France-Atlanta at the BronzeLens Film Festival
Round table: Saturday, November 12 - 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Related screenings: Friday, November 11 - 3:30 p.m. to Saturday, November 12 - 6:30 p.m. Social Justice Sunday Screening: Sunday, November 13 - 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Each in their second edition, France-Atlanta and theBronzeLens Film Festival of Atlanta partnered up for a very special series of events to celebrate cultural diversity in film with a spotlight on African cinema.
Offering film-lovers a new take on cinema, French and American filmmakers and experts in the industry, including Gaston Kaboré, acclaimed African filmmaker and founder of the Film School and Institute Imagine, gathered together for a round table discussion on the richness and the diversity of African cinema and the necessity to support this film production and distribution.
A related series of screenings was scheduled on November 11 and 12.
For Cinema and Social Justice Sunday (Nov 13) , the “France-Atlanta at The BronzeLens” presented “Mandela in the Name of Liberty” by French filmmaker, Joël Calmettes, who was present for a panel discussion.
round table: free
film screenings: $10 a day
>> To register for specific screenings, please go to BronzeLens Film Festival Atlanta.
"France Atlanta at the BronzeLens" - Detailed program 
>> Friday, November 11 <<
** WHERE: American Cancer Society Theater (250 Williams ST NW, Atlanta, GA 30303) **
3:30pm Sarabah, 2011 (60 min.)
Production: US/Senegal
Producer: Steven Lawrence
Director: Maris Luisa Gambale, Gloria Bremer
Rapper, singer and activist, Sister Fa is hero to young women in Senegal and an unstoppable force for social change. A childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she decided to tackle the issue by starting a grassroots campaign, “Education Without Excision,” which uses her music and persuasive powers to end the practice. Sarabah follows Sister Fa on the challenging return to her own village , where she speaks out passionately to female elders and students alike, and stages a rousing concert that has the community on its feet.
4:40pm Grey Matter, 2011 (100 min.)
Country of Production: Rwanda
Producer: Kivu Ruhorahoza, Dominic Allen
Director: Kivu Ruhorahoza
Set in modern-day Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, this radiant, unapologetically self-referential film-within-a-film describes the process and vision of an astute, determined filmmaker named Balthazar hustling for funds for his first feature, The Cycle of the Cockroach. But the themes of his haunted and trenchant drama, about the aftermath of genocide on a brother and sister, find no support from agencies interested in funding upbeat policy-related films detailing HIV prevention or gender-based violence. This film is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens 2012 film series.
>> Saturday, November 12 <<
** WHERE: American Cancer Society Theater (250 Williams ST NW, Atlanta, GA 30303) **
12:10pm Buud Yam, 1997 (97 min.)
Country of Production: Burkina Faso
Producers: Bertrand Kaboré, Bruno Hodebert, Pierre Roda
Director: Gaston Kaboré
A young man, Wend Kuuni, sets out on an unexpected journey to find a healer for his sister, struck with an unknown illness.
2:05pm Destiny of Lesser Animals, 2011 (89 min)
Country of Production: Ghana/USA
Producers: Deron Albright, Dede Maitre, Francis Gbormittah, Yao B. Nunoo
Director: Deron Albright
Determined to return to the United States after being deported post-9/11, Ghanaian police inspector Boniface Koomsin pays big money for a fake passport only to have it stolen in the capital city. Under the pretext that his gun was stolen, Boniface makes tracking down the thief a priority. But his personal investigation gets entangled with a series of shootings of white expatriates—shootings that ballistics matches with a police weapon. His suspect turns out to be a man resembling himself in ways that make Boniface profoundly uneasy.
** WHERE: Georgia Pacific Theater (133 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30303) **
4:40 p.m. Pegasus, 2010 (104 min.)
Country of Production: Morocco
Producer: Fouad Challa
Director: Mohamed Mouftakir
Zineb is an emotionally exhausted psychiatrist assigned to uncover the mystery behind Rihanna, a pregnant young woman found in the street. Trapped in the delusions of her parents, Rihanna falls in love with an orphan with whom she carves out the beginnings of her own life. Tense, dramatic and visually striking, Mohamed Mouftakir’s psychological thriller took top honors at Africa’s 2011 FESPACO festival - winner for best film. This film is co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens 2012 film series.
Round Table - 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
On November 12 African, French and American filmmakers and experts in the industry will come together in a roundtable discussion on the richness of African cinema and the importance of supporting diversity in film production.
Moderated by Dr. Alice Stephens, Clark Atlanta University
Participants:
Gaston KABORE, Director, Institute Imagine, Filmmaker
Deron ALBRIGHT, Dircetor/Producer, Destiny of Lesser Animals
Alrick BROWN, Director, Kinyarwanda
Nathalie STREIFF, Fonds Sud Cinema
Angela DALLE VACCHE, Cinema Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology
7:45pm Le Voyage du Fauteuil, 2010 (7 min.)
Country of Production: France
Producer: Des Cinémas pour l’Afrique
Director: Marion Stalens
Somewhere between a documentary and an African tale, this short tells the story of the arrival of a brand new cinema chair in a theatre in Bamako that has been closed for years, like hundreds of other movie theatres on the African continent.
>> Sunday, November 13 <<
** WHERE: Spelman College, Cosby Center (350 Spelman Ln SW, Atlanta, GA 30314) **
For this special event, France-Atlanta at the Bronzelens presents "Mandela in Freedom’s Name". The film which premiered in the US at the UN will be presented by the Director Joel Calmettes, who will have a Q&A…
1:00pm Mandela in Freedom’s Name, 2009 (92 min.)
Country of Production: France/South Afrida
Producer: 13 Production
Director: Joël Calmettes
A documentary on the life of Nelson Mandela.
From his humble beginnings, life the legendary and heroic Nelson Mandela has become known as one of the wisest and most acclaimed personalities on the planet. Yet, he started out as an ANC militant and explosives expert. This documentary examines the long journey and fascinating contradictions of a life dedicated to a single higher purpose in the context of a country that is little known and poorly understood and a continent going through the painful and bloody upheaval of decolonization.
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| France-Atlanta at the BronzeLens |
