February 6

You, Africa!
Director: Ndiouga Moctar Ba
(1993, 43 minutes, Senegal, in French and Wolof with English subtitles)
    You, Africa! commemorates the path-breaking tour of nine West African nations by legendary Senagalese performing artist, Youssou N’Dour. Born in the Medina district of Dakar, he was singing professionally in local clubs by the age of twelve. His band and back-up dancers, Super Etoile, founded in 1979, is one of the most popular in all Africa. In brief, private moments, between exhilarating concert performances, Youssou discusses the serious political and spiritual purposes behind his music.

Festival in the Desert
Director: Lionel Brouet
(2003, 52 minutes, Mali, in French with English subtitles)
    In January of 2003 a diverse group of world-famous musicians and adventurous music lovers trekked deep into the Sahara Desert to perform and attend the third annual Festival in the Desert. A unique celebration of the music and culture of the Touareg people, the event also welcomes artists from other parts of Mali, Africa and the world to one of the most remote music festivals on the globe. This film, rich in live-performance footage and interviews with participating artists and organizers, is the official account of that unforgettable experience.

Quand les Etoiles Rencontrent la Mer (When the Stars Meet the Sea)
Director: Raymond Rajaonarivelo
(1996, 85 minutes, Madagascar, in French and Malagasy with English subtitles)
    As the title suggests, Rajaonarivelo frames his film around three visual symbols - two representing freedom, the sky and the sea, and, one destiny, the parched interior of the island where human life is “nasty, brutish and short.” The hero of this fable is a boy born during a solar eclipse, according to tradition, an evil vintana or fate, endowing him with revolutionary power and condemning him to be trampled to death in a cattle corral. This boy is, however, rescued by a childless young woman, but not without first suffering an injury, hence his name Kapila, “the lame one.” The film traces Kapila’s quest to break free of his destiny by offering love instead of vengeance and fear. But both his natal village and his father reject his offer, ironically bringing the feared destruction down upon themselves.

La Vie est Belle (Life is Rosy)
Director: Ngangura Mweze & Benoit Lamy
(1987, 85 minutes, DRC (Zaire)/Belgium, in French with English subtitles)
    La Vie est Belle stars one of the legendary figures of Zarian music – Papa Wemba. It tells the “rags to riches” story of a poor rural musician who realizes that to succeed in today’s music world he must go to the city and break into radio and television. In Kinshasha he uses his wit and talent to win a beautiful wife, trick his greedy boss and succeed in singing his “theme song” on national television.

Lumumba
Director: Raoul Peck (A Zeitgeist Films Release)
(115 minutes, 2000, Zimbabwe/Mozambique/Belgium, in French with English subtitles )
    Lumumba is a gripping epic that dramatizes for the first time the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Emery Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, the 36-year-old, self-educated Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. Called “the politico of the bush” by journalists of the day, he became a lightening rod of Cold War politics as his vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies in Belgium and the U.S. Lumumba would last just months in office before being brutally assassinated.

Faat Kine
Director: Ousmane Sembene
(121 minutes, 2000, Senegal, in French and Wolof with English subtitles)
    Faat Kine is an independent single mother and successful businesswoman who runs a gasoline franchise. As she reflects back on her life, that of her mother and the future of her daughter, we recognize the difficulties facing women, the attitudes and institutions that have constrained them, as well as the possibility for change emanating from today’s youth.

Films screenings are at 7 pm in the Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue.
Admission is free and open to the public.