Women’s History salute reels month-end African Festival
A three-day festival featuring 12 films from as many countries will end this month’s tribute to powerful women when the African Diaspora International Film Festival spotlights their role in society.
From March 29 to 31 a series highlighting the gender promise “stories of women who challenge the societies they inhabit, by unveiling complex social realities through their interactions.”
According to collaborating representatives from ADIFF, the Office of the Vice President of Diversity and Community Affairs at Columbia University’s Teachers College (where screenings will be held) films from Morocco, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Australia, Tunisia, Samoa, Chad, Bangladesh, France, Haiti and the USA will explore themes related to empowerment, social justice, cultural identity and personal growth.
Titles include “Looking for Life” the HaitianGerman feature by Claudette Coulanges whose feminist documentaries on Haiti assesses gender differences on the Caribbean island.
In the film she cites the importance of women there by providing evidence that despite daily struggle for subsistence and lower levels of education, women are the backbone of daily life in Haiti.
Particularly relevant at this time when the embattled island is facing turmoil and upheaval, the film will provide perspective to the constant challenges regularly emerging from inside and out of the hemisphere’s first Black republic.
Asian-American filmmaker John Beder expands the conversation by focussing on Civil Rights in America. His direction of a 35-minute documentary titled “How To Sue The Klan” spotlights a 45-year-old case in Chattanooga where members of the KKK were acquitted of gunning down innocent women.
Features and documentaries offer narratives of female protagonists and their journey through numerous geographical boundaries.
The films offer a diverse showcase of women and aim to broaden perspectives, challenge stereotypes and inspire positive change.
ADIFF organizers plan to closeout Women’s History Month by celebrating directors whose “powerful voices” may have been muted by society’s cultural restraints.
Columbia Teachers College is located at 525 West 120th St. Room 498, Zankel.
Celebrated Women Billed For NAN’s 33rd Annual
Actress Whoopi Goldberg, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Civil Rights activist daughters of Malcolm X and actor Harry Belafonte — Ilyassah Shabazz and Gina Belafonte, MSNBC political analyst Joy Reid, political strategist and author Stacey Abrams, filmmaker and Spike Lee’s collaborator and wife Tonya Lewis Lee comprise a shortlist of powerful influential women slated to attend National Action Network’s 33rd anniversary conference at the Sheraton New York Hotel from April 10 to 13. Together they will amplify the voices of civil rights leaders, grassroots organizers and social justice activists whose opinions parallel those of Rev. Al Sharpton’s aim of “fighting for justice” when he founded the National Action Network.
A more detailed listing will follow next week.
Catch You On The Inside!
