence in post-colonial society.


AFRIKAMERA - CURRENT CINEMA FROM AFRICA

The festival AFRIKAMERA - CURRENT CINEMA FROM AFRICA is an initiative of the association toucouleur e.V., an association of German and African cultural workers, which promotes intercultural dialogue between Africa and Germany.

AFRIKAMERA has been taking place in Berlin since 2008 with an annually changing thematic focus and sees itself as a platform for current African cinema in the capital. In order to present African cinema in all its diversity, AFRIKAMERA cooperates with the major African film festivals from Marrakech to Durban.

AFRIKAMERA - Current Cinema from Africa is under the patronage of Dr. Uschi Eid.

AFRIKAMERA 2021: Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture is funded by: Open Sector Funding for Festivals and Series (four-year) from the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. In partnership with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Humboldt Forum.

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AFRIKAMERA 2021: Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture ist Teil eines über einen Zeitraum von vier Jahren konzipierten Festivalschwerpunkts zum aktuellen urbanen Kino aus Afrika. Nach „Politics & Revolution"in 2020 rückt in 2021 der Themenkomplex "Youth & Youth Culture" in den Fokus, gefolgt von "Migration & Diaspora" (2022) sowie "Future & Utopias" (2023).

Die Urbanisierung des Kontinents vollzieht sich extrem schnell seit dem letzten Viertel des 20. Jahrhunderts mit einer mehrheitlich jungen Stadtbevölkerung - je nach Land mit einem Bevölkerungsanteil von ca. 40 bis 50 %.

Nicht zuletzt sind urbane Jugendkulturen der afrikanischen Großstädte Gegenstand des Interesses junger afrikanischer Filmemacher*innen: Neue Popsubkulturen wie Kwaito, Zouglou oder Spielarten des afrikanischen Hip-Hop finden Ihren Eingang in das Filmschaffen - auf der Ebene des Soundtracks oder als Gegenstand ihrer Geschichten.

Im Zentrum der Auswahl von rund zwanzig aktuellen Spiel- und Dokumentarfilmen stehen dieses Jahr Produktionen, die sich mit aktuellen jugend- und popkulturellen Phänomenen in den Metropolen Afrikas auseinandersetzen und zum Gegenstand ihrer Geschichten machen.

Bevorzugt werden Filme gezeigt, die auf den internationalen Festivals noch unterrepräsentiert sind, darunter Berliner Erstaufführungen und Deutschlandpremieren.


Auswahl:

La Nuit des Rois/ Night of the Kings - Philippe Lacôte, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Frankreich, Kanada 2020 - La Maca, das Gefängnis von Abidjan, mitten im Wald am Rande der Stadt gelegen, ist eines der am stärksten überfüllten in Westafrika. Einer der Insassen, der alternde und kranke Gefangene Blackbeard ist ein zunehmend umstrittener „Dangoro". Um seine Macht zu erhalten, nimmt er die Tradition des "Romans" wieder auf, eines Rituals, das darin besteht, einen Gefangenen zu zwingen, die ganze Nacht über Geschichten zu erzählen… Das bildgewaltige Epos changiert auf faszinierende Art und Weise zwischen Griotgeschichte und Fantasymärchen. La Nuit des Rois wurde von Côte d‘Ivoire als Beitrag für die Oscarverleihung 2021 in der Kategorie Bester Internationaler Film eingereicht und als einer von 15 Filmen in eine Vorauswahl der Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences aufgenommen.

Souad, eine 19 Jahre alte Medizinstudentin führt ein Doppelleben. Während sie im Kreis ihrer Familie und der Gesellschaft konservativ mit Schleier auftritt, entwickelt sie auf Facebook und Instagram ein völlig anderes Bild ihrer selbst. Allmählich dringt die Realität in ihre Wunschwelt ein - bis eine Serie kleiner Zwischenfälle zu einem tragischen Ereignis führt… Das Drama SOUAD (Ägypten, Tunesien, Deutschland 2021) der ägyptischen Regisseurin Ayten Amin steht stellvertretend für die Identitätssuche von Millionen Jugendlichen im postrevolutionären Ägypten zwischen Aufbruch und islamischen Konservatismus.

In der Stadt Zinder (Frankreich, Niger, Deutschland 2021) im Herzen der Sahelzone organisieren sich junge Nigrer angesichts mangelnder Perspektiven in Banden. Diese häufig gewalttätigen Gruppen, die „Palais"genannt werden, kommen aus dem Kara-Kara-Viertel, in dem früher Leprakranke und Ausgestoßene lebten. Die in Zinder geborene Regisseurin und Aktivistin Aicha Macky kehrt zurück, um die Geschichte dieser chancenlosen jungen Menschen am Beispiel von Siniya, Bawo und Ramsess zu erzählen.


In Kooperation mit der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung präsentiert AFRIKAMERA ein Sonderprogramm zur Hip-Hop Kultur im Senegal. Die Autorin und Regisseurin Fatou Kandé Senghor hat mit Walabok (Senegal 2021) eine 30-teilige Serie kreiert, in deren Mittelpunkt die talentierte Mossane steht, die trotz vieler Hindernisse eine Karriere als Rapperin anstrebt. Nach der Vorführung von drei ausgewählten Episoden findet ein Gespräch mit der Regisseurin statt.


AFRIKAMERA im Humboldt Forum

Im Rahmen seiner 14. Edition stellt das Filmfestivalteam erstmals ein Programm im Humboldt Forum vor und vereint dabei Screenings, Publikumsgespräche, interkulturelle Filmbildung, eine VR-Lounge und einen „Ciné-Slam".

Alex Moussa Sawadogo, künstlerischer Leiter von AFRIKAMERA, ist ebenfalls Leiter des Filmfestivals FESPACO in Burkina Faso, eine der innovativsten Filmnationen des afrikanischen Kontinents. Zur Eröffnung interpretieren und präsentieren deshalb der Slammer Doueslik gemeinsam mit zwei Musikern Filmsequenzen aus 50 Jahren Filmkunst des burkinischen Kinos mit Live-Musik und Poetry in einem neuen Gewand - ein „Ciné-Slam"als Deutschlandpremiere.

Der Dokumentarfilm Rumba Rules, New Genealogies von David N. Bernatchez und Sammy Baloji (DR Kongo, Kanada, Belgien 2020) porträtiert das Schaffen des aus mehr als 30 Musiker*innen bestehenden Brigade Sarbati Orchestra, das mittlerweile in fünfter Generation in Kinshasa das Nachtleben zum Kochen bringt. Deutschlandpremiere

#LANDoftheBRAVEfilm (Namibia 2019), ein Cop-Thriller des deutsch-namibischen Regisseurs Tim Huebschle folgt der Polizistin Meisie Willemse bei ihren Ermittlungen nach einem Serienmörder. Dabei wird sie mit einem düsteren Geheimnis aus ihrer Vergangenheit konfrontiert, das Einblicke in das schwierige Zusammenleben in der postkolonialen Gesellschaft bietet.


AFRIKAMERA - AKTUELLES KINO AUS AFRIKA

Das Festival AFRIKAMERA - AKTUELLES KINO AUS AFRIKA ist eine Initiative des Vereins toucouleur e.V., eines Zusammenschlusses deutscher und afrikanischer Kulturschaffender, der sich für den interkulturellen Dialog zwischen Afrika und Deutschland einsetzt.

AFRIKAMERA findet seit 2008 mit jährlich wechselnden thematischen Schwerpunkten in Berlin statt und versteht sich als Plattform für aktuelles afrikanisches Kino in der Hauptstadt. Um das afrikanische Kino in seiner ganzen Vielfalt abbilden zu können, kooperiert AFRIKAMERA mit den großen afrikanischen Filmfestivals von Marrakesch bis Durban.

AFRIKAMERA - Aktuelles Kino aus Afrika steht unter der Schirmherrschaft von Dr. Uschi Eid.

AFRIKAMERA 2021: Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture wird gefördert von: Spartenoffene Förderung für Festivals und Reihen (vierjährig) der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa. In Partnerschaft mit der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung und dem Humboldt Forum.


AFRIKAMERA 2021:

Urban Africa, Urban Movies - Youth & Youth Culture

15.-21. November 2021

Kino Arsenal: www.arsenal-berlin.de

Humboldt Forum: www.humboldtforum.org

This year's festival opens at Kino Arsenal with the production THE GRAVEDIGGER`S WIFE (Djibouti / Finland / Germany / France 2021 I 15.11. / Wdh. 17.11.) by the Finnish-Somali director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, which was awarded with the main prize, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, at FESPACO 2021. Guled and Nasra live together with their teenage son Mahad in an outskirt of Djibouti city. When Nasra needs an expensive operation due to a chronic kidney disease, the family faces the challenge of raising the necessary money without losing cohesion. The German producer of the film, Martin Hampel, will be present at the screening.
In cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, AFRIKAMERA presents a special program on hip-hop culture in Senegal on Festival Tuesday (Nov. 16). Writer and director Fatou Kandé Senghor has created a 30-part series that is currently premiering on the Senegalese platform WIDO and was named best television series at FESPACO. WALABOK (Senegal 2021) is about the talented Mossane, who aspires to a career as a rapper despite many obstacles. The screening of three selected episodes will be followed by a conversation between artist Achan Malonga and the director. Admission to the event is free.
For the opening of the program of AFRIKAMERA at the Humboldt Forum, the slammer Doueslik presents together with two musicians film sequences from 50 years of cinematography of Burkinabe cinema with live music and poetry in a new guise - a CINE-SLAM (17.11.) as a German premiere.
Afterwards, the documentary RUMBA RULES, NEW GENEALOGIES (DR Congo / Canada / Belgium 2020 I 17.11.) by David N. Bernatchez and Sammy Baloji portrays the work of the Brigade Sarbati Orchestra, which consists of more than 30 musicians and is now in its fifth generation of bringing the nightlife in Kinshasa to a boil. In the presence of David N. Bernatchez.
On Thursday, two programs will be presented at the Humboldt Forum: #LANDoftheBRAVEfilm (Namibia 2019 I Nov. 18), a cop thriller by German-Namibian director Tim Huebschle follows police officer Meisie Willemse as she investigates a serial killer. In the process, she is confronted with a dark secret from her past that offers insights into the difficult coexistence in post-colonial society.
AFRIKAMERA SHORTS (Ethiopia / Kenya / Sudan 2020 I 11/18) will present three outstanding short film productions from Sudan, Egypt and Burkina Faso, including TUK-TUK by Mohammed Kheidr from Egypt, winner of the Thomas Sankara Award at FESPACO and the National Lottery Award of Burkina Faso, who will be a guest at the screening.
TUK-TUK tells the story of Walaa, who is forced to support her family alone after her husband leaves her to emigrate. To put her children through school and pay for her mother's medication, Walaa gets behind the wheel and drives a tuk-tuk.
Meanwhile, the Arsenal will present two outstanding documentaries and a feature film from Nigeria.
DOWNSTREAM TO KINSHASA (DR Congo / Belgium / France 2020 I 11/18) by Dieudo Hamadi depicts the struggle for justice by victims of the Six-Day War between the Ugandan and Rwandan armies in the Congolese town of Kisangani. Twenty years later, a group of nine women and men embark on a journey of several weeks to the capital city of Kinshasa to finally seek redress. The screening will be followed by a digital Q&A with the director.
In JUJU STORIES (Nigeria 2021 I 11/18), Nigerian film collective Surreal 16 ironically explores the supernatural powers of juju in a three-part anthology film - beyond common witch doctor clichés. German premiere in the presence of executive producer Francis Nebot.
ZINDER (Niger / Germany / France 2021 / 11/18) is the second largest city in Niger and also the setting for this powerful documentary about violent gang and youth culture in the town. In her second feature-length film, director Aïcha Macky, herself born in Zinder, accompanies Siniya, Bawo and Ramsess, members of the local gang "Hitler" in their everyday life in the Kara-Kara district.
The program AFRICAN SHORTS - AFRICAN POP CULTURES (Ghana a.o. 2021 / 19.11.) focuses on formats that deal with current trends in African pop cultures, including ADIKORO - WOMEN IN MUSIC: GHANA (Ghana / Germany 2021) by German-Ghanaian director Pamela Owusu-Brenyah, which deals with female empowerment in the pop music scene of Ghana. Followed by a panel discussion with the director and Fatou Kandé Senghor. An event in cooperation with Pop-Kultur Festival Berlin (www.pop-kultur.berlin).
SOUAD, a 19-year-old medical student, leads a double life. While she appears conservatively with a veil in the circle of her family and society, she develops a completely different image of herself on Facebook and Instagram. Gradually, reality intrudes into her wishful world - until a series of small incidents leads to a tragic event... The drama SOUAD (Egypt / Tunisia / Germany 2021 / 19.11.) by Egyptian director Ayten Amin is representative of the search for identity of millions of young people in post-revolutionary Egypt between upheaval and Islamic conservatism.
In the abuse drama ENTERRES (BURIED) (Cameroon 2019 I 11/19) by Françoise Ellong, four people dressed in black get out of a cab in the opening scene. Although being friends since childhood, they have not met for many years since their time together in a church orphanage. They are all hiding something from each other. On a soccer field in the middle of nowhere, they dare to play a game that brings forgotten demons back to life...The screening will be followed by a digital Q&A with the director and Denis Etouka, one of the two main actors.
Ennock is one of three hundred orphans from rural Malawi who have been placed in a Chinese orphanage.The children and teenagers here must speak Mandarin, maintain Buddhist traditions, and are groomed to master the difficult art of Shaolin Kung Fu. The documentary BUDDHA IN AFRICA (South Africa / Sweden 2019 I 20.11.) by South African director Nicole Schafer poses highly topical questions about the proportionality between the perception of educational opportunities and the surrender of one's own identity in the sign of China's growing influence on the continent.
Nearly 100 years old, Margaret Kamango is a gentle, ironic woman - and is threatened with death. When a Facebook message is leaked to her grandson Karisa, who lives in Mombasa, accusing his grandmother of witchcraft, he decides to return to his home village to get to the bottom of it... Without prejudice, the directors Maia Lekow and Christopher King tackle the phenomenon of witchcraft in contemporary Kenya in THE LETTER (Kenya 2019 I 11/20). Recommended for youth ages 14 and up. The production was awarded the African Union (UA) Special Peace and Security Award at FESPACO 2021.
La Maca, Abidjan's prison, located in the middle of the forest on the outskirts of the city, is one of the most overcrowded in West Africa. One of the inmates, the aging and ailing prisoner Blackbeard is an increasingly controversial "dangoro." To maintain his power, he resumes the tradition of the "novel," a ritual that consists of forcing a prisoner to tell stories throughout the night... Philippe Lacôte's visually stunning epic LA NUIT DES ROIS (NIGHT OF THE KINGS) (Ivory Coast / Senegal / France / Canada 2020 I Nov. 20) oscillates intriguingly between griot history and fantasy tale.
At the center of Atef Ben Bouzid's documentary CAIRO JAZZMAN (Germany 2017 I 20.11.) is the charismatic Egyptian pianist Amr Salah. With few resources but all the more dedication, he has been organizing the Cairo Jazz Festival since 2009. The film, set to shimmering jazz sounds, provides rare insights behind the scenes of the festival and offers at the same time an unusual view of the Egyptian megacity of Cairo and a young generation longing for a cultural and political awakening. Director Atef Ben Bouzid will be present for the screening.
The festival Sunday opens with a youth film at the Humboldt Forum: With PETIT JO - Enfant des Rues (Cameroon / South Africa 2019 I 21.11.) by Daniel Kamwa, AFRIKAMERA offers an intercultural format for youth aged 13 and older in collaboration with artist and empowerment trainer Rebecca Korang. The film tells the story of a mixed-race orphan boy in search of his identity and impressively shows everyday life on the streets of the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé. A German premiere in the presence of the director.
The afternoon and evening program at the Arsenal starts with a long-term documentary made over a period of 12 years. In THE DISQUALIFIED (Tunisia / Qatar / France 2020 I 11/21), Tunisian director Hamza Ouni follows eccentric Mehrez in his hometown of El Mohammedia, who at the age of 25 decides to enlighten and challenge a community of unemployed, frustrated youth through the means of theater. Followed by digital Q&A with the director.
OLIVER BLACK (Morocco 2020 I 11/21), the feature debut of Moroccan director Tawfik Baba, tells the story of young Vendredi, who crosses the desert alone to realize his dream of working for a circus in Morocco. On the way, he meets an old man named "White Man". The two develop a special relationship. At that point, however, Vendredi has no idea that he has fallen in with a human trafficker...The director will be available for a digital Q&A following the film.
The festival closes with FREDA (Benin / Haiti / France 2021 I 11/21), a production from the African diaspora by Gessica Généus. Freda lives with her family in a popular neighborhood in increasingly troubled Port-au-Prince. She worries about her education and the future of her crumbling homeland. Her siblings and friends are toying with the idea of leaving Haiti. But Freda wants to stay, while at the same time fighting at school against the progressive erasure of Haitian culture by white influences. The impressive family drama premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival in the series "Un certain regard" and was awarded the Silver Stallion at FESPACO 2021. German premiere as part of Afrikamera.
Accompanying the festival program, a virtual reality lounge with current productions from Dakar, Lagos, Accra, Nairobi and Johannesburg can be experienced in the foyer of the Humboldt Forum from 17th to 21th November with free admission: "Urban Africa, Urban Movies" in VR.

More info on the program at www.afrikamera.de



Recurring events

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Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

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