AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL

Featuring films from the touring program of the annual New York African Film Festival and favorites from other recent festivals, this series offers Bay Area audiences a chance to experience the vibrant voices and visions of new African cinema and gain insight into a changing cultural and social landscape. Women are at the forefront of the series, both behind and in front of the camera. Works by Apolline Traoré, Jacqueline Kalimunda, and Isabelle Boni-Claverie testify to women's increasing creative contributions to African filmmaking, and recent features from veteran directors Ousmane Sembene and Moussa Sene Absa are outspoken about women's struggles and strength. From the established film traditions of Senegal and Burkina Faso to the newly vital cinema of South Africa and Nigeria's booming video industry, African films present diverse and compelling views of a continent facing the twenty-first century.