We are SO looking forward to the start of CinemAfrica 2018! Upping the ante, broadening the selection of culture in Sweden, and as Samuel Girma, the Festival Coordinator said “changing something in the discourse”, the yearly film festival adds color, warmth and flavor to the icy mid-winter Stockholm (and this year, Umeå) days. CinemAfrica, celebrates its 20th anniversary starting this Monday, February 26 and running through to March 4th. Not only does the festival bring us culture and confirmation from the continent and the diaspora, and distracts us from the fact that there are at least two more months of winter to go, it also provides ample opportunity for learning and discourse on universal issues. In Sweden, it’s the “winter half-year”/ vinterhalvår, y’all! Take respite at the movies! Go see where Black Panther gets its inspiration!  

SHORT FILMS AND VIDEOS

Starting out is a not-to-miss tips list from the Shorts And Videos programme. It was hard to choose, so we got a heads-up from one of Krull’s co-founder colleagues, Luwam Zeru, who is on the short films jury this year.   ITIFWORQ / DOUBLE GOLD BY SOSENA SOLOMON Ethiopia Itifworq, meaning “Double Gold” in Amharic, is the name of the director’s grandmother and family matriarch. In this personal black and white documentary and split-screen installation, she tells the story of her time as a teenage guerilla fighter during the 1935 Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Don’t miss the Q&A with the director after the film on Tuesday, 27th February, 6pm at cinema Zita 1.   IMAN BY MIA BITTAR Sudan Iman is a film on the border between documentary and feature film. It deals with the subject of extremism by presenting four intimate stories about radicalization, played by mostly non-actors. The stories are based on over 400 interviews in different regions in Sudan.   DEAR MR. SHAKESPEARE BY SHOLA AMOO / PHOEBE BOSWELL Great Britain The director and screenwriter of Dear Mr. Shakespeare draws parallels between Shakespeare’s intention while writing Othello and themes of immigration and blackness in Britain today.   THEY CHARGE FOR THE SUN BY TERENCE NANCE Great Britain Krull already loves this film just for the title alone. This futuristic film, full of nuance and symbolism, uses science fiction as a tool for social critique to raise questions about race and class and access.   WALK FOR ME BY ELEGANCE BRATTON USA Walk For Me rouses a nuanced conversation about black gender identity and sexuality. Played out in the New York City Gay Ball scene, the film follows teen Hassan Kendricks and his mother as they confront his identity. Q&A with Elegance Bratton and Carrie Hawks follows the screening. MASCULINITIES: FREEDOM FROM PERFORMANCE FATHERHOOD BLACK BOYS DON’T CRY MONOCHROME #BLACKMENDREAM This packet of films questions the stereotypes of what constitute masculinity. Rethinking assumptions about feelings, intimacy, affection, manliness.  

LONG FILMS

GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI BY SOPHIE FIENNES Great Britain Coz…GRACE JONES!!! Fabulous! The mother of Afropunk! The Queen of Afro-futurism! Enough said.   FELICITÉ BY ALAIN GOMIS Senegal / France Moving, 2018 Oscar nominated and Berlin Grand Jury Prize, film from Senegalese director Gomis. The film follows it’s title character through the chaos of the Kinshasa in a race against the clock to save her son who’s been in a terrible accident.     A SEASON IN FRANCE BY MAHAMAT SALEH HAROUN France Abbas flees the Central African Republic, his war-torn land, for France, along with two children, his brother and sorrow over his dead wife. While applying for political asylum, reluctantly processing an internal identity war and doing his best to create a secure life for the children, Abbas works in a food market where Carole, a white Frenchwoman, is also working. A close relationship develops that meets the need for love and comfort. Carole warmly opens her home for Abbas and his children. However, when the French state rejects Abbas’ application, they are faced with a crucial decision.   I AM NOT A WITCH BY RUNGANO NYONI Zambia, Great Britain, France 9-year-old Shula is accused of witchcraft, arrested and forced to choose between being turned into a goat or sent to a witch camp. She chooses the latter. A surrealistic satire of a misguided society in modern Zambia, I Am Not A Witch is Rungano Nyoni’s feature film debut. It captures both Zambian tradition and Western exotification with a great deal of humor and intelligence.   images courtesy of CinemAfrica Film Festival Buy your tickets at www.cinemafrica.se