AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL 2010

For Immediate Release
April 14, 2010
Contact: Anne Marie Weiss-Armush
DFW International Community Alliance
www.dfwinternational.org/AfricanUnity
972-661-2764
Photos are available

DFW International Community Alliance is proud to present the region's only African Film Festival, the first event in the three-weekend African Unity Festival. The African Film Festival will be held on Saturday, May 1, 2010, at SMUs Meadows School of the Arts, 6101 Bishop Blvd (at Hillcrest) from 1pm to 6:30 pm.  Four films about African Women's Issues, and Music for the Struggle for Justice, will be shown in their original languages, with English subtitles.   Experts in these two topics will form panels that discuss the cultural and historical issues with the audience. A dmission is FREE, and the films are suitable for families. Parking is also free, either in front of the Meadows School or in the Meadows Museum Parking Garage located at 5900 Bishop.   The African Film Festival is supported by SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Western Union, and the Dallas Community College District.

The African Leadership Council of DFW International Community Alliance presents
Saturday, May 1
African Film Festival
FREE
1pm to 6:30 pm
suitable for families
Meadows School of the Arts Owen Arts Center, 6101 Bishop Blvd at HIllcrest
Free parking in front, or use free Meadows Museum Parking Garage, located at 5900 Bishop Blvd
website:  www.dfwinternational.org/AfricanUnity/AfricanFilm.php

Theater 1: 
1:00 pm - 'Inch'Allah Dimanche' - Algeria
2:30 pm - 'Moolaade' - Burkina Faso
4:00 pm - PANEL DISCUSSION on WOMEN'S ISSUES
4:45 pm- 'Inch'Allah Dimanche' - Algeria

Theater 2:
1:00 pm - Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony South Africa
2:30 pm - Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love - Senegal, Egypt
4:00 pm  -  PANEL DISCUSSION on Contemporary Music and the Struggle for Justice
5:00 pm - Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony South Africa

'Inch'Allah Dimanche' - Algeria - award winner at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival
Upon arriving in France with her three children, Zouina is sent off to live in a house that her husband has rented for them. Unfortunately, she quickly realizes that her husband has no intention of allowing her to leave the house. Without friends and family and constantly under the surveillance of her domineering mother-in-law, Zouina finds her only source of relief is Sunday when her husband takes his mother out for the day and Zouina and the children are able to explore the outside world. (98 mins)
 
'Moolaade' - Burkina Faso - award winner at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembene makes an impassioned plea against the practice of salinde, or female circumcision, in this movingand sensitive portrait of a society in transition. In a West African village run by uncompromising Muslim males, fiery Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly) provides safe harbor for young girls fleeing their "cleansing" rituals. But what one man terms "a minor domestic issue" soon puts the whole town on the verge of bloodshed. (124 mins)

Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony South Africa - award winner 2002 Sundance Film Festival
Interviews, archival footage, and filmed performances highlight the role of music in the South African struggle against apartheid, where songs united those who were being oppressed and gave those fighting a way to express their plight. The music consoled those incarcerated, and created an effective underground form of communication inside the prisons. (108 mins )
 
''Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love' - Senegal, Egypt - award winner 2009 Nashville Film Festival
At the height of his career, Youssou became frustrated by the negative perception of his Muslim faith and composed Egypt, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. The album's brave musical message was wholeheartedly embraced by Western audiences but ignited serious religious controversy in his homeland of Senegal. The film chronicles the difficult journey Youssou must undertake to assume his true calling.(102 mins)

An event flyer can be downloaded from the website at www.dfwinternational.org/AfricanUnity/AfricanFilm.php

North Texan African communities participating in the different events of the African Unity Festival include:
Burundi           Cameroon        Congo          Djibouti         Egypt         Eritrea             Ethiopia          Gambia         Ghana          Ivory Coast        
Kenya             Liberia             Morocco       Nigeria         Sierra Leone          Somalia          South Africa     Sudan           Swaziland    Uganda     

DFW International Community Alliance is the portal for global North Texas, a network of 1,600 of the regions ethnic and internationally-focused civic, community and educational organizations.  Its mission is to build mutual understanding and respect by linking diverse international cultural communities. The organization promotes and links North Texas global groups through its website and cultural calendar at http://www.dfwinternational.org/ .  For more details about DFW International Community Alliance, see the media page HERE  or call 972-661-2764.