The African Film Festival returns March 31-April 2 with a range of titles sure to fascinate all filmgoers, including the choosiest critics — children.
“My hope is that young people are delighted and entertained as well as inspired to ask questions and learn more about the diversity of Africa,” festival founder Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo said.
The festival sets aside 1-3 p.m. Saturday for its special “Eye on Youth” programming. This year’s selected shorts are “Stick Man,” an animated adventure about a father’s epic quest home; “Orisha’s Journey,” an animated fantasy about a mysterious walking forest and “Hair that Moves,” the charming tale of a girl who wants to win a singing competition.
The movies’ themes are universal, Toliver-Diallo said, but they also offer a unique look at the perspectives and people of Africa.
“I love film’s power to transport us to other landscapes within minutes,” said Toliver-Diallo, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences and senior lecturer in African and African-American Studies. “I hope these films provide children an opportunity to compare their lives with the lives others thousands of miles away and to gain a more complex, 3-D understanding of other cultures.”
Following the films, “Orisha’s Journey” animator Abdul Nadi will lead a workshop on cartooning and animation.
Other festival highlights include:
- “Children of the Mountain”: Set in Ghana, this gripping drama is about a young mother who must make a lonely journey to find help for her son, who was born with a cleft lip. Filmmaker Priscilla Anany of Ghana will lead a discussion about the film.
- “Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in It”: A nod to “Purple Rain,” the film follows a musician’s quest to make it in North Africa’s fierce guitar scene. The movie, the first narrative feature in the Tuareg language, features acclaimed musician Mdou Moctar.
- “Maman(s)”: A young girl of the Paris suburbs has her life upended when her dad arrives from Senegal with a second wife.
The festival is free and open to the public. For a complete list of times and films, visit the African Film Festival website.
The festival is sponsored by partners including African and African-American Studies and Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, and the African Students Association; and supported by the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the Women’s Society of Washington University, the St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri Humanities Council, the Missouri Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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