Tomorrow, Friday 11 March, the Afrika Filmfestival 2016 opens its doors with the Ethiopian film Lamb. More than 650 people signed up, we are fully booked. Thank you for your enthousiasm, sorry for those who weren't able to book a ticket. The film Lamb is part of the program Afrika Filmfestival goes Youth 2.0. We will try to screen the film again after the festival.
And don't forget, the opening is just the start of a two-week lasting festival with many films worth seeing. Migration is one of the themes of this year's edition. Not only the dramatic side as shown in Mediterannea and Simshar, but also the beautiful side of migration as shown in L'Africain qui voulait voler.
MIGRATION IN ALL ITS ASPECTS
14 mrt, 17.30 & 15 mrt, 22.30, Cinema ZED, Leuven
Red Leaves
Meseganio Tadela, 74, immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia 28 years ago with his family. He has chosen to zealously retain his culture, talks very little, and hardly speaks Hebrew. After losing his wife, Meseganio sets out on a journey that leads him through his children’s homes. He comes to realize that he belongs to a rapidly disappearing class that believes in retaining Ethiopian culture. As this harsh reality begins to hit him, he struggles to survive according to his own rules.
17 mrt, 20.00, Cinema ZED, Leuven
L'Africain qui voulait voler
The African who wanted to fly tells the extraordinary life of Luc Bendza, a young Gabonese who dreamed of flying like the fighters in martial arts films. He moved to China in the 1980s and with determination and perseverance he realized his dream: today he is master in the Queen of Kung Fu discipline ‘Wushu’.
21 mrt, 17.30 & 22 mrt, 17.30, Cinema ZED, Leuven
Simshar
Based on astonishing true events, Simshar tells two parallel stories of survival at sea which unravel on and around the Maltese islands. . Young Theo is sent on his first trip with his Maltese sea faring family, but things go terribly wrong when the 'Simshar' sinks, leaving the crew stranded in the Mediterranean... Simultaneously, Alex - a medic reluctantly dispatched onto a Turkish Merchant vessel which has rescued a group of stranded African boat people between Malta and Italy - gets stuck on the boat as the countries wage a bureaucratic war over who should take in the migrants...
22 mrt, 20.00, Kinepolis Leuven
Mediterranea
Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search for a better life. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas across the Mediterranean to Italy. Ayiva adapts to life in Italy, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous. But Ayiva remains determined: here his life will be better, regardless the price.
Mediterranea was screened at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival (International Critics' Week section).
26 mrt, 11.15, Museum M, Leuven
Beautiful Tree, Severed Roots
This film raises issues about being a refugee, being displaced, losing your mother country, bringing your belief system to your host country, adapting, assimilating or not assimilating - all the issues that all displaced persons must confront. It is also an examination of her own identity as a white girl born in Africa; an Eastern European in a British colony; and a non-Jewish Jew. The result is a poetic collage of narration, moving images, voices, music and still shots.
26 mrt, 14.00, A conversation with:
Ronny Mosuse
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In 1964, the father of Ronny Mosuse' came as a student from Congo to Belgium. He married a Belgian and never returned to Congo. Why? Ronny Mosuse goes to Congo in search of his family history and finds out that the colonial chapter is very sensitive. The result of his search can be seen in the documentary and read in his book The Hidden History of my Father. More info.
The entire program: www.afrikafilmfestival.be
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