31st New York African Film Festival
May 8—June 1, 2024
Film at Lincoln Center and African Film Festival, Inc. celebrate the kickoff of the 30th New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) at FLC from May 10 to 16.
Launched in 1993 and one of the first of its kind in the United States, the festival reflects on the myriad ways African and diaspora storytellers have used the moving image as a mold to tell stories with their own nuances and idiosyncrasies. Under the banner Freeforms, the festival presents more than 30 films from more than 15 countries that invite audiences to explore the infinite realms of African and diaspora storytelling and embrace its visionary, probing and fearless spirit.
The 31st New York African Film Festival is presented with the theme, Convergence of Time, exploring the intersection of historical and contemporary roles played by individuals representing Africa and its diaspora in art. With more than 90 films from more than 30 countries, this 31st edition invites audiences to delve into the convergence of archival and modern experimentalism, transcending both space and time.
The festival continues at Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem from May 19 to 21 and culminates at the Brooklyn Academy of Music under the name Film Africa from May 26 to June 1 during Dance Africa.
For more information, visit: www.africanfilmny.org/festival/2024-festival
TEACHER DON’T TEACH ME NONSENSE
A film by Yajaira De La Espada
(U.S./Tanzania/Panama, 2023, 75 min. In English and Swahili with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets / Q&A with Yajaira De La Espada
Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense is a documentary that gives voice to the growing trend of Afro-descendants moving back to the continent of Africa to live. It highlights the life of a professional educator and their journey through the Texas school system to find freedom amid issues surrounding school equity, racism, and miseducation. This is juxtaposed against the life and legacy of the founding father of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who enacted empowering policies such as Ujamaa and Education for Self-Reliance, and the life and times of Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, the president who denounced COVID-19. While the American education system has left more to be desired in teaching about African leaders such as Nyerere and Magufuli, this documentary dissects the issues of culturally unresponsive curricula and harmful teaching practices in the U.S., providing solutions centered on the history of independence and contemporary political policies of Tanzania. Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense helps viewers to imagine a society governed by teachers and the positive impact they bring.
Saturday, May 11, 3pm — Film at Lincoln Center
SOLANGE
A film by Nathália Tereza and Tomás Osten
(Brazil, 2023, 60 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
Buy Tickets / Post-screening discussion with filmmaker Udemba Mclean!
Solange returns to her hometown after five years and wants back the belongings she left with friends when she suddenly decided to move. Over the course of four days, Solange has to face up to frayed friendships and everything she has lost or missed in the lives of the people she once loved. Oscillating between longing for everyone she has ever lived with, while at the same time denying all these relationships, Solange tries to hold on to the persona she has built for herself.
Preceeded by REIMAGINING QUEEN NANNY OF THE MAROONS (Udemba Mclean, 2023, Jamaica, 32 min. World Premiere)
Reimagining Queen Nanny of the Maroons unveils Queen Nanny's legacy as a forest shaman, healer, and protector of Jamaica's biodiversity, bridging African spiritualism with ecological stewardship, while shedding light on her untold role as an anti-colonial freedom fighter and environmental advocate.
Friday, May 17 at 5:30pm — Maysles Cinema (Closing Night)
