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Daresalam
Sunday, February 8, 12am
Emerging director Issa Serge Coelo sets Daresalam, one of the first features from the central African nation of Chad, in the 1970s when that country was plagued by civil war, and shows how ordinary people get swept up into larger political events. Two young friends join the rebel army after their village is brutalized by the government army for refusing to pay exorbitant taxes. Their friendship is later destroyed when they take opposite sides after the rebels split into factions. Daresalam means "Let there be peace" in Arabic, a perfect title for a film calling for an end to war and a return to the urgent tasks of nation-building. In Chadian Arabic and French with English subtitles. (01:42:00)
Tales of Ordinary People
Sunday, February 15, 1am
This program consists of the two films in a proposed trilogy by the late Senegalese visionary director, Djibril Diop Mambety. Using fables and humor, Mambety juxtaposed the harsh economic and social realities against the dream of economic and social justice in Africa. Both segments are in Wolof with English subtitles. (01:30:00)
In the first segment, Le Franc, a down-on-his-luck-musician and West African "everyman," reminiscent of Chaplin's "little tramp," stakes all his hopes on the national lottery. It is a parable about the plight of ordinary Africans buffeted by the changing winds of the international monetary system.
In the second segment, La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun), a feisty 12-year-old paraplegic wants to become the first female news vendor in Dakar. Refusing to accept the role the world has assigned her, her self-reliant vision transforms the reality around her. "One of the top 10 films of 2000," says The Village Voice.
Africa in the Picture
Faat Kine
Sunday, February 29, 12:30am
This is the most recent work by internationally recognized director Ousmane Sembene, regarded by many as the father of African cinema. Sembene describes the film as an homage to the "everyday heroism of African women." The film features a few climactic days in the life of Faat Kine, a middle-aged liberated single mother and successful businesswoman, and is interspersed with brief flashbacks to her past relationships with the men who betrayed her and, symbolically, the needs of the country as well. Faat Kine is a penetrating analysis of the interplay of gender, economics and power in post-independence Senegal. The film is in French and Wolof with English subtitles. "One of the 10 best films of 2001," says The New York Times. According to Vibe, the film is "a heady mix of social comedy and melodrama." (02:00:00)
California Newsreel is a 35-year-old, non-profit film and video distribution and production center. Africa in the Picture is a project of its Library of African Cinema, the largest source for African film and video in North America. The Library of African Cinema is dedicated to building an audience for African films and using the medium to increase awareness about African issues. www.newsreel.org
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