WINDHOEK – Do you and your kids want to spend time together at the movies? Are you and your kids looking forward to discover great movies from Africa?
AfricAvenir and the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) is starting a monthly African Film Series for Children and Youth, hoping to inspire young imaginations. The films will be inspiring, entertaining and educative at the same time. The first movie is this Saturday. Thereafter every first Saturday of the month. September sees a continuation with African Films for the Youth.
The films will start at 10h00 in the Cinema of the FNCC. The entrance is N$ 5. African Films for Children Programme 03 May Mwansa the Great Rungano Nyoni/Zambia-UK, 7-12 years
23 min. An eight year old boy aspires to be a hero.
07 June Once upon a time in Africa (Timbuktu) Brian Kyallo-Msafiri/Kenya, 20 minutes, 7-13 years Four kids travel back in time to fulfil a secret mission in the ancient city of Timbuktu 05 July O Grande Bazaar Licinio Azevedo/Mozambique, 56 min., 10-14 years
The adventures of two 12- year -old boys in an African market.
02 August Synopsis of African Films for Children Mwansa the Great (2011) by Rungano Nyoni, Zambia/UK, 23 min, 7-12 year olds, English subtitles While trying to prove he is a hero, Mwansa an eight- year-old boy does the unforgivable and accidently breaks his sister’s magic mud doll. He goes on a quest not only to fix it, but to finally prove that he is ‘Mwansa the Great’.
Once Upon A time in Africa (Timbuktu) (2013) by Brian Kyallo-Msafiri, Kenya, 20 min, 7-13 year olds, English spoken
Once Upon A Time in Africa is an animated educational show that takes its viewers on an exciting journey through African history before colonization. The show follows the adventures of four bright kids from the four corners of the continent (Chep from Kenya, Thandi from South Africa, Dudu from Senegal, and Omar from Egypt) as they travel back in time to fulfill a secret mission: revive the fading knowledge of Africa’s ancient past by experiencing the continents’ major historical events, colorful cultures and sophisticated civilizations. In this first episode the kids travel to the ancient city of Timbuktu.
O Grande Bazaar (2006) by Licinio Azevedo, Mozambique, 56 min, 10-14 year olds, English subtitles
Paito is twelve and he sells fritters in a suburb of Maputo to help support his family. When young thieves steal his money, he decides to follow them to the big city to earn it back. He finds a temporary home in a market square where he meets the lively and cheeky little Xano. He is a pickpocket, but also a useful friend in the strange new world of the city’s poor. August Film to be confirmed.
Rungano Nyoni is a writer and director. She was born in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1982. Her name means Story or Storyteller in Shona. When she was 10 years old she moved with her mother to South Wales in the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, Rungano completed her A-levels at Bishop of Handoff School in 2000 and later enrolled at Birmingham University to pursue her first degree in Business Studies in 2002. About this choice she says “I would have loved to study Arts right away but my parents suggested that I do Business Studies as a career so that I can have something to fall back on because acting is my talent”.
Upon completing her degree at Birmingham University, she moved to London to pursue a career in acting, taking informal classes at the Method Studio. It was, however, not until she undertook a Masters in Screen (Acting Pathway) at the Central Saints Martins College of The Arts that her talent for directing began to flourish.
Before graduating, Rungano directed the short film “The List” (2009) which won the BAFTA CYMRU. In the same year she also directed the short ‘20 Questions’ (2009).
“Mwansa the Great’ she wrote, directed and produced in 2011 with financial assistance from Focus Features Africa First Program and UK Film Council.
On achieving your dreams, she says in an interview: “You should never ever give up under any circumstance on whatever you want to do in life. I earned what I have achieved and I have done every odd job in the United Kingdom to raise funds in order to achieve my dreams. I have worked as a cleaner, I have worked in a cinema, nightclub, shoe shop, name it! But I knew what I wanted and here I am”
For more information email or call:
AfricAvenir: Claudia Van Houtum-Nakuta, c_van_houtum(at)hotmail.com, 081 462 4541
FNCC Multimedia Library: Nicolas Ronde, library(at)fncc.org.na, 081 801 7947 – 061 387 334