Welcome to the 7th E. Desmond Lee Africa World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF), sponsored by the E. Desmond Lee Professorship in African/African-American Studies, International Studies and Programs at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis. ‘Niyi Coker, Jr. E. Desmond Lee Professor Festival Director NB ALL FILMS ARE RATED ‘G’ UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED Thursday, March 6, 2014: Three W’s Pavilion Session One: Refugees and Reconciliation 6:00 PM – 8:35 PM Just to Let You Know That I’m Alive Emanuela Zuccala, Simona Ghizzoni (64m, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Italy) Since 1975, Saharawi people live half in Western Sahara and half in refugee camps in Algeria, divided by a 2,700 km wall built by Morocco during the war. Just to Let You Know That I’m Alive gives voice to Saharawi women who were victims of violence, both in Western Sahara and in the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. It reconstructs, through their testimonies, diaries and photographs, the history of the Saharawi people from an intimate feminine perspective. Stateless (PG) Scott Erlinder (47m, Rwanda, USA) Since the 1994 genocide, Rwandan refugees from that conflict - and from the violence that followed it - have formed a diaspora of over 150,000 (some say 250,000) around the world. In July 2013, these people were scheduled to lose their refugee status and be forced back to Rwanda by the UNHCR and host countries. The refugees feared repatriation to a country they saw as dictatorial and oppressive. The film explores why it was not a proper time to invoke this return through interviews with major figures in refugee studies, Paul Rusesabagina (manager of the Hotel Mille Collines, whose story was dramatized in Hotel Rwanda), Theogene Rudesingwa (former Rwandan Ambassador to the US, currently in exile), as well as UN officials, human rights activists and refugees themselves. Beyond Forgiving - Imad Karam (28m, South Africa, UK) Depicts the journey of two South Africans trying to bring healing and reconciliation to their country. Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphalele form an unlikely pair: a black atheist man and a white Christian woman. One has suffered directly from the actions of the other, but both have been victims - and risen beyond their pain. They come together in a supreme effort to transcend a violent past. Discussion Session Two: Tributes I 8:35 PM – 10:00 PM Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years, 1984 to 1992 Dagmar Schultz (79m, Germany) Audre Lorde, the highly influential, award-winning African-American lesbian poet came to live in West-Berlin in the 80s and early 90s. She was the mentor and catalyst who helped ignite the Afro-German movement while she challenged white women to acknowledge and constructively use their privileges. With her active support a whole generation of writers and poets for the first time gave voice to their unique experience as people of color in Germany. This documentary contains previously unreleased audiovisual material from director Dagmar Schultzs archives, including stunning images of Audre Lorde off-stage. With testimony from Lordes colleagues and friends, the film documents Lordes lasting legacy in Germany and the impact of her work and personality.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:03:55 +0000
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