Film / News
An Eye to Africa
How do you bring film to rural communities in Malawi? With a pedal-powered cinema, of course. Back in August, Somerset-based Purple Field Productions got on their collective bike for a six-week tour of the country’s most remote locations, screening educational documentaries and dramas to more than 9,000 people. In a free talk to launch this year’s Afrika Eye Festival at the Watershed on November 7, George Salt reveals all about this great adventure.
The festival is as diverse as ever, kicking off with dance flick Hear Me Move – South Africa’s vivid urban township answer to those Step Up movies. You can shake your own booty, if you feel so moved, at an after-party with South African jazzer Pinise Saul and friends.
This being the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela leading his country to freedom, the festival boasts a strong focus on democracy in South Africa. Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me takes a sober look at the man’s legacy; Lionel Rogosin’s secretly filmed 1959 documentary Come Back Africa provides an insight into life under apartheid; Soft Vengeance chronicles the life of activist Albie Sachs, who’ll be participating in a Skype Q&A; and the Lauryn Hill-narrated documentary Concerning Violence takes a wider look at Third World liberation struggles. Miners Shot Down, meanwhile, tells a more recent story: the brutal suppression of strikers at one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines in 2012, which left 34 dead.
For kiddies, there’s a screening of the very Lion King-esque South African animation Khumba followed by a Painting with Light workshop. Dramas include the Bonnie and Clyde-style true-life crime flick Durban Poison and the festival’s concluding film, Timbuktu. The latter is a timely Cannes Palme d’Or nominated tale of a nomad on the receiving and of ‘justice’ meted out by invading jihadist zealots.
Afrika Eye runs from Fri 7-Sun 9 November. See the what’s on listings for details of all screenings, with trailers. For the full programme, including talks and discussions, see the Afrika Eye website.
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