The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) celebrate the silver anniversary of the New York African Film Festival at FSLC from May 16 to 22.
This year, under the theme “25 Years of the New York African Film Festival” film organizations will pay homage to the pioneers of African cinema while marking the passing of the baton to a new generation of African visual storytellers who continue to transform and expand our understanding of the continent and its diaspora.
The event also commemorates the 100th birthday of the venerated South African freedom fighter and national leader Nelson Mandela, with a few of films from his native land.
“Since the founding of the New York African Film Festival, African cinema has moved beyond the art house and become the lingua franca of Africa and its diaspora,” said AFF Executive Director and NYAFF Founder Mahen Bonetti. “From Nigeria to South Africa and Brazil, regional film industries are breaking down the artificial demarcations of the colonial era. For this 25th milestone, the festival is proud to showcase this new wave of a borderless cinema, which uses the tactility and immediacy of storytelling to offer audiences opportunities to imagine other futures for Africa and its diaspora.”
French director Berni Goldblat’s Wallay will have its New York premiere as the festival’s Centerpiece film on Friday, May 18. The coming-of-age story follows Ady, a young troublemaker sent from France to his single father’s homeland of Burkina Faso for the summer. There, the teen finds new challenges as he navigates a different world.
You can purchase tickets for the festival at filmlinc.org.
