BROUGHT TO YOU BY FUNDING PARTNERS FESTIVAL CREDITS Festival Director Production Intern Sheila Ruiz Umloda Ibrahim Festival Consultant Feature-length Submissions Advisors Rachael Loughlan Robin Steedman and Sarah Wechselberger Festival Producer Shorts Submissions Advisors PROGRAMME PARTNERS Sarah Wechselberger Geoff Badger, Sophie Determan, Pengyuan Gu, Monica Gyamlani, Isobel Harrop, Elle Curators Haywood, Kinyua Kamau, Nicholas Kouhi, Katarina Hedrén, Aseye Tamakloe Sergio Martinez Esqueda, Ryan Ninesling, and Nyambura M. Waruingi Maria Popova, Nicola Passarotto, Nidhi Guest Curator Shukal, Galina Stepanova, Anita Wolska, Nadia Denton Yvonne Wootton and Emily Wright. Fundraising Manager Brochure Editor Caitlin Pearson Ayodeji Rotinwa Administrative Manager BSL Interpreting Lizzie Orekoya Zebra Uno Marketing & PR Consultant Branding & Design Beth O’Connor D237.com VENUE PARTNERS STREAMING PARTNER Marketing Coordinator Festival Trailer Nouria Bah Liam Dickson Marketing Intern Festival Trailer Soundtrack Anthony Lee Pablo Scopinaro WELCOME TO FILM AFRICA 2020 The Royal African Society is delighted to present the 9th edition of Film Africa, taking place In addition to our core film programme, we will be hosting a series of virtual events from Friday 30 October to Sunday 8 November 2020. Showcasing 46 titles from 14 different - including live Director Q&As, panel debates and a masterclass on curating African African countries, including 25 UK, European and World premieres, this year’s festival is yet cinema - which anyone in the world will be able to access and enjoy. As part of the another exciting and eclectic collection of some of the best contemporary cinema stemming online festival experience, we will also be hosting Watch Parties and at-home Dine & from Africa and its global diaspora. View screenings, which we hope will bring a sense of community to all those involved. Some of our festival events will be British Sign Language interpreted, so please look out To mitigate the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Film Africa 2020 will consist of for the BSL icon throughout the brochure. a venue programme of 12 socially distanced screenings at the Rich Mix and BFI Southbank, and an online offering of 8 fiction and documentary features, which will be available on Our mission at Film Africa remains the same - to offer a platform to showcase and the BFI Player’s subscription service throughout the 10 days of the festival. This new online celebrate the best contemporary African cinema in London and the UK - and, as in access will enable audiences anywhere in the UK to enjoy Film Africa for the first time from the previous years, we will be presenting the Baobab Award for Best Short Film and the comfort of their own homes, which is very exciting for us. Film Africa Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film to recognise and nurture emerging filmmaking talent. The Audience Award is a great way for you to get involved The BFI Player offers a 14-day free trial period, which means you could watch our festival as a festival attendee, so make sure you cast your vote online for any fiction features films for free and then decide whether to keep enjoying the diverse selection of cinema offered you watch. For instructions on how to do so, please turn to page 7. through their subscription. It is also worth highlighting that our venue screenings will have very limited capacity this year, so we strongly recommend booking in advance to secure your We hope you enjoy delving into this year’s stimulating programme and look forward to cinema tickets. welcoming you online or in person! Our special strands this year include BEYOND NOLLYWOOD, presented by guest curator Nadia Stay well, Denton and celebrating new wave audio-visual content from Nigeria; and HERE / NOT HERE, presented in partnership with Deaffest, the UK’s leading Deaf-led Film & Arts Festival. To Sheila Ruiz find out more about the main themes emerging from the main film programme, please see Director, Film Africa overleaf for our curators’ statement. Deputy Director, Royal African Society 4 @FilmAfrica /FilmAfricaUK #FilmAfrica20 filmafrica.org INTRODUCTION 4 A WORD FROM THE CURATORS CALENDAR 6 FILM AFRICA 2020 AUDIENCE AWARD 7 We are pleased to introduce the Film Africa 2020 programme sustenance and survival. Migration in all its complexity, OPENING & CLOSING FILMS 8 – an eclectic collection of films, to be screened in cinemas is also tackled, including planned departures that never and online. COVID-19 has disrupted the entire world and happen; travellers who never reached their destination; NARRATIVE & DOCUMENTARY FEATURES 10 the film festival space is no exception. We hope and trust family separation, reunification; and the precarious BEYOND NOLLYWOOD 14 that this year’s Film Africa experience will still be one of existence of exile, be it as documented or undocumented community and sharing, in the cinemas and online at home immigrants in a foreign space. HERE / NOT HERE 16 with friends and family. BAOBAB AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM 18 The 2020 film programme showcases a powerful blend of The selection mirrors the combined minds and sensibilities existential concerns in very real settings, where the socio- FILM AFRICA 2020 DOC SHORTS 22 of three curators. Based in three corners of Africa; Ghana in political circumstances impact the lives of human beings, PANEL EVENTS & MASTERCLASS the west, Kenya in the east and South Africa in the south. The but never out shadow them or define and determine who they 24 films – feature-length and shorts; fiction and documentary are in the world. HOW TO ACCESS THE FESTIVAL 25 – reflect a multitude of experiences, subject matters and styles, with stories unfolding on the African continent as well These stories, while showcasing a plethora of ways in THANKS & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 26 as in its Diaspora. which human beings cause each other harm - willingly and FILM INDEX 27 unwillingly - are also a testament to human resilience and The filmmakers represented in the 2020 selection address self-actualization; to our ability to forgive, love and support new and old concerns, each in their own distinct and one another. A Film Africa 2020 Audience Award Nominee unique voice, with empathy, and in ways, that both reflect BSL BSL interpreted screening and stimulate boundless imagination. There are films that We would like to thank Film Africa for the confidence and Cinema screening speak of secrets, taboos, of painful memories and unhealed each other for the joyous collaboration. We wish everyone a wounds, at individual, family and community levels. wonderful, thrilling, thought-provoking and comforting time Online screening or event at the movies and at home. Watch Party screening Belonging (acknowledged and contested) is a recurring theme and so is the inseparable issue of land. Land, in life Dine & View event and in this selection, represents identity, a place to rest (for Katarina Hedrén Aseye Tamakloe Nyambura DOC Documentary the living as well as for the dead) and a crucial source for in Johannesburg in Accra M.Waruingi in Nairobi S Shorts 5 DATE TIME SCREENING / EVENT AT HOME / IN VENUE VENUE / PLATFORM PAGE NO. FRI 30 OCT 18:00 Opening Film: The Ghost And The House Of Truth - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A BSL At Home BFI Player / Facebook 8 20:40 Opening Film: The Ghost And The House Of Truth + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue BFI Southbank 8 SAT 31 OCT 14:30 BEYOND NOLLYWOOD Shorts: Story For The Gods + Live Curator’s Intro In Venue BFI Southbank 15 17:00 HERE / NOT HERE - Watch Party + Live Cast & Crew Panel BSL At Home BSL ZONE / Facebook 16 20:30 Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 14 SUN 1 NOV 15:00 Live Panel: BEYOND NOLLYWOOD To The World At Home Zoom / Facebook 15 18:00 You Will Die At 20 + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 10 18:30 For Maria Ebun Pataki - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A At Home BFI Player / Facebook 14 MON 2 NOV 18:30 Film Africa 2020 Doc Shorts + Pre-Recorded Curator's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 22 TUE 3 NOV 18:30 The Letter (Doc) + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 10 WED 4 NOV 17:00 The Letter - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A At Home BFI Player / Facebook 10 18:30 I Am Samuel [Doc] + Kenyan, Christian, Queer (Short Doc) + Live Director Q&A In Venue Rich Mix 11 THU 5 NOV 18:00 This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 11 18:30 Le Loupe D’Or De Balolé [Doc] - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A At Home BFI Player / Facebook 12 FRI 6 NOV 19:00 Finding Sally [Doc] - Online Dine & View Screening In Venue BFI Southbank 12 20:30 Becoming Black (Doc) + Pre-recorded Director's Intro At Home BFI Player / Facebook 12 SAT 7 NOV 14:00 Film Africa 2020 Baobab Award Shorts + Live Intro In Venue Rich Mix 18 19:00 Goldcoast Lounge - Online Dine & View Screening At Home BFI Player / Facebook 13 20:30 Farewell Amor + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue Rich Mix 13 SUN 8 NOV 11:00 Masterclass: Programming African Cinema At Home Zoom / Facebook 24 14:00 Baobab Award Winner Announcement - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A At Home Vimeo / Facebook 21 15:30 Live Panel: To Be Kenyan, Christian, Queer At Home Zoom / Facebook 11 18:00 Closing Film: Barakat + Pre-Recorded Director's Intro In Venue BFI Southbank 9 18:00 Closing Film: Barakat - Watch Party + Live Director Q&A BSL At Home BFI Player / Facebook 9 6 FILM AFRICA 2020 AUDIENCE AWARD PAGE TITLE YOUR OPINION MATTERS MOST! Our Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Film offers a cash prize of £1,000 and is particularly special because it’s chosen by you! You can vote for as many films as you attend or watch.