Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) will partner to present the 32nd edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF). NYAFF features more than 30 contemporary and classic films from Africa and its diaspora screening at FLC May 7 through May 13, with 100 films in total as the festival continues at other esteemed New York City cultural venues throughout the month of May, with many filmmakers in attendance for post-screening Q&As. Since its inception in 1993, the festival has been at the forefront of showcasing African and diaspora filmmakers’ unique storytelling through the moving image.
This year’s theme, “Fluid Horizons: A Shifting Lens on a Hopeful World,” honors the resilience of African youth and the forebearers who paved the way for them. As cinema was an integral part of the African continent’s struggle for independence and the triumph of its liberation, this edition of the festival celebrates the African youth who have turned to their cameras to document their experiences and the influence of those who came before them. With a multitude of genres ranging from comedies to experimental films, the 32nd New York African Film Festival offers a multidimensional take on African culture, history, and cinema.
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The Opening Night selection is the New York premiere of Afolabi Olalekan’s feature debut, Freedom Way, a powerful tale of the limitless drive of Nigerian youth, which follows the lives of nine individuals set on a collision course in a fast-paced, electric thriller shot on location in Lagos.
The festival continues at Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem May 15 to 18, moves to the Brooklyn Academy of Music during DanceAfrica under the name FilmAfrica from May 23 to 29 during Dance Africa and culminates with a free outdoor screening at St. Nicholas Park in Harlem on Saturday, May 31.
Stars of African film will converge on the Walter Reade Theater for the event, including Academy Award-nominated director Abderrahmane Sissako and the star of his film Black Tea, Kessen Tall. (The film is set to open theatrically on Friday, May 9.) Also attending will be Opening Night film director Afolabi Olalekan (Freedom Way); other 32nd NYAFF directors, actors and creatives expected are Lebert Bethune (Malcolm X: Struggle for Freedom), Fatou Cissé (Furu), Daty Kaba (Blinded by the Lights), Jean Michel Kibushi (Identity Pieces), Zoey Martinson (The Fisherman), Rea Moeti-Vogt (Damsel, Not In Distress), Devin Powell (Where Are You From?), Zoe Ramushu (Damsel, Not In Distress), Ahmed Samir (Grandma) and Cecilia A. Zoppelletto (curator of “Congo RE-Vue: A Fresh Perspective by Emerging Congolese Talent” digital photo exhibition).
See the festival trailer below and see you at the Lincoln Center tomorrow for opening night.
