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Highlights of 2009: *The WOCAF Festival debut its Visual Arts Exhibition, curated by Sharon Robinson supported by the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History *The WOCAF Festival received a proclamation from the city of Atlanta acknowledging our 5th year anniversary *Hon. Consul General of Nigeria in Atlanta: Mr. C. N. Okafor gave a phenomenal speech about the WOCAF's efforts promoting the Nigerian film industry. =======================================================
Film Screenings and Visual Arts Exhibition March 19 - 22 2009
Saturday,
March 21st 2009 Screenings 12:00pm - 5:00pm Closing Night Feature "Arugbá" @ 3:05pm
When 20 year old Sara Baartman got on a boat that was to take her from Cape Town to London in 1810, she could not have known that she would would never see her home again. Nor, as she stood on the deck and saw her homeland disappear behind her could she have known that she would become the icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality for the next 100 years.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SARA BAARTMAN is the fascinating story of this Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa, and then exhibited as a freak across Britain. The image and idea of "The Hottentot Venus" swept through British popular culture. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.
A masterful blending of Art and Activism, music video style and spoken word performance.
In a hip hop and R’n’B world
dominated by men and noted for misogyny, the unstoppable female
lyricists of Say My Name speak candidly about class, race,
and gender in pursuing their passions as female MCs.This worldwide
documentary takes viewers on a vibrant tour of urban culture and
musical movement, from hip hop’s birthplace in the Bronx, to grime
on London’s Eastside and all points Philly, Detroit, Chicago,
Atlanta, and L.A. Featuring interviews and musical performances from
a diverse cast of women including Remy Ma, Rah Digga, Jean Grea,
Erykah Badu, Estelle and newcomers Choc Thai, Invincible and Miz
Korona, this powerful documentary delves into the amazing personal
stories of women balancing professional dreams with the stark
realities of poor urban communities, race, sexism, and motherhood,
as the more than 18 artist featured in Say My Name battle for
a place in a society that creates few chances for women. From
emerging artists filled with new creativity, to true pioneers like
MC Lyte, Roxxanne Shante, and Monie Love, these are women turning
adversity into art. Intermission
‘Ramchand Pakistani’ is derived from a true story concerning the accidental crossing of the Pakistan-Indian border during a period (June 2002) of extreme, war-like tension between the two countries by two members of a Pakistani Hindu family belonging to the 'untouchable' (Dalit) caste, and the extraordinary consequences of this unintended action upon the lives of a woman, a man, and their son.The singular theme of the film is how a child from Pakistan aged eight years learns to cope with the trauma of forced separation from his mother while being held prisoner, along with his father in the jail of a country i.e. India, which is hostile to his own, while on the other side of the border, the wife-mother, devastated by their sudden disappearance builds a new chapter of her life, by her solitary struggle for sheer survival. Winner of
the FIPRESCI Award from the International Federation of
Film Critics, July 2008.
Filmmaker Karen Chapman explores her feelings about her natural hair as a young black woman in a media-driven world, revealing layers of insecurities.
Zora Neale Hurston, path-breaking novelist, pioneering anthropologist and one of the first black women to enter the American literary canon (Their Eyes Were Watching God), established the African American vernacular as one of the most vital, inventive voices in American literature. This definitive film biography, eighteen years in the making, portrays Zora in all her complexity: gifted, flamboyant, and controversial but always fiercely original.
New to the New York city, Samantha meets Levi, a 9 year old boy displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Starring Vanessa Williams
Me, Masi & Mr. Clean is a short, bittersweet comedy about a young South Asian girl and her struggle to accept the color of her skin.
Five-year-old Stella wants to give her mum a new little brother but where can she get a baby? Together with her best friend Luna, she hatches a plan to surprise her mum. Intermission
Sixteen year old wall flower BJ is constantly told that beauty is only skin deep. Right now that's as far as she wants to go.
An African American woman journalist reluctantly takes on the assignment to interview a retired black actor who made his fame by portraying racial stereotypes.
The end of Winter recounts the emotional journey of Billie, a young woman struggling to reconcile her grief after the untimely death of her father, When Bille, her sister Ella and boyfriend Jackson visit the apartment where their father once lived to retrieve his belongings, questions ae raised about how he lived his life.
In 1965, Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first woman of color in the U.S. Congress. Seven years later, she ran fir the U.S. presidency and co-authored Title IX, the landmark legislation that opened up higher education and athletics to America's women. Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority is the story of this dynamic trailblazer who battling racism and sexism redefined American politics.
Three sisters await ward of their missing father during 9/11
Akiras Hip Hop Shop is a romantic comedy/drama about a rap music loving Japanese guy who owns a record store with his best friend. When Daphne, a young Black culinary student walks into his shop one day Akira's life is changed forever. As their relationship blooms. Akira and Daphne must endure the less enlightened attitudes of family and friends. Does love truly conquer all? Or will prejudice and politics drive the couple apart?
Rita reveals a surprise to her husband Dominic which shakes the very foundation of their seemingly happy marriage.
Hope has her faith tested during what should be the happiest time of her life -her first pregnancy - but discovers that she was infected with the HIV virus.
We are riders takes you inside the world and lives of female motorcyclists'. Women from across the county are interviewed and they talk about their lives on and off the wheel. A new and refreshing view of how empowered women come together and bond and share under a single commonality.
Filmed in Miami and
Los Angeles, this intelligent romantic comedy chronicles the social
and economic rise of Derek Scott (Malik Yoba). Derek has spent his
entire life plotting a course for his success. His diligence is
about to pay off big when he happens upon an unexpected detour. This
“road less traveled” intrigues Derek so much so that he considers
throwing away his entire well orchestrated life to experience the
one thing his plan has yet to provide…. Love. Starring Tangi Miller
(Madeas Family reunion) Obba Babatunde, Brent Jennings, CCH
Pounder.
Planting trees for fuel, shade, and food is not something that anyone would imagine as the first step toward winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet with that simple act Wangari Maathai, a woman born in rural Kenya, started down the path that reclaimed her country's land from 100 years of deforestation, provided new sources of food and income to rural communities, gave previously impoverished and powerless women a vital political role in their country, and ultimately helped to bring down Kenya's twenty-four-year dictatorship.
Intermission
Featuring Ty Bello & Olufunmi
Having grown-up in a world where corruption and greed over-ride all else, the friends decide to cut their ties with their megalomaniacal boss (Dele) and form their own partnership with a view of leaving their corrupt world for good.
But their plans fall apart before it's began when against their better judgement, they work a scam on Dele's turf, the scam back-fires, and he finds out about it. The friends are then faced with a life or death situation as they search for an escape route whilst hiding from the clutches of Dele's henchmen.
And as the sun fades on this bustling metropolitan city, the friends are put to test about the real value of their friendship with the ultimate question: how far would you go to save the life of your friend...?
Sharing her vision for transforming preconceptions about Africa and African images, "Nollywood Lady" Peace Anyiam-Fibresima, producer, filmmaker, and founder of the African Academy of Motion Pictures, takes viewers on an all-access tour to film locations, markets, and sit-downs with Nollywood professionals in the vibrant production hub of Lagos. This vibrant documentary is an insider's primer to Nollywood's dynamic $250 million industry, interspersed with clips from the more than 1,500 direct-to-video, mostly low budget, culturally distinct, and immensely popular films Nollywood produces each year.
INTERMISSION
Adetutu (Bukola Awoyemi) is on the
threshold of responsibility. She must juggle her role as Arugba
(the virgin who
carries the sacrificial calabash during the Osun Osogbo festival in
Osogbo, Nigeria) in the annual community festival
with her studies at the university, she must care for an ailing and
grieving friend, contend with a demanding king,), a
blossoming musical career and her growing fondness for Makinwa (Segun Adefila)
- himself a gifted performing artiste - which places a
strain on her relationship with other members of her all female
musical group. Set against the backdrop of a corrupt society seeking
cleansing, rebirth and nationhood, Arugba must perform her annual
traditional role of carrying the sacrifice in a procession to the
river.
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