ADFF 2007 SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENING NIGHT FILM
A WINTER TALE
US PREMIERE
Canada, 2007, 100min, drama, English, Frances-Anne Solomon, dir. Shots ring out one winter night and a bullet meant for a local street dealer kills a ten-year-old boy. In the downtown Toronto community of Parkdale, grief and suspicion hang heavily in the air, while the nightly patrons at Miss G's Caribbean TakeAway resume their ritual of beer and banter. But one of them, Gene Wright, cannot go on. He begs his friends for help. In a most unusual development, six Black men make a pact to form a support group in hopes of salvaging their broken spirits and redeeming their besieged community. A Winter Tale is set against the backdrop of a multicultural community's unrealized hopes and dreams. Bitter and tragic, funny and hopeful, the film not only tells a uniquely Canadian story that features Toronto as a central character, it also tells the universal story of Black men looking to assert their humanity in this world. Fri. Nov. 23 @ 7:45pm Opening Night. Q&A after the screening followed by a catered Opening Night Party at Bonafide's Restaurant; Sun, Nov. 25 @ 6pm at Thalia Theatre - Q&A after the screening; Sat. Dec. 1 @ 3:30pm at Anthology Film Archives.
VIEW TRAILER

A NIGHT IN HAITI
THE PRESIDENT HAS AIDS
NY PREMIERE
Haiti, 2006, 110min, dramatic comedy, Creole/French with English subtitles, Arnold Antonin dir. Jimmy Jean-Louis -- featured among the cast of the television phenomenon "Heroes," -- stars as musician extraordinaire in denial, President, in this Haitian comedy-drama about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Dao is the biggest movie star in Haiti, the self-proclaimed "President of Compas." He has women falling at his feet and men emulating him. He feels invincible-living the life of a rock star--sex, drugs and alcohol--except that he can no longer hide his illness which is threatening to derail his career. Despite pressure from his manager, he refuses to get tested for AIDS, turning instead to rituals, spells, and the church in denial. At one of his concerts, he rescues Nina from the leery advances of Larieux, a wealthy and powerful businessman, who Nina's mother wants her to marry. As romance blossoms between Dao and Nina, who likes Dao despite his fame, not because of it, Larieux plots his revenge. Also starring Riccardo Lefeuvre and Jessica Geneus. Sun. Nov. 25 @ 6:20 pm at Anthology Film Archives. Q&A after the screening followed by a catered Haitian Party @ Bowery Bar. Part of Focus on Haiti.

CENTERPIECE
YOUSSOU N'DOUR: RETURN TO GOREE
NY PREMIERE
Switzerland/Luxembourg/Senegal, 2006, 90min, musical documentary, English and French with English subtitles, Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, dir. In Youssou N'Dour: Return to Goree by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, Youssou N'Dour, the internationally renown Senegalese singer decides to give a Jazz concert on the island of Gorée to commemorate the humanity of those who started their journey in life as slaves in the New World and created, against all odds, one of the most important and celebrated musical expressions in the world. Following Youssou N'Dour as he travels to various cities in Europe and the USA to recruit talented musicians is a treat, as the viewer is exposed to many intense moments of musical and spiritual communion. With the participation of musician and writer Imamu Amiri Baraka, pianist Moncel Genoud, and drummer Idris Muhammad, among others, Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gorée is a film that galvanizes the Global Black Experience in a unique way. Thu. Nov. 29 @ 6:30pm. Screening followed by Q&A and a catered African Dance Party at the Bowery Bar. Part of Slavery in Film program.
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GALA SCREENING
HONEYDRIPPER
NY PREMIERE
US, 2007, 123min, drama, English, John Sayles, dir. 1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Army base recruits into his juke joint, away from Touissant's, the rival joint across the way. After laying off his regular talent, blues singer Bertha Mae, Tyrone announces to his sidekick Maceo that he has hired the famous electric guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a special one night only gig: pack em in and save the club. An ode to the start of rock 'n' roll, Honeydripper features an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen,Yaya DaCosta and Sean Patrick Thomas; as well as such notable musicians as Keb' Mo' and Dr. Mable John. It also introduces a major new talent, Gary Clark Jr. who makes his electrifying film debut as Sonny. Wed. Dec. 5 @ 7:45pm at Clearview 62nd St. Q&A after the screening followed by a catered reception at Josephina.
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THE RISE & FALL OF MISS THANG
NY PREMIERE
USA, 2007, 89min, drama, English, Stacie E. Hawkins, dir. Starring Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, an internationally renowned tap dancer who was the first female performer in the Tony Award Winning Bring In Da'Noise, Bring In Da'Funk, The Rise & Fall of Miss Thang tells the story of Dee Miller, a former tap-dancing prodigy who can barely find the energy to braid a few heads at her mother's beauty salon until a handsome dance instructor and her mother's gambling addiction jolt Dee out of her lethargy. There's plenty of tappin' and neighborhood ambience in this Chicago-made drama directed by Stacie E. Hawkins. Thu. Dec. 6 @ 8:30 at The Schomburg Center. Shown with Gene Boy Came Home. Part of Women Indies Night. Q&A after the screening followed by a catered reception.
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GENE BOY CAME HOME
US PREMIERE
Canada, 2007, 25min, doc., English, Alanis Obomsawin, dir. Gene Boy Came Home is the harrowing and deeply moving story of Eugene "Gene Boy" Benedict. Raised by his Great Uncle and Aunt on the Odanak Indian Reserve an hour and a half east of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, he leaves home at 15 and enlists in the US Marines at 17. His two years of service in Vietnam and his long journey back to Odanak afterwards take us through a critical point in the world's history as celebrated filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin turns her camera on the ugliness of war through the eyes of one survivor. Her new documentary will resonate with all those who have been touched by war, and with anyone who has had to travel the painful path of healing that eventually leads home.
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AN EVENING WITH MAHAMAT-SALEH HAROUN

DARATT
Chad/France, 2006, 95min, French/Arabic with English subtitles, drama, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, dir. Chad, 2006. The government has granted amnesty to all war criminals. Atim, 16 years old, is given a revolver by his grandfather so that he may kill the man who killed his father... Atim leaves his village for N'djamena, seeking a man he does not know. He quickly locates him: former war criminal Nassara is now married and settled down as the owner of a small bakery... With the firm intention of killing him, Atim gets closer to Nassara under the guise of lookin for work, and is hired as an apprentice baker… Intrigued by Atim's attitude toward him, Nassara takes him under his wing and teaches him the secrets of making bread... Over the weeks, a strange relationship evolves between the two. Despite his disgust, Atim seems to recognise in Nassara the father figure he has always needed, while Nassara sees the teenager as a potential son. One day, he suggests adoption... Shown with Sotigui Kouyaté: a Modern Griot,Tue. Dec. 4 @ 8:20pm at Thalia Theatre. Q&A with director followed by a reception. Part of Great African Films program.
VIEW TRAILER

SOTIGUI KOUYATÉ, A MODERN GRIOT
US PREMIERE
Chad/France, 1998, 58min, French with English subtitles, doc., Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, dir. Through testimonies by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, Jean-Pierre Guigane, and Sotigui Kouyate himself, the film dresses the portrait of one of Africa's greatest actor now based in Paris. From Africa to Europe, the film unveils the multiple facets of Sotigui Kouyate, actor, musician and modern griot. Shown with Daratt Tue. Dec. 4 @ 8:20pm at Thalia Theatre. Q&A with director followed by a reception.

CELEBRATING JOSEPHINE BAKER
JOSEPHINE BAKER: BLACK DIVA IN A WHITE MAN'S WORLD
Germany, 2006, 45min, doc, English/French/German with English subtitles, Annette von Wangenheim, dir. Josephine 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. Fri. Nov. 30 @ 8pm @ The Riverside Theatre. Panel discussion after the screening followed by a reception. Part of Arts & The African American Program.

AFRICAN AMERICAN WRITERS
BLACK AS INK
US PREMIERE
France, 1997, 52min, doc, English/French with English subtitles, Jacques Goldstein / Blaise N'Djehoya, dirs.
Black as Ink is a thought provoking documentary that details the migration of African-American writers to France at the end of World War II. From 1947 to the late '60's, several African-American writers including Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Chester Himes and Gordon Parks made the journey to the "Black Left Bank" of the Seine. This film exposes the reasons behind their exile and retraces the lives of these expatriates in St-Germain-des-Prés where Existentialism, Black consciousness and jazz melded together. Sun. Dec. 2 @ 5:00pm at Thalia Theatre. Screening followed by panel discussion "African American Writers" and a reception. Part of Arts & the African America program.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

FRI, DEC 7 - 6:00PM
African Cinema
Eric Ebouaney, Actor The Front Line
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Dir. Daratt
Ateyyat el Abnoudy, Filmmaker in Residence
Ana Ramos Lisboa, Dir. Cape Verde My Love
Modarator TBA

FRI, DEC 7 - 8:00PM
Arts and the African American
Nick Doob, Dir. Carmen & Geoffrey Linda Atkinson, Dir.
Carmen & Geoffrey Woody King, Jr., Dir. Segregating the Greatest Generation
Gregory Mills, Chairman of the Museum of African American Cinema
Moderator TBA

SAT, DEC 8 - 2:00PM
African Leaders and Democracy
Co-Presented by the Teachers College Center for African Education Professor George Bond, Dir. Center for African Education, Teachers College, CU
Prof. Andrew Okolie, Visiting Professor at TC
Ana Ramos Lisboa, Dir Amical Cabral
Daniel Don Nanjira, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs, SIPA, CU
Moderator TBA

SAT, DEC 8 - 4:00PM
Conversation with Ateyyat el Abnoudy - Filmmaker in Residence

Moderator TBA

SAT, DEC 8 - 6:00PM
Depiction of Slavery in Cinema
Ivan Dariel Ortiz, Dir. El Cimarron
Sylviane Diouf, Historian
Myriam Cottias, Screenwriter
Bitter Tropics
Charles Burnet, Dir. Nightjohn
Moderator TBA

CLOSING CEREMONY Sun Dec. 10 @ 3:00pm
Teachers College, Columbia University - 525 West 120th Street - Tickets $30
Screening of film Winner of Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color
Followed by Closing Concert
Followed by a catered reception