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Africa In Motion Film Festival · 2009

Africa In Motion Film Festival 2009

Features line-up

Programme

34 films · 6 reviews

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The Athlete (Atletu)

Review preview for The Athlete

This is an ambitious and brave project which, if it doesn't quite reach the heights it might, is still a worthwhile watch.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Biopic/ documentary hybrid about Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Davey Frankel, Rasselas Lakew; Writer: Rasselas Lakew, Davey Frankel, Mikael Aemiro Awake; Stars: Rasselas Lakew, Dag Malmberg, Ruta Gedmintas, Abba Waka Dessalegn)

Full review See: Diary article about the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009

Awaiting For Men (En Attendant Les Hommes)

Documentary explores the tradition of female wall-painting in the village of Oualata, a Mauritanian town on the edge of the Sahara.

(Country: Mauritania; Year: 2007; Director: Katy Lena Ndiaye)

Between Joyce And Remembrance

A hard-hitting look at one of the many crimes that came before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

(Year: 2003; Director: Mark Kaplan)

District 9

Review preview for District 9

District 9 actually has some intelligence behind it and expects some in front of it, too.

Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
A government agent joins the cause of ghettoised aliens he has come to evict.

(Country: South Africa, New Zealand; Year: 2009; Director: Neill Blomkamp; Writer: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell; Stars: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, Elizabeth Mkandawie, John Summer, William Allen Young, Greg Melvill-Smith, Nick Blake, Morena Busa Sesatsa, Themba Nkosi, Mzwandile Nqoba, Barry Strydom, Jed Brophy, Louis Minnaar)

Full review

Flame

Review preview for Flame

Despite its interesting subject matter, a decent script and engaging enough performances from Kunonga and Mahaka, the end result is let down by a rather 'stagey' feel.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Story of the Zimbabwe War of Liberation as seen through the eyes of to female freedom fighters.

(Country: Zimbabwe; Year: 1996; Director: Ingrid Sinclair; Writer: Barbara Jago, Philip Roberts, Ingrid Sinclair; Stars: Marian Kunonga, Ulla Mahaka, Moise Matura, Norman Madawo, Dick 'Chinx' Chigaira) , Official site

Full review

Le Franc

Comic tale of the trials of a hapless musician.

(Country: Senegal, Switzerland, France; Year: 1994; Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Writer: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Stars: Dieye Ma Dieye, Aminata Fall, Demba Bâ)

French Girl (Française)

A French youngster rebels when her family relocate to their Moroccan homeland.

(Country: France, Morocco; Year: 2008; Director: Souad El-Bouhati; Stars: Ikrame Akaarour, Sofia Alami Hamdouri, Amal Ayouch, Karim Debray, Narjisse Dubois, Hicham El Ghorfi, Salwa El Jadouri, Fatouma El Kanouni, Léa Fontana, Salim Gharbi, Hafsia Herzi, Maher Kamoun, Farida Khelfa, Alexandra Martinez, Victor Moy)

From A Whisper

Commemorates the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi in August 1998, in which over 250 people died and more than 5,000 were injured.

(Country: Kenya; Year: 2009; Director: Wanuri Kahiu; Writer: Wanuri Kahiu; Stars: Ken Ambani, Abubakar Mwenda, Godfrey Odhiambo, Corrine Onyango)

The Great Dance: A Hunter's Story

Documentary examines the relationship between the Kalahari Desert Bushmen and the desert.

(Country: US, South Africa; Year: 2000; Director: Craig Foster, Damon Foster; Writer: Jeremy Evans; Stars: Karoha Langwane, Xlhoase Xlhokhne, !Nqate Xqamxebe)

Jerusalema

A car-jacker tries to climb the greasy pole of success in the underworld of Soweto.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2008; Director: Ralph Ziman; Writer: Ralph Ziman; Stars: Daniel Buckland, Robert Hobbs, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Motlatsi Mahloko, Jafta Mamabolo, Shelley Meskin, Kenneth Nkosi, Ronnie Nyakale, Louise Saint-Claire, Rapulana Seiphemo, Jeffrey Zekele)

Johnny Mad Dog

Review preview for Johnny Mad Dog

The film is a heartfelt cry for someone to stop these children being exploited so cruelly, but offers no easy answers.

Jeff Robson · 5 out of 5
As civil war rages in an unnamed African country, the lives of a boy soldier and a young girl fleeing the fighting become intertwined.

(Country: France, Belgium, Liberia; Year: 2008; Director: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire; Writer: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire; Stars: Christophe Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy) , Trailer

Full review

Keepers Of Memory (Gardiens de la mémoire)

Review preview for Keepers Of Memory

What is perhaps most shocking about the footage here, is the number of bodies that were still being found.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Survivors of the Rwandan genocide talk about living with the aftermath.

(Country: Rwanda; Year: 2004; Director: Eric Kabera; Writer: Eric Kabera)

Full review

Killer Necklace

A man goes to increasingly outlandish lengths to please his girlfriend.

(Country: Kenya; Year: 2008; Director: Judy Kibinge)

Kinshasa Palace

Docu-fiction film sees Laplaine deal with his brother’s disappearance and the family dynamics that may have contributed to his departure.

(Country: Democratic Republic of Congo, France; Year: 2006; Director: Zeka Laplaine; Writer: Zeka Laplaine; Stars: Ambre Laplaine, Anna Maria Laplaine, Gaspard Laplaine, Iris Laplaine, Zeka Laplaine, Zezé Motta)

The Law (Tilai)

An illicit love affair and its consequences.

(Country: Switzerland, UK, France, Burkina Faso, Germany; Year: 1990; Director: Idrissa Ouedraogo; Writer: Idrissa Ouedraogo; Stars: Rasmane Ouedraogo, Ina Cissé, Roukietou Barry, Assane Ouedraogo, Sibidou Sidibe, Moumouni Ouedraogo, Mariam Barry, Seydou Ouédraogo, Mariam Ouedraogo, Daouda Porgo, Kogre Warma, Mamadou Ganame, Noufou Ouédraogo, Amade Ganame, Issaka Porgo)

Like a Man On Earth (Come un uomo sulla terra)

Autobiographical film looking at the plight of many who try to flee repression in Ethiopia.

(Country: Italy, Ethiopia; Year: 2008; Director: Andrea Segre, Dagmawi Yimer)

The Little Girl Who Sold The Sun (La petite vendeuse de soleil)

Story of a young, handicapped girl who is determined to be a street vendor. Showing at AiM with Le Franc.

(Country: Senegal, France, Switzerland, Germany; Year: 1999; Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Writer: Djibril Diop Mambéty; Stars: Lissa Balera, Aminata Fall, Tayerou M'Baye)

A Love Letter To My Country

Story of a love affair of a Tutsi - whose family were killed in the genocide - and a Hutu - whose relatives are in prison for their part in the atrocity.

(Country: Rwanda; Year: 2006; Director: Thierry Dushimirimana)

Music Crossroads

Documentary takes a look at the Music Crossroads IRF - a festival that aims to support and celebrate emerging musical talent.

(Country: Malawi, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Stephanie Koenen)

Mwalimu: The Legacy Of Julius Kambarage Nyerer

In Tanzania today, Julius Kambarage Nyerere is warmly referred to as "Father of the Nation" - this documentary considers his life.

(Country: Tanzania; Year: 2009; Director: Lekoko Piniel Ole Livilal)

My Secret Sky (Izulu lami)

Two orphans head for the city in hopes of fulfilling their mother's dream of entering a mat she has made into a craft competition.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2008; Director: Madoda Ncayiyana; Writer: Julie Frederikse, Madoda Ncayiyana; Stars: Sobahle Mkhabas, Sibonelo Malinga, Tshepang Mohlomi, Sanele Ndawo, Sizwe Xaba, Siboniso Nkosi, Andiswa Mkhize, Joy Mbewana, Slindile Nodangala, Michael Gritten, Israel Makoe, Peter Gardner, Jabulani Mfeka, Themba Khumalo)

Notice To Quit

The affect of the Group Areas Act - a cornerstone of South Africa's apartheid policy - on the mixed-race inhabitants of Cape Town.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 1960; Director: Esdon Frost)

No Time to Die (L'ultime hommage)

The romantic travails of a lovestruck hearse driver.

(Country: Germany, Ghana; Year: 2006; Director: King Ampaw; Writer: King Ampaw, Klaus Bädekerl; Stars: Fritz Baffour, Kofi Bucknor, Agnes Dapaa, David Dontoh, Emmanuel France, Evans Oma Hunter, Issifu Kassim, Agatha Ofori)

Our Forbidden Places (Nos lieux interdits)

Documentary follows Moroccans tracking lost relatives who 'disappeared' as the government sought to silence opposition as they go through a 'reconciliation' process.

(Country: Morocco, France; Year: 2009; Director: Leila Kilani)

The Positive Ladies Soccer Club

Docu-drama about HIV-positive women in the Harare suburb of Epworth who fight stigma by taking up football.

(Country: Zimbabwe, Greece; Year: 2008; Director: Holand Joanna Stavropoulou)

The Reckoning: The Battle For The International Criminal Court

Review preview for The Reckoning: The Battle For The International Criminal Court

This is no talking heads documentary. Cameras take us into the displacement camps of Uganda, where local survivors talk of their babies beaten to death.

Val Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A battle of monumental proportions unfolds as International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo faces down warlords, genocidal dictators and world superpowers in bringing perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Pamela Yates; Writer: Peter Kinoy, Paco de Onís, Pamela Yates) , Official site

Full review

Sanctum I and II

Experimental dance pieces.

(Country: South Africa, UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jeannette Ginslov)

Sea Point Days

Alongside the southernmost urban centre in Africa, separating city from ocean, lies an unusual strip of land. The Sea Point Promenade - and the public swimming pools at its centre - forms a space unlike any other in Cape Town. All life is here and this documentary captures it.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2008; Director: François Verster)

Sleepwalking Land (Terra Sonâmbula)

In the middle of Mozambique's civil war an orphaned refuge wanders the countryside in search of his mother.

(Country: Mozambique, Portugal; Year: 2007; Director: Teresa Prata; Writer: Mia Couto, Teresa Prata; Stars: Nick Lauro Teresa, Aladino Jasse, Ernesto Lemos Macuacua, Filimone Meigos, Tânia Adelino, Erónia Malate, Alan Cristina Salazar, Gildo Arão Balate, Jorge Kanic Passe, Afonso Francisco, Alfredo Júnior, Candido Andrade, Cergílio Félix, Frank Lipunda, Severino Rafael)

Welcome Back (Wamkelekile)

The story of an estranged son, Lukhanyo, who reunites with his mentally challenged father, Simpiwe.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2009; Director: Dorotea Vucic; Writer: Dorotea Vucic)

White People Also Dream: The Shamanic Journey Of A Sangoma

Story of a young South African and her training to become a traditional Xhosa healer.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2009; Director: Terry Westby-Nunn)

Yandé Codou, The Griot Of Senghor (Yandé Codou, la griotte de Senghor)

Intimate look at Yandé Codou Sene, one of the last great singers of polyphonic Serere poetry.

(Country: Senegal; Year: 2008; Director: Angèle Diabang Brener)

The Yellow House (La maison jaune)

A father sets out from rural Algeria to recover the body of his dead son from the city.

(Country: France, Algeria; Year: 2008; Director: Amor Hakkar; Stars: Hamdi Aya, Tounes Ait Ali, Ghomrassi Bissa-Ratiba)

Yesterday Still Hoping (Hier encore, je t'espérais toujours)

The story of one woman's search for her husband who 'disappeared' under the regime of Sekou Touré.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Catherine Veaux-Logeat; Writer: Catherine Veaux-Logeat)