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African Studies Program and UW Cinematheque
Present:

Journeys Beyond Borders: Recent African Cinema

Thursdays, July 15 through August 5
7:30 pm 4070 Vilas Hall  Parliamentary Room

July 15. 7:30 pm
Waiting for Happiness (Heremakono) (Mauritania/
France, 2002, 95 min., 35mm) Writ/Dir Abderrahmane
Sissako Prod Maji-da Abdi, Nicolas Royer With Khatra
Ould Abder Kader, Maata Ould Mohamed Abeid. French
and Hassanya with English subtitles.

Considered the most important African filmmaker to
have emerged in the past decade, Sissako (Life on
Earth) beautifully observes the mosaic of life in a small
seaside village on the West Coast of Africa. A young
man, Abdallah, visits the town, where his mother lives,
before emigrating. Though he dresses in Western
clothes and does not speak the language, Abdallah
connects in small ways to his people. Sissakos poetic
reflection on themes of exile, travel, home and
displacement won a FIPRESCI Award at the 2002
Cannes Film Festival "for its exquisite poetic depiction
of the emotional and humorous complications that can
arise in the midst of a simple life."


July 22. 7:30 pm
The Other World (Lautre monde) (Algeria/France, 2001,
95 min., 35mm)
Writ/Dir Merzak Allouache With Marie Brahimi, Karim
Bouaiche. French and Arabic with English subtitles.

From the director of Bab El-Oued City comes this
astonishing film about Yasmine, a young woman who
flees Paris and flies to Algeria in search of her lover.
Speaking only French and donning a traditional Muslim
djellabah, Yasmine traverses the dangerous cities and
forsaken deserts of the war-torn country. Allouaches
first film shot in Algeria since 1993 depicts a
traumatized land, as well as the violence, generosity,
fatalism and hope of its people.


July 29. 7:30 pm
Abouna (Chad/France, 2002, 84 min., 35mm) Writ/Dir
Mahamet Saleh Haroun Prod Guillame de Seille With
Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa, Hamza Moctar Aguid. French
and Arabic with English subtitles.

When their errant father abandons them, 15-year-old
Tahir and his younger brother, Amine, are sent to an
Islamic school in a distant village. The brothers attempt
to adapt to the authoritarian environment but grow
restless as they yearn for their father. A film sprinkled
with moments of great tenderness and comic
flourishes, and exquisitely photographed using a
palette of saturated primary colors and earth tones, the
award-winning Abouna offers a fascinating glimpse
into a world rarely represented in cinema. Poignant
though it is, the movie is the opposite of depressing.
There is too much life in it.
A.O. Scott, New York Times.


August 5. 7:30 pm
Borders (Frontières) (Algeria/France, 2002, 105 min.,
35mm)
Dir Mostefa Djadjam Writ Mostefa Djadjam, Agnès de
Sacy Prod Aïssa Djabri, Farid Lahouassa, Manuel Munz
With Lou Dante, Clarisse Luambo. French with English
subtitles

Seven Africans, one woman and six men, embark on a
hazardous journey from Senegal to Morocco in a
clandestine effort to enter Europe. Though each is
lured by a different reason, they unite to overcome
obstacles and finally reach the coast of Morocco, where
they stand looking at Spain across the narrow Straits of
Gibraltar. Mostefa Djadjams beautiful debut feature
gives a compassionate account of whats at stake for
illegal immigrants.


These events are free and open to the public. All films
have English subtitles.

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