A Preview of The 8th Annual Africana Film Series at ACPHS

A Preview of The 8th Annual Africana Film Series

Four Films Cover a Wide Range of African Culture and History

In celebration of Black History Month, the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPH) marks the return of their annual Africana Film Series, with screenings of four films that focus on different elements of African culture.

Africa’s rich history and locations initially attracted many European and American filmmakers during the colonial era, yet, French colonial law (known as the “Laval Decree”) denied Africans the right to make their own films. Many African filmmakers therefore emigrated to France, where they honed their craft, eventually spearheading a continent-wide cinematic renaissance starting in the 1960s, with films that tackled such subjects as colonialism, racism and post-colonial identity by many critically acclaimed directors including Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Med Hondo, Youssef Chahine, Safi Faye, and the ‘father’ of African Cinema, Ousmane Sembène.

Coordinated by ACPHS’s Associate Professor Dr. Kevin Hickey, the Africana Film Series begins on February 7th at 7pm with a screening of Dr. Hickey’s film Four Years across Africa by Bike. The film chronicles Dr. Hickey’s four-year bike trip through 24 countries of Africa – from North Africa, across the Sahara to West Africa, to Central Africa, East Africa and finally down to the southernmost tip of the continent. He traveled an astounding 38,000 miles in total and was the first American and only the fifth person ever documented to cross the Sahara Desert by bicycle. Beyond his record breaking, Hickey’s film will share the life changing experiences he witnessed from “civil wars, disease, hospitality, kings, voodoo, leprosy colonies, ‘the Mountains of the Moon’ and more.” Dr. Hickey will hold a short question and answer session after the film.

Immediately following the Q&A is Umgidi (Shadow Dancing), a 2004 film about the traditional Xhosa coming-of-age celebration. When a Xhosa boy reaches adulthood at age 18, he is circumcised; once he’s adequately healed, his umgidi celebration is held. The documentary focuses on two brothers, an older brother, Sipho Singiswa, who embraces the old ways and ceremony, and his younger brother who is desperately trying to escape his roots. The film follows the conflict between their family as well as the country of Africa, the majority of which is torn trying to honor tradition and embrace modernity. Interestingly enough, Umgidi was filmed by Sipho’s wife, Gillian Schutte.

The second week will feature Si-Gueriki (The Queen Mother) (2003) on Tuesday, February 14 at 7pm. After living in Germany and France for 10 years, filmmaker Idrissou Mora Kpai returned to his West African homeland with the intent to make a film about his father, who was a member of the Borgu royal family. Over time his documentary evolves into telling the story of his mother and female relatives instead, as he begins to discover the world of Borgu women. Mora Kpai’s ignorance of women’s lives resulted from his own strict Borgu childhood – in northern Benin, boys are removed from their mothers at a very young age and spend their formative years with only the men in their tribe. Si-Gueriki’s end result is a sensitive testimony to Mora Kpai’s own discovery of a world he was raised in and thought he knew. Try to come early before the film for a live drumming performance by Senegalese Drummer Babacar Biaye.

Concluding the festival on Tuesday the 28th (also at 7pm) will be Long Night’s Journey into Day: South Africa’s Search for Truth and Reconciliation. Directed by Deborah Hoffmann, and Frances Reid, Long Night’s Journey is a documentary that tackles harsh realities and universal themes. Violence, grief and forgiveness are all explored as the film follows four stories of Apartheid in South Africa, through the eyes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined crimes relating to human rights violations that occurred between 1960 and 1994. The film was a Grand Prize Winner for Best Documentary at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, a 2000 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature and ALA Booklist’s Editor’s Choice Award for Best Video of 2000, among many other awards.

All films will be screened  in Room 202 of the ACPHS campus Student Center. For more info on the 8th Annual Africana Film Series, visit the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science’s website or contact Dr. Hickey at 518-694-7359.

–Aubree Cutkomp is an Assistant Editor for The Free George.

The Free George is the online magazine and visitors’ guide of Upstate NY, covering things from Albany to Lake Placid, including Saratoga, the Lake George region and the Adirondacks. Check out our City Blogs section for our extended coverage areas as well. 

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