Bigger Than Africa

  • Bigger Than Africa
Type : Documentary
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 2018
Format : Feature
Running time : 90 (in minutes)
http://www.facebook.com/BiggerThanAfrica/

When the slave boats docked in the Americas, Cuba and the Caribbean, hundreds of cultures and religions arrived with their passengers. But not all of them survived the plantations. Los Angeles-based director Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye travels through the U.S, West Africa, Brazil and Central America, to map the widespread influence of the Yoruba of northwest Africa, a people whose culture withstood the depredations of slavery and colonialism.
His interviews include playwright, poet and essayist Wole Soyinka; Afrobeat pop star Femi Kuti; and painter and philosopher LeRoy Clarke, all weighing in on the Yoruba's ability to adapt. Yoruba slaves and their Latin American descendants grafted their indigenous religion to the saints of the dominant Roman Catholic Church, giving rise to Santeria. In 1880, when the British governor of Trinidad banned African drum skins used to spur rebellion among poor blacks, Yoruba were among the first to retaliate with the invention of steel pan drums. And the strength of women within Yoruban tradition was key economically, as female entrepreneurs helped sustain a people transitioning from slaves to willing participants in capitalism. It's a story honouring the strength of traditions which not only survive, but flourish in the African Diaspora.

A film by Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye

Nigeria, 2018, Documentary, 1h30 minutes



Type : Documentary
Length: 90 minutes
Locations: Diaspora
Languages: English

Director: Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye

Production: Motherland Productions.com/

FILM AWARDS / ACCOLADES:
Africa Movie Academy Awards - Best Documentary Nominations 2018
Charlotte Black Film Festival - Winner, Best Documentary 2019
International Houston Black Film Festival - Winner, Best Documentary 2019
Silicon Valley Africa Film Festival - Winner, Best Diaspora Documentary 2018
Festival International du Film Panafricain de Cannes - Winner Jury Special Award 2019
AFI World Peace Initiative Cannes - Winner, Best Doc, in Cultural Preservation 2019
Toronto Black Film Festival - Official Selection 2019
Yale University Official Selection -Yale council of African studies / Yale Africa Film Fest 2018
Pan African Film Festival Los Angeles - Official Selection 2018
Montreal International Black Film Festival - Best Documentary Nominations 2018
Halifax Black Film Festival Canada - Official Selection 2019
Africa World Film Festival Detroit - Best Documentary 2nd Place 2018
Africa Diaspora International Film Festival Chicago - Official Selection 2018
IREP International Documentary Film Festival - Official Selection 2019
Zuma Film Festival Abuja - Official Selection 2018
Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival - official Selection 2018
Fade to Black Black History Month Montreal Canada - Official Invitation 2019
African Film Festival New Zealand - Official Selection 2019
Wassermusik Festival Berlin Germany - Official Selection 2019
The African Film Festival Dallas - Official Selection 2019
New York African Film Festival - Official Selection 2019
AND MANY OTHERS!

Organizations

1 files

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

With the support of