“Africa: exciting and complex.”
The Afrika Eye Film Festival 08 has started!! Running throughout Black History Month and beyond, the Afrika Eye Film Festival 08 showcases the best in contemporary African cinema.
How did the festival come about? And what can we expect to see at this year’s fest? Samiat Pedro caught up with festival Co- director Ingrid Sinclair to find out.
How did Afrika Eye Film Festival come about?
When we came to UK from Zimbabwe in 2003, we realised that people have a very one-sided picture of Africa$$s$$ it’s a picture that involves a lot of distance, a lot of animals, some exotic dress codes and traditions and a large dose of poverty and corruption.
This contributes to a western sense of difference that does not promote integration for Africans into the UK and allows people and governments to treat African countries with a mixture of exploitation and patronage. We wanted to show films that show African cultures as real, living and human.
Now in its third year, the festival has shown itself to be an annual highlight.
Do you feel you have accomplished that which you set out to in setting up the festival?
Only partly. [It] takes a while to change people’s perceptions, especially when almost the whole of western media operates in the opposite direction. But some people will now know more about or feel differently towards Africa or Africans and that’s an achievement.
We wanted people to know that the capital of Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, is a beautiful high rise port on the sea$$s$$ that the streets of Yaounde in Cameroon are buzzing with cool and fashionable youngsters$$s$$ that African people are brave, foolish, emotional, proud – in many ways just like the rest of us$$s$$ and that African film directors are as capable of richness, depth, metaphorical vision and story telling power as any others.
What’s been happening since last year’s event?
We have been working on building a larger audience by putting on small events throughout the year. We have decided that the festival should focus on music as that was clearly an attraction last year and we have organised two great parties with live African and diaspora music and dance.
Music is arguably on of Africa’s earliest and broadest art forms, and with the calibre of films on offer it is a great source of inspiration. This year we are truly spoilt for choice.
What can’t you wait to see on the big screen at this year’s festival?
Son of Man, the story of Jesus set in a South African township. It was nominated for Best Film at Sundance and has won a number of awards. From the opening shot, it’s a gripping and extraordinary piece of work. Fantastic use of costume and make up, wonderful sound, clever politics and marvellous counterpoint between the slow life of Jesus in the desert and the violent fast footage of life in the township. Don’t miss it!
Such is the success of the festival that it continues to expand. It now offers workshops for local communities, including video production which will see members of the community produce a short programme to be premiered in the Eyeful section of the festival, plus a script writing basics workshop in co-operation with Bristol City Libraries.
The festival is also inspiring audiences on a much more personal level.
What have been the most poignant responses to the festival?
Dancers from a Bristol-based group going to study contemporary dance at college as a result of seeing a film about a Zimbabwean contemporary dancer in the UK.
African cinema is alive and well, bringing a new sense of excitement to the UK cinema scene.
The Afrika Eye Film Festival 08 runs from 31 October until 9 November. All film screenings will be at the Watershed, Bristol, except for Black British, which will be at the Pierian Centre, Portland Square. To book tickets visit www.watershed.co.uk.
