Arts writer
Afridocs presents top documentaries in the month of April with a new weekly schedule. The doccies air on Mondays and Thursdays at 8pm on ED Channel 190 and GOtv channel 65.
From the powerful Favela Rising(Brazil) to Uganda’s God Loves Uganda and Liberia’s Iron Ladies of Liberia, AfriDocs presents some of the most inspirational true stories from Africa and beyond.
The month culminates on April 30 with the 2014 film A Tribute to the Frontline States, directed by Mandy Jacobson and Barbara King and presented by Shaka Sisulu. This portrait recognizes the alliance known as The Frontline States and dramatically recounts how three generations of Sisulu’s came to be reunited after living in exile for over three decades.
The schedule starts with Jeff Zimbalist’s Favela Rising(Brazil, 2005) on Thursday. It documents a man, a movement, a city divided and a favela united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. A winner of 36 international film festival awards
It screens with Miseducation by Nadine Cloete (SA, 2012) which follows an 11 year-old girl getting ready for school and her walk, which takes her through gangland, across territories that have seen much blood, drugs and pain.
Juliana Vicente and Luzia Marques’ Maua: Surroundings(Brazil, 2012) which hones in on the heart of São Paulo where the biggest housing movement in Latin America is taking action. Afripedia: Ghana by Teddy Goitom, Benjamin Taft and Senay Berhe (Ghana, 2014) examines Accra, which is being dubbed the next big hotspot for African cultural production. Meet outspoken androgynous music star Wiyaala and exciting trick-bikers Bikelordz, whose BMX skills and flamboyant style have taken neighbourhoods by storm. Artist Serge Attukwei Clottey highlights environmental issues through street performances as his alter ego, Afrogallonism, the modern water warrior.
Joe Berlinger’s Under African Skies(SA, 2012) is on April 6. Here Paul Simon returns to explore the journey of his Graceland album. Winner of the Christopher Award – Television and Cable Christopher Awards 2013.
Hamou Beya Sand Fishers by Andrey Samoute Diarra (Mali, 2012) will be on the box on April 9. The Bozos in Mali are renowned for their skills in the art of fishing. The film got a Jury Special Mention – 2013 FESPACO, Burkina Faso.
Also on the same night will be Ask Me I’m Positive by Teboho Edkins (Lesotho, 2004). Thabo, Thabiso and Moalosi are young, urban Basotho men who travel with a mobile cinema unit through the mountains of Lesotho, screening their film to remote communities. It won Best Documentary – International Film Festival of Innsbruck2005.
God Loves Uganda by Roger Ross Williams (Uganda, 2013) is a powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right and their role in fuelling Uganda’s turn towards biblical law on April 13. Winner Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.
Lucy Walker, Karen Harley and João Jardim’s Waste Land(Brazil, 2010) screens on April 16. An uplifting feature it highlights the transformative power of art and the beauty of the human spirit. It screens with The Man in Me.
Get a glimpse of Zach Niles & Banker White’s (USA, 2005) Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars on April 20. Its about musicians who form a band in a West African refugee camp to keep their hope alive. Winner – Documentary Award – AFI Fest2005.
Other movies include Jon Shenk’s The Island President(Maldives 2011) and Action for Climate shorts on April 23; Carlos Agullo and Mandy Jacobson’s (SA, 2103) Plot for Peace on April 27.
A Tribute to the Frontline States April 30 is paired with Iron Ladies of Liberia by Siatta Scott Johnson and Daniel Junge and Old Peter by Russian Ivan Golovnev.
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