FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE

June 2008

The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here.

The 6th Annual
CHICAGO AFRICAN DIASPORA
FILM FESTIVAL

June 13-19, 2008

ArtMattan Productions and The Facets Cinémathèque are presenting The 6th Annual Chicago African Diaspora Film Festival, which will be held at Facets from June 13-19. This outstanding event will feature a selection of Black Independent Films from around the world for the sixth consecutive year, showcasing U.S. and Chicago premieres. The African Diaspora Film Festival is an eclectic mix of foreign, independent, classic and urban films representing the global Black experience through an extraordinary range of subjects and artistic approaches.

Created in 1993 by ArtMattan Productions, a company that produces a collection of programs and events promoting Afrocentric theme cultures, ADFF has long been delighting audiences with U.S. and world premieres of independent films, including features, documentaries, animation, and shorts.

Chicago Premiere Opening Night Film!

CUBA, AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY

"Brimming with CIA skulduggery, the film will thrill Che Guevara cultists unto the last fiber of their hempen T-shirts, but its superabundance of cool and arcane Cold War archival footage (e.g. from Congolese TV) should hold the attention of less partisan viewers as well"
-TimeOut Chicago

This enthralling documentary plots the intensive Cuban support for African revolutionary movements. Beginning with Che Guevara's mission into the Congo to avenge the death of Lumumba and then Cuba's support of Amílcar Cabral's uprising in Guinea-Bissau, the film traces the pivotal role played by Cuba's international policy in helping independence struggles on the Africa continent. Cuba's military engagement in Angola involved 450,000, who fought alongside Angolan troops including in the battle of Cuito Carnavale. This collaboration was central to the demise of apartheid and gives clue to why Fidel Castro was the first person outside the African continent to be visited by Nelson Mandela upon his release from Robben Island.

Directed by Jihan el Tahri , France, 2007, Beta, 118 mins. In French, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish with English subtitles.

Tickets for Opening Night are $15

Showtimes:
Fri., June 13 at 7 pm
Tues., June 17 at 6:30 pm

Chicago Premiere

NO TIME TO DIE

"[Director King] Ampaw's picaresque celebration of funereal courtship proves a delight, as universally accessible as it is casually steeped in Ashanti tradition."
-Variety

-Chicago Tribune

"Gentle and beguilingly naïve...The film’s elementary production values mesh pleasantly and effectively with its folk-tale vibe"
-TimeOut Chicago

In this beguiling, comical love story by renowned Ghanaian filmmaker Ampaw, a hearse driver will do anything to win the affections of a lady he has fallen in love with -- from offering to convoy dead bodies of her relations to showering her with gifts of culinary treats like grasscutter meat, and driving out to Kokrobite Beach to see her. However, the suitor faces very stiff opposition from his father-in-law to be, who vows that his daughter will not marry a hearse driver.

Directed by King Ampaw, Ghana/Germany, 2007, BetaSP, 95 mins. In English.

Variety

Showtimes:
Fri., June 13 at 9:30 pm
Mon., June 16 at 7 pm

Chicago Premiere

THE PRESIDENT HAS AIDS?

WINNER
Paul Robeson Award
FESPACO African
Film Fest

Jimmy Jean-Louis-featured among the cast of the television phenomenon Heroes-stars as President, a musician extraordinaire in denial, in this Haitian comedy-drama about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Directed by Arnold Antonin, Haiti, 2006, BetaSP, 110 mins. In Creole and French with English subtitles. Winner of the Paul Roberson Prize for Best African Diaspora Film at FESPACO 2007.

Showtimes:
Sat., June 14 at 7:30 pm
Wed., June 18 at 9 pm

Double Feature:

WILD WOMEN DON'T HAVE THE BLUES

"A superb hour-long examination not only of the idiom itself, but also of its social origins, evolution and impact on black America ... a priceless piece of genuine Americana"
-Los Angeles Times

"Enjoyable, enlightening"
-TV Guide

"Notable for its interviews with old-timers who still remember the low-rent origins of the black entertainment business"
-Chicago Reader

Wild Women Don't Have the Blues shows how the blues were born out of the economic and social transformation of African American life early in this century. It recaptures the lives and times of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and the other legendary women who made the blues a vital part of American culture. The film brings together for the first time dozens of rare, classic renditions of the early blues. Directed by Christine Dall , U.S.A., 1989, BetaSP, 58 mins. In English.

with:

JOSÉPHINE BAKER:
BLACK DIVA IN A WHITE MAN'S WORLD

"A terrific array of old footage that shows Baker first as a scampy young comedic dancer, delighting Paris with her rapidly gyrating hips, rolling eyes, and charming grin, then as a soignée chanteuse."
-Village Voice

-Chicago Tribune

Joséphine Baker: Black Diva in a White Man's World is a tender, revealing documentary about one of the most famous and popular artist of the 20th century. Her legendary banana belt dance created theatre history; her song "J'ai deux amours" became a classic, and her hymn. The film focuses on her life and work from a black perspective. It portrays the artist in the mirror of European colonial clichés and presents her as a resistance fighter, an ambulance driver during WWII, and an outspoken activist against racial discrimination involved in the worldwide Black Consciousness movement of the 20th century. Directed by Annette von Wangenheim, Germany, 2006, BetaSP, 45 mins. In English, French and German with English subtitles.

Showtimes:
Sat., June 14 at 5:30 pm
Wed., June 18 at 6:30 pm

HIP-HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES

"[Hurt's] presentation is engaging and clear-minded"
-Chicago Reader

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a riveting documentary that takes is an in-depth look at issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture through the lens of a former college star athlete. This film includes interviews with famous rappers such as Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D and Jadakiss and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Directed by Byron Hurt, U.S.A., 2006, BetaSP, 80 mins. In English.

PBS site New York Times NPR

Showtimes:
Sat., June 14 at 10 pm
Tues., June 17 at 9 pm

Chicago Premiere

EZRA

WINNER
Best Film
FESPACO African
Film Fest

NOMINATED
Grand Jury Prize
Sundance
Film Fest

"A passionate, harrowing drama... There is no denying the film's power, or its frankness regarding the ongoing tragedy in Africa"
-Variety

"An intelligent, cleverly measured film...it treads a similar path as the recent Blood Diamond yet steers clear of that film's failings"
-TimeOut London

"Effective at conveying the complicated societal dilemmas and grim psychological toll caused by the exploitation of children for political and military gain"
-Chicago Reader

Ezra is an emotionally powerful feature that tells the story of a former child soldier attempting to find internal peace after the horrors he had witnessed and committed as a combatant in Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war. "One fateful morning, seven-year-old Ezra skips his way to school and is kidnapped by rebels. They take him into the jungle and train him to be a soldier. Seven years later, Ezra sits in front of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where he is asked to piece together a jigsaw puzzle of facts from the night of a devastating attack on a village. What is supposed to be a confession soon becomes a trial as his mute sister, Onitcha, chooses to reveal a secret she has kept from her brother. Aduaka creates a deftly observed world and draws impressive performances from his young cast to bring audiences into close contact with the life and mindset of a child combatant. With an estimated 300,000 child soldiers worldwide serving in armed conflict today, Ezra is an important and timely story that rarely gets depicted on the screen." (Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by Newton I. Aduaka, France/Nigeria/Austria, 2006, BetaSP, 110 mins. In English.

Director interview YouTube trailer TimeOut London

Showtimes:
Sun., June 15 at 7:30 pm
Thurs., June 19 at 6:30 pm

Double Feature:

GOODBYE MOMO

"Aggressively whimsical...[Acuna] gives a sweetly unaffected performance as the beleaguered child, and his transformation from a joyless paperboy with no future to a prematurely burdened child for whom education may lead to a better life is touching"
-TV Guide

Obdulio is an 11-year-old Afro-Uruguayan street boy who lives with his grandmother and sells newspapers for a living while he cannot read or write. Obdulio is not interested in going to school until he finds out that the night watchman of the newspaper's office is a charismatic magical "Maestro" who not only introduces him to the world of literacy but also teaches him the real meaning of life through the lyrics of the "Murgas" (Carnival Pierrots) during the mythical nights of the irreverent and provocative Uruguayan carnival.

Directed by Leonardo Ricagni, Uruguay, 2005, 35mm, 100 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles.

YouTube trailer

with:

WHITE LIKE THE MOON

WINNER
Best Short Film
New York Intl
Latino Film
Fest

WINNER
Best Live-Action Short
Chicago Intl Childrens
Film Fest

A Mexican-American girl struggles to keep her identity when her mother forces her to bleach her skin white to fit into "Anglo" society in the 1950's. Directed by Marina Gonzalez Palmier, U.S.A., 2001, BetaSP, 23 mins. In English

Official site

Showtimes:
Sat., June 14 & Sun., June 15 at 3 pm

Chicago Premiere

HOMECOMING

Charlie, Thabo and Peter, three "MK" veterans from the armed branch of the African National Congress, return to post-apartheid South Africa in 1996 after years of exile. It will not be easy for them to find their place in society again. Charlie dreams of opening a club, Thabo has to patch up his relationship with his wife and son and Peter continues to work in the Party and investigate the traitors of the ANC. Continuously hampered as he delves into the Government's files, his ensuing investigations provide shocking revelations of the identities of the traitors. Pared down from a successful mini series for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Homecoming draws its plot from the real life experiences of acclaimed filmmaker and writer, Zola Maseko, a former "MK" soldier of the ANC. Norman Maake (26) is perhaps the most promising young director from South Africa. He studied at ADFA, a dynamic young film-and-drama school in Johannesburg. He has several films to his name, including Sweet Home (1999) and Soldiers of Rock (2003).

Directed by Norman Maake, South Africa, 2005, 35mm, 90 mins. In English.

Showtimes:
Sun., June 15 at 5:30 pm
Mon., June 16 at 9 pm

THE DESERT ARK

WINNER
Jury Prize
Best Cinematography
FESPACO African
Film Fest

Romeo and Juliet in the Algerian desert. Amin and Myriam are secretly in love. Their families are rivals and when their relationship is discovered, conflict is inevitable. From inside the cave where they have taken refuge, the two young people hear the cries of a senseless murderous raid. A universal metaphor to denounce the horror of all extreme violence, The Desert Ark is a splendid and terrifying visualization for a burning contemporary reality.

Directed by Mohamed Chouikh, Algeria, 1997, 35mm, 90 mins. In Arabic with English subtitles.

Showtimes:
Sun., June 15 at 9:30 pm
Thurs., June 19 at 9 pm

Tickets: