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Wednesday
February 21st
7:00 p.m.
Witherspoon Cinema
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“Heritage Africa”
(1989; Ghana) Film focuses on pre-Independence Ghana and the personal and cultural struggles against a colonial system and the fits and starts that eventually led to independence. Won the Grand Prize at the 1989 FESPACO film festival in Burkina Faso.
In recognition of Ghana’s 50th Anniversary of
Independence this film is co-sponsored by the
Triangle Area Ghanaian Association of North
Carolina
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Wednesday
March 14th
7:00 p.m.
Witherspoon Cinema
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“Black Gold”
(2006; UK) In an increasingly global economy, where the profit margins of huge multinational coffee companies continue to rise, prices paid for coffee harvests have reached an all-time low, forcing farmers in some of the world's poorest countries to abandon their once bountiful fields. Among the hardest hit by the devastating effects of this crisis is Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. This film is the story of an effort by Tadesse Meskela to bring a fair-trade market to the more than 70,000 struggling farmers whom he represents.
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Wednesday
March 21st
7:00 p.m.
Witherspoon Cinema
Advanced Tickets Required: Contact Witherspoon Cinema
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“Pride” (sneak preview)
(2007; USA) A college-educated African-American schoolteacher frustrated by his inability to find a job repairs an abandoned recreational pool hall in hopes of starting Philadelphia's first African-American swim team in this inspirational drama that takes its cue from the true-life story of charismatic 1970s-era schoolteacher Jim Ellis. Starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac.
Co-sponsored with Witherspoon Cinema
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Thursday
March 22nd
6:30 p.m.
RICHARD B. HARRISON PUBLIC LIBRARY
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“The Healing Passage”
(2004; USA) How do we heal from the residuals of The Middle Passage? Cultural artists, historians and healers look at present day behavior that is connected to the Trans-Atlantic trade in Human Beings. For more than 300 years Africans were carried from their homeland, across the Atlantic Ocean ("The Middle Passage") into chattel slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean. The residual impact of this African Holocaust still reverberates in the world today through psychological trauma, genetic memory, personal and community consciousness. The artists use music, dolls, dance, altars, spoken word, visual art and ritual to create paths to healing.
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Monday
March 26th
7:00 p.m.
Witherspoon Cinema
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“Masai: The Rain Warriors”
(2006; UK) Faced with a drought that endangers the continuity of their people, Masai elders send a group of their adolescents on a rites-of-passage journey to bring back the mane of a legendary lion, and thus, break the apparent curse on their community.
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Thursday
March 29th
6:30 p.m.
RICHARD B. HARRISON PUBLIC LIBRARY
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“Kirikou and the Sorceress”
(1998; France / Belgium / Luxembourg ) This fanciful, animated feature is based on a popular folk tale from West Africa. Kirikou informs his mother from the womb that it's time for him to be born, but when she's too slow, he simply does the work himself. After learning that his parents' village is being threatened by a sorceress with a taste for human flesh, Kirikou leaps into action to save the day, encountering friends and foes along the way, including a monster who can drain waterfalls and lakes with his enormous thirst and a wise man living on a magic mountain.
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Monday
April 2nd
7:00 p.m.
Witherspoon Cinema
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“Sisters in Law”
(2005; UK) In the little town of Kumba, Cameroon, there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years. But two women determined to change their community are making progress that could change the world. This fascinating, often hilarious documentary follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi, English
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Monday
April 9th
7:00 p.m.
G-111 Caldwell Hall
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“The Night of Truth”
(2004; Burkina Faso / France) Genocide, raw and recent, is not far from the minds of the Nayak and Bonandé peoples, who have been locked in a decade of bloody ethnic conflict in a fictional African country. Now, the leaders of both armies are determined to end the conflict. A celebration is arranged, but cynicism remains on both sides and – as the evening wears on - tension mounts to an almost unbearable degree. The film demonstrates the personal and national challenges of reconciliation after a civil conflict.
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