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Diversity of the African World on display at Africa World Documentary Film Festival

September 5, 2014 - Fans of the cinema will be in for a special treat when the Faulty of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies, Mona hosts the 7th E. Desmond Lee Africa World Documentary Film Festival (AWDFF) from October 2-5, 2014.
 
Films will be screened at the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre (N1), UWI; admission is free and the festival is open to the public.
 
Over 20 documentaries made by filmmakers in Africa and African Diaspora communities around the world will be shown. The documentaries cover a wide range of subjects and reflect the diversity of interests, concerns and cultural expression in the African world. These films counter the notion that black communities are characterized primarily by poverty, war and violent conflict.
 
True Somebody: The African Soccer Dream by Stephen Latty documents a vital time in African soccer and shows how the extraordinary success of African players competing in European leagues has inspired a surge of soccer passion throughout the continent. Set in Ghana at the Cup of African Nations, the film is a portrait of four soccer stars during a prestigious tournament and a journey through the dream that inspires young players to commit their lives to the game.
 
Some of the films are upbeat stories celebrating the resilience of the human spirit, creativity and the artistic sensibility: Asni, The Life of Asnaketch Worku: Courage, Passion & Glamor in Ethiopia, by Rachel Samuel, is the story of the extraordinary Ethiopian artist, Asnaketch Worku, who is a cultural icon in Ethiopia. Saya: Dance and Survival in an Afro-Bolivian Village, by Beret Strong and John Tweedy, shows how the Saya dance troupe in  Bolivia, emerging from a community that worked under a form of slavery until the 1950s,  performs dances that celebrate and preserve their African cultural heritage.
 
Sahel Calling by John Bosch looks at the aftermath of events in 2012 - 2013 in Mali when radicals used violence to control communities. The film explores the motivational and re-conciliatory power of music as local musicians raise global awareness about Mali, its culture and its challenges and spread the message: sing to bear witness, to forgive and to reconcile. Move by Theodore Collatos is the story of the Chicago based contemporary African American dance company, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater. As the film follows the group during a winter tour, issues of gender identity in dance, race dynamics in a mixed-race company, and politics are explored in a fresh and powerful new way.
 
The festival is sponsored by the E. Desmond Lee Professorship in African/African-American Studies, International Studies and Programs at the University of Missouri, Saint Louis and is held annually at venues around the globe. At UWI, Mona the festival is organized by the Department of Literatures in English, the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, and CARIMAC.
 
Details of the festival screenings and schedule may be obtained from the Department of Literatures in English by emailing litsengmona@gmail.com or by visiting our Facebook page by searching: Africa World Documentary Film Festival-U.W.I Mona.


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