Berkeley African Film Festival

Sun / Mar 8 @ 6:30 PM-After the Long Rains by Damien Hauser, Switzerland, Kenya, 2023
Thu / Mar 12 @ 7 PM-Compensation by Zeinabu irene Davis, United States, 1999
Featuring Zeinabu irene Davis, Marc Arthur Chéry, and Quinta Seward in conversation
Wed / Apr 1 @ 7 PM-The Tree of Authenticity by Sammy Baloji, Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2025
Sat / Apr 4 @ 4 PM-Furu by Fatou Cissé, Mali, 2024
Wed / Apr 8 @ 7 PM-Faya dayi by Jessica Beshir, Ethiopia, United States, Qatar, 2021
Featuring Jessica Beshir and shah noor hussein in conversation
Sat / Apr 11 @ 4:30 PM-Kouté vwa by Maxime Jean-Baptiste, Belgium, France, French Guiana, 2024
Sun / Apr 12 @ 7 PM-Freedom Way by Afolabi Olalekan, Nigeria, 2024
Sat / May 9 @ 4 PM-Bouchra by Orian Barki, Meriem Bennani, Italy, Morocco, United States, 2025

Coming-of-age stories and portraits of dynamic cities in transition anchor this year's African Film Festival, which also features a screening of the new 4K digital restoration of Zeinabu irene Davis's Compensation (1999), "a landmark of American independent cinema that confronts the social forces and prejudices that hinder love" (Janus Films). As always, this series offers visions from across Africa and its global diaspora, from the scenic coasts of Kenya to the vibrant cityscapes of Lagos and Cayenne, French Guiana, Mali, and Chicago. It even finds time for a stopover in an imaginary New York and Morocco, where jackals talk and work through their mother/daughter issues in the wonderfully imaginative animated work Bouchra.

-Jason Sanders, Film Notes Writer