The fourth annual Tuscaloosa Evening of African Film, co-sponsored by the College of Community Health Sciences, will be Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa.
The adult program begins at 6:30 p.m. with three award-winning short films and one feature-length film. A children’s program begins at 3:30 p.m. with a live performance of African Dance by Bama Kids from Wilcox County, directed by Sister Yomi, followed by an award-winning African children’s movie.
The event, which is part of UA’s African American History Month, is presented by the Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation and Afram South Inc., two nonprofit organizations that support education and public health initiatives in Ghana, West Africa and West Alabama. The event is also co-sponsored by UA’s College of Community Health Sciences and Tuscaloosa’s sister city of Sunyani-Techiman in Ghana.
View a WVUA report about the event here:
The short films in the adult program are “Kwaku Ananse” from Ghana, “Afripedia” from Kenya and “Panic Button” from South Africa. The feature film is “The Longest Kiss” from Sudan.
“Kwaku Ananse,” which won the award for Best Short Film at the 2013 African Movie Academy Awards, tells the tale of a trickster popular in West African Akan folklore who appears as both spider and man. “Afripedia” chronicles the urban youth scene in Nairobi, Kenya’s bustling capital city. “Panic Button” is a compelling drama that provides a metaphor at many levels for race relations beyond South Africa.
Directed by a Canadian humanitarian aid worker, journalist and filmmaker who co-founded the nonprofit Journalists for Human Rights in 2012, “The Longest Kiss” follows six young Sudanese searching for a place to call home as their journeys take them between North and South Sudan. The film gives voice to Sudanese youth, both Muslims and Christians.
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for youth 14-17 . Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets, http://tuskafrikanfilm.brownpapertickets.com/ and on the day of the event at the Bama Theatre box office.
For more information, contact eaumfoundation@gmail.com or call Bill Foster at 334/322-0824 or Thad Ulzen at 205/552-6078.