To celebrate the 2017 African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) in Chicago, the festival will present its most ambitious programme to date in the Windy City.
With 16 documentaries and fiction films set in The United States, Chile, Canada, South Africa, Haiti, Spain, France, Guadeloupe, The UK, Burkina Faso, and Egypt; ADIFF Chicago will celebrate 15 years of great cinema and great talks with new films, special events and revealing stories.
Hosted by Facets Cinematheque and presented by ArtMattan Productionsts, the events will take place from 9 to 15 June 2017.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
The ongoing controversy around the love life of powerful women is addressed with great humanity in Nnegest Likke’s opening night film, Everything but a Man.
This romantic comedy-drama tells the story of a sexy, strong and successful but single career woman who has a life-changing romance with a mysterious, French-speaking black man from another culture.
Director Nnegest Likke will attend the opening night reception on Friday, 9 June at 19h30 and a Q&A after the screening.
Miriam Makeba died in 2008. Mama Africa – Miriam Makeba by Mika Kaurismaki is a powerful portrait of one of the most important performers from the continent of Africa. The special presentation of Mama Africa – Miriam Makeba to be held on Thursday, 15 June at 18h30 will be followed by a Q&A with a representative of the Chicago South African Consulate.
The screening and reception that will follow are sponsored by the Chicago South African Consulate in commemoration of Youth Day – the annual South African celebration of the June 16 Soweto youth uprising of 1976.
Paris Noir – African Americans in the City of Light: Joanne Burke’s film is an exciting, enlightening documentary on the presence of African Americans in Paris from WWI to the early 1960s. Looking back today at their astounding achievements and the beneficial cultural exchange between France and Black America stirs up lively conversation. These jazz musicians, writers, artists and intellectuals launched the appreciation of Black culture worldwide.
The gala screening of Paris Noiron Saturday, 10 June at 18h00 will be followed by a Q&A session with associate producer and founder of Walking The Spirit Tours of Black Paris, Julia Browne and a reception.
In Mary Lou Williams’, The Lady Who Swings, the band director Carol Bash tells us the story of Mary Lou Williams, a woman who overcame many obstacles in her life as a professional jazz pianist. This revealing documentary will screen on Saturday, 10 June at 16h00.
Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories by M. Angel Rosales is about Flamenco, the African presence in Spain in the 16th century and the state of affairs of race relations in Spain. Well-documented with a great intellectual rigor, the film goes into areas of Spanish culture seldom covered in Spanish films.
Gurumbe will screen on Saturday, 10 Jun at 14h00 and Tuesday, 13 June at 20h30.
For its closing night, ADIFF is pleased to present an encore screening of Hogtown by Daniel Nearing, the city of Chicago’s first official filmmaker in residence. Set in Chicago during the winter of 1919, Hogtown is about a police hunt for a missing millionaire. Daniel Nearing will be in attendance on Thursday, 15 June at 19h30 for the screening of his film and closing night reception.
The 15th Annual African Diaspora Film Festival-Chicago is made possible thanks to the generous support of the following institutions: Facets Cinemateque, ArtMattan Productions, the Centre for Black Diaspora at DePaul University, The Dusable Heritage Association; TV5 Monde, the South African Consulate of Chicago and The Quebec Government Office – Chicago.
For a full schedule and to order advance tickets online visit the Facets or NYADIFF websites.
Source: Chicago Tribune
