FILM / DIRECTOR

SYNOPSIS

Time: 18:15
LYDIA
Duration: 9mins
Country: Malawi

This fiction film tells the story of a Malawian man who has come to terms with his own sexuality and the often risky underworld he lives in (Malawi, Written, directed and produced by MIFF film-workshop participants)

Time: 18:30
Thokozani
Director: Gregory Colins
Duration: 80mins
Country: Malawi/U.S.A

THOKOZANI is a love story from Malawi.

THOKOZANI follows the story of Innocent and Loda, a young couple from the village, whose relationship is thrown into upheaval when Thokozani, their newborn baby, dies. As Innocent and Loda pursue work in the nearby town, they must negotiate traditional and modern pressures that threaten to destroy their marriage and their lives. Though filmed in Malawi, THOKOZANI is a universal story about trust and belonging, and about the rapidly-changing world that we all share.

FILM / DIRECTOR

VENUE

SYNOPSIS

24th Sept 2010
Time: 18:00-18:25
BIDENAM – the hope of a village (Latitude)
Director: Gentile M. Assih
Duration: 24mins
Country: Togo

Lead by a young woman, a small Togoan village finally stands up to corrupt officials and finds there’s strength in determination.

In a small Tongan village an agricultural student returns home to find life unchanged, despite the promise of national funds to develop the area and inject new hope into the region.  Afi soon discovers the reason behind the lack of progress – the money has found its way into a corrupt official’s pocket. Fired up by her time in the city, she calls the fraudsters to task, resulting in an attack and a broken leg. Undaunted, Afi engineers a plan to get the community involved in making change happen – and getting her revenge on the officials. Assih’s film, shot on location and sensitively acted by a competent cast, offers a glimpse into not only rural Togo, but also draws a line in the sand as far as corruption is concerned. It’s also a call to arms for communities to rise above officialdom and take their futures into their own hands.

"Bidenam" is one of nine contemporary short films from Africa, produced under the “Latitude” Pan-African Short Film Competition of the Goethe-Institut (German Cultural Centre).

24th Sept 2010
Time: 18:30-18:50

BLOODSTONES (Latitude)
Director: Didi Cheeka
Duration: 20mins
Country: Nigeria

Trapped as slave labour in a Nigerian stone quarry, two children plot their escape.

In 2003 police rescued 261 children from an illegal stone quarry in Nigeria, highlighting yet again the prevalence of ongoing child slavery in West Africa and the porous nature of the borders in the region. Thirteen children had died before police arrived. The event forms the foundation of Didi Cheeka’s powerful film about Nafissa, who is traded by her father and sold to a man who promises her a life in Nigeria better than the daily grind she faces in Benin. Instead she finds herself in a stone quarry along with other children, fighting not only a cruel foreman but also a system and a society unable and unwilling to come to their aid. Nafissa meets Francois and together they attempt to beat the foreman at his own game, as well as open the eyes of the children around them. Their efforts do not go unpunished – director Cheeka manages to make the foreman a figure of regional horror, borrowing traits for him from a number of infamous dictators from the area. As Nafissa’s refusal to do his bidding strengthens, so too does the foreman’s determination to break the girl. Ultimately Cheeka’s film is a study in personal triumph rather than societal responsibility – Nafissa’s success is hers alone. 

"Bloodstones" is one of nine contemporary short films from Africa, produced under the “Latitude” Pan-African Short Film Competition of the Goethe-Institut (German Cultural Centre).

24th Sept 2010
Time: 18:55-19:10

THORNS & SILK
Directed by Finnish filmmaker Paulina Tervo, MIFF workshop consultant
Duration: 15mins
Country: U.K

Tells four fascinating stories from Palestine, featuring women who work in 'men's jobs'. All four have the courage to break traditional rules, but not without challenges.

24th Sept 2010
Time: 19:10-19:35

PRESTIGE (Latitude)
Director: Walid Tayaa
Duration: 25mins
Country: Tunisia

Delightful comedy about an Arab family coming to terms with their daughter’s black boyfriend.

Walid Tayaa’s film about forbidden love and familial intolerance reminds us that xenophobia is everywhere. In affluent Tunisia an Arab woman, keen to marry a black Burkinabe, decides that, instead of facing her very traditional family’s ire, she’ll come up with a fantasy story that plays into their dreams and aspirations. So Salwa concocts a story about Ahmadou playing for Bayern Munich, a story that resonates as various members of the family are either football mad or want to immigrate to Germany.

"Prestige" is one of nine contemporary short films from Africa, produced under the “Latitude” Pan-African Short Film Competition of the Goethe-Institut (German Cultural Centre).

24th Sept 2010
Time: 19:40-19:50

LYDIA
Duration: 9mins
Country: Malawi

This fiction film tells the story of a Malawian man who has come to terms with his own sexuality and the often risky underworld he lives in (Malawi, Written, directed and produced by MIFF film-workshop participants)

24th Sept 2010
Time: 19:50-21:30

RUSH HOUR 2
Director: Brett Ratner
Duration: 98mins
Country: USA

Action comedy with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker: a bomb explodes in the American Embassy in Hong Kong.

Rush Hour 2 begins with Chief Inspector Lee of the Royal Hong Kong Police (JACKIE CHAN) and LAPD detective James Carter (CHRIS TUCKER) arriving in Hong Kong for a vacation. Armed with his Chinese-English dictionary, Carter is looking forward to a much-needed vacation and to sampling some of the city's many exotic delights. But Lee, the ever-dedicated policeman, continues with his duties, frustrating Carter.

25th Sept 2010
Time: 14:00-14:10

LYDIA
Duration: 9mins
Country: Malawi

This fiction film tells the story of a Malawian man who has come to terms with his own sexuality and the often risky underworld he lives in (Malawi, Written, directed and produced by MIFF film-workshop participants)

25th Sept 2010
Time: 14:10-15:40

Thokozani
Director: Gregory Colins
Duration: 80mins
Country:MalawiU.S.A

THOKOZANI is a love story from Malawi.

THOKOZANI follows the story of Innocent and Loda, a young couple from the village, whose relationship is thrown into upheaval when Thokozani, their newborn baby, dies. As Innocent and Loda pursue work in the nearby town, they must negotiate traditional and modern pressures that threaten to destroy their marriage and their lives. Though filmed in Malawi, THOKOZANI is a universal story about trust and belonging, and about the rapidly-changing world that we all share.

25th Sept 2010
Time: 18:00-20:25

BLOOD DIAMOND
Director: Edward Zwick
Duration: 143mins
Country: USA

Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1999, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces.

25th Sept 2010
Time: 20:25-22:10

BAREFOOT GEN
Director: Masaki Mori
Duration: 110 mins
Country: Japan

Barefoot Gen is an animation film about a young boy, Gen, and his life in Hiroshima during the atomic bombing in 1945 .  

26th Sept 2010
Time: 14:00-14:10

LYDIA
Duration: 9mins
Country: Malawi

This fiction film tells the story of a Malawian man who has come to terms with his own sexuality and the often risky underworld he lives in (Malawi, Written, directed and produced by MIFF film-workshop participants)

26th Sept 2010
Time: 14:10-15:40

CHILDREN OF NATURE
Director: : Fridrik Thor Fridriksson
Duration: 90mins
Country: Iceland

A man becomes too old to run his farm and is made unwelcome in his daughter's urban dwelling. Dumped in a home for the elderly, he meets an old girlfriend from his youth, and they elope to the wilds of Iceland to die together. The film was nominated for an Oscar.

26th Sept 2010
Time: 18:00-20:00


CAMARON
Director: Jaime Chavarri
Duration:119 mins
Country: Spain

Camarón is the untold biography of flamenco music genius José Monge Cruz, "Camarón de la Isla ". This film about Camarón gives the character total protagonism. A study of his life and work, an up-close look at this brilliant singer-songwriter who innovated in flamenco, influencing new generations and breaking down social and artistic barriers. His desires, his successes, his fights are the ingredients of a personal career reflected in his particular manner of making music, a new way of making and listening to flamenco that Camerón taught the world. His most prolific stage contains highlights and dark spots reflected in his amorous intrigues, his national and international recognition, the way he recorded, causing a revolution in flamenco performance, his marriage to Dolores " La Chispa ", his flirting with drugs and his physical deterioration at a very young age.

26th Sept 2010
Time: 20:00-20:10

LYDIA
Duration: 9mins
Country: Malawi

This fiction film tells the story of a Malawian man who has come to terms with his own sexuality and the often risky underworld he lives in (Malawi, Written, directed and produced by MIFF film-workshop participants)

26th Sept 2010
Time: 20:10-21:30

Thokozani
Director: Gregory Colins
Duration: 80mins
Country:Malawi/U.S.A

THOKOZANI is a love story from Malawi.

THOKOZANI follows the story of Innocent and Loda, a young couple from the village, whose relationship is thrown into upheaval when Thokozani, their newborn baby, dies. As Innocent and Loda pursue work in the nearby town, they must negotiate traditional and modern pressures that threaten to destroy their marriage and their lives. Though filmed in Malawi, THOKOZANI is a universal story about trust and belonging, and about the rapidly-changing world that we all share.