Window into another world

JUN 28 -

The second instalment of the Nepal-Africa Film Festival, based around the theme ‘Africa through African lenses’, is all set to come to an end today. Taking place at the Russian Cultural Centre in Kamalpokhari, and organised by the College of Journalism and Mass Communication (CJMC)—with the support of various media organisations from Africa—the festival began on June 25, and was aimed at giving audiences in Nepal a taste of films from Africa.

Films from countries like Egypt, South Africa, Rwanda, Central Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tanzania, and West Africa have been screened over the last few days. The list included feature films as well as documentaries touching upon various issues and perspectives. Uncle JJ, a film from Tanzania, for instance, is a comedy that is built around the necessity of educating female children, while Bopha presents the struggle for freedom in South Africa.

Nasser-56 (1996), Skin (2008) and Sometimes in April (2005) comprised the first day’s screening, wherein Nasser-56 talks about the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the second Egyptian President Gamal Abdel and the effects of that act, Skin offers a look into the bitter realities of racial discrimination in Africa and Sometimes in April echoes similar woes, but more specific to Rwanda.

On the second day, four films—Bopha (1993), Wild Africa (2001), Uncle JJ (2010) and Sharing Day (2008)—were screened. Out of these, Wild Africa, a production of the BBC Discovery Channel, explores the diverse wildlife of the African continent, while Sharing Day looks into the problem of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

Wednesday, day three of the fest, included the screening of four more films—Crisis in Paradise (2007), Ngorongoro (2008), Battle of the Soul (2007) and Les Derniers Colons (1995). Crisis in Paradise is essentially a feel-good love-story; Ngorongoro, a documentary on the nature reserve in northern Tanzania; and Battle of the Souls is a film based on the real life case of a leader of the criminal underworld. Similarly, Les Derniers Colons comprised a documentary on the army uprising against the government in Zaire.      

“We received 40 entries from different African countries, and the best were selected,” says Manju Mishra, director of the festival and principal at CJMC. She says that the festival is not only intended to promote and celebrate African films, culture and art, but to change the reigning mindset about Africa amid Nepalis in general.


Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/06/28/entertainment/window-into-another-world/356272/