Don’t miss London’s biggest celebration of African cinema
South London Gallery is hosting a series of films which will tell the stories of African life, music, migration, community and memory on the continent and in the diaspora.
The screenings are part of Film Africa, one of the most celebrated showcases of African cinema in Europe, presented by the Royal African Society across London venues.
In the heart of Peckham, South London Gallery, is offering a selection of the festival’s short films until November 3.
On November 1, Queer Ghanaian Stories features a programme of four films from Ghanaian filmmakers which look at familial, platonic and romantic relationships as experienced by queer folks.
To start, Reluctantly Queer is an eight minute short by Akosua Adoma Owusu from 2016, which looks at the unsettling life of a young Ghanaian man struggling to reconcile his love for his mother with his sexuality.
Queer Ghanaian Stories also features Savannah Acquah’s Dzifa looking at the nuances of relationships, Ami Tamakloe’s Waterlily which follows the life of a young Ghanaian immigrant woman and her conflict with desire and Nyame Mma by writer and filmmaker Joewackle J. Kusi which explores grief through the experience of queer men, isolated by a lack of space within society.
The screenings will be followed by a Q&A.
On November 2, South London Gallery will host Places and Traces. From Detroit to Egypt, the Caribbean, and the UK, these short films shine a light on the personal and collective journeys of those grappling with displacement and cultural heritage.
Detroit We Dey, directed by Ozi Uduma, examines the nostalgic history and unstable future of a social club founded by a community of Nigerians who immigrated to Detroit in the 70s and 80s.
Places and Traces will also see screenings of Morad Mostafa’s dramatic tale of a 17-year-old African migrant in Egypt in I Promise You Paradise, and Atopias: The Homeless Wanderer directed by Daniella Yohannes and Julien Beramis which dissects migration, generational memory and trauma in the Caribbean.
On the evening of November 2, the gallery will showcase My Home. This vibrant collection of short films brings to life the harmony between communities and their landscapes, the resilience of forgotten histories, and ongoing struggles for recognition.
The programme includes Mayo, directed by Henry J Kamara, which offers a raw and poetic portrait of the children that call the Jipe Moyo and Musoma home.
Surrounded by wildlife and extraordinary landscapes, Mayo paints a playful picture of the people and culture in this special region of Tanzania.
Other screenings on this night include After We Are Gone, directed by Ima Iduozee, which re-imagines the journey of the African Diaspora, Ode to Eden, directed by Jordan Ker Fox, about a man who fights for the Khoi first nation status within South Africa, and A Quiet Monday directed by Dika Ofoma which exposes a neighbourhood confronted with restrictions under a secessionist militant group in south-eastern Nigeria.
Throughout its film series, South London Gallery will also delve into the often-overlooked experiences and cultures of African women with its She Speaks programme, as well as the transformative power of music and the dreams of African artists in On The Beat.
Film Africa has a full programme of film screenings, Q&As and events running from October 26 until November 3, at various locations.
The festival will close on November 3, with two screenings of the award-winning documentary Dahomey, irected by Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, at the British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank.
For more information about the South London Gallery screenings visit: https://www.southlondongallery.org/events/home-film-africa/
For more information about Film Africa, visit: https://www.filmafrica.org/
Pictured top: Still from Moyo, directed by Henry J Kamara (Picture: Moyo/Henry J Kamara)