NORA
Alla Kovgan and David Hinton, USA/ UK/Mozambique, 2008, 35min.
Based on a true story, Nora takes us to the Zimbabwe of dancer Nora Chipaumire’s childhood as she journeys through the vivid memories of her youth. With the help of local performers and dancers of all ages, she brings her story to life in a swiftly moving poem of sound and image.
Trailer –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOaTuHuQKR8

 WRESTLING GROUNDS / L’APPEL DES ARÈNES
Cheikh N’Diaye, Senegal/Burkina Faso/France, 2006, 105min.
When 17-year-old Nalla joins a champion wrestling team, he learns that wrestling is about more than muscles, money and ladies. Wrestling Grounds twists the familiar images of Africa, cutting from nightclubs to ancestral ceremonies to streets where boomboxes play and athletes in traditional dress and sneakers dance their way to victory.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOk_9Ah8Pqc

 THIS IS NOLLYWOOD
Franco Sacchi, In Pidgin English/English, Nigeria, 2007 56mins
First came Hollywood, then Bollywood and now Nollywood, Nigeria’s booming film industry, which released 2000 feature features in 2006 alone. Where else can you shoot a full-length dramatic film for $10,000 in 7 days? Until recently little known outside its own country, THIS IS NOLLYWOOD explains why Nigerian video production is becoming recognized as a phenomenon with broad implications for the cultural and economic development of Africa.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-42NCowBYk

 THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ELEGANT
George Amponsah, In French, Paris/Congo, 2004, 69mins
This is the story of one of the most unusual clubs in the world: La SAPE. Its members, the Sapeurs, come from the Democratic Republic of Congo and have elevated fashion to the status of a religion. Despite extreme economic hardships the Sapeurs will only settle for ultra-expensive labels such as: Roberto Cavalli, Versace, Issey Miyake and Burberry. How do they afford these luxury items? The film gently unravels the secrets of the flamboyant cult. Set to the soundtrack of Congo’s extraordinary music, the film follows the sapeurs’ spiritual leader, Papa Wemba, the world-famous musician known as ‘The King of la Sape’. 

MOVEMENT (R)EVOLUTION AFRICA
Joan Frosch and Alla Kovgan, Various countries/USA, 2007; 65m.
An astonishing exposition of nine African choreographers from Senegal to South Africa who challenge stale stereotypes of “traditional Africa” and unveil soul-shaking responses to the beauty and tragedy of 21st century Africa!
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnbL5xiwWGI

 BRONX PRINCESS
Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed, Ghana/USA, 2008, 29min.
Bronx Princess follows headstrong 17-year-old Rocky as she leaves behind her mother in New York City to reunite with her father, a chief in Ghana. By confronting her immigrant parents’ ideas of adulthood during her tumultuous summer between high school and college, Rocky must reconcile her African heritage with her dream of independence.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqlvHhjlSMw

 COMING OF AGE
Judy Kibinge, Kenya, 2007, 12min. In English
Coming Of Age takes us through the development of Kenyan democracy through the eyes of a young Kenyan girl. The naïve post-independence euphoria is reflected in an innocent young girl’s outlook; Moi’s oppressive regime is narrated through her teenage turmoil; and a more mature narrator comes of age with the election President Kibaki. But after disputed election results in December 2007, we are left to wonder if democracy ever truly comes of age.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I0-vbOgHR0

 FROM A WHISPER
Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya, 2008, 90min.
This film commemorates the 10th anniversary of the August 1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, in which over 250 people died and more than 5,000 were injured. The film tells the story of an artist and an intelligence officer, and how they find unique ways to move on from the tragedy that shattered their lives.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBCmX8ZCWtM

 SEX, OKRA AND SALTED BUTTER /SEXE, GOMBO ET BEURRE SALÉ
Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Chad/France, 2008, 81min.
Mr. Haroun reveals an incredible sense of humor in this comedy. An extra-marital affair leads to Hortense’s separation from her very traditional African husband, who is in for a ride as he learns about her love affair, his eldest son’s secret love life, and the responsibilities of single parenthood.

IN MY GENES
Lupita Nyong’o, Kenya, 2009, 78min.
What is it like to be “white” in a “black” society? Agnes, a woman with albinism, overcomes the difficulties of being born with no pigment in a society that discriminates against the condition. In My Genes asks us to consider how it feels to be a member of one of the most hyper-visible and yet effectively invisible groups of people in a predominantly black society.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUGIsYM-HY8

 SCARS OF MY DAYS
Gilbert Ndahayo, Rwanda 2006, 32min Kinyarwanda with English/French subtitles
Two young friends feel helpless and tired of wasting their lives just playing soccer. They live in a poverty-stricken environment, the country, in the outskirts of Rwanda. The ambitious and adventurous Samy (Omar M. Sibomana) dreams about the life in Kigali City.  He convinces a reluctant Simuchezo (Richmond Runanira) to leave his sister and join him in his quest for a better life in the capital city. For the first few days, life begins with enchantment of Kigali’s beauty, they end in disillusionment though.�
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVw1fCXl7ek

 RWANDA: BEYOND THE DEADLY PIT
Gilbert Ndahayo, Rwanda 2010, 94min In English
The First Film ever made by a survivor of the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. Winter 2007. A Rwandan aspiring filmmaker emotionally resurfaces to confront face to face with his parents’ murderers. He frames the perpetrators within 5 ft of distance. 18 months earlier, the filmmaker had visited the grave of an Italian nun next to his grandfather’s in a church’s crypt of 10,000 bodies. Filmed over the course of three years, Rwanda: Beyond The Deadly is the first film ever made by a genocide survivor.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNPFJIyjXz0

 The FIGHTING SPIRIT
George Amponsah, Ghana/Uk/USA 2007, English 80mins
Following three young boxers, two men and one woman, the film captures the spirit and dedication of these athletes as they seek to fight their way out of their impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, and into the glittering rings of New York and London. Thanks to tenacious coaches who turn rough street fighters into professional boxers, the village has produced several champions. Each of the three young boxers dreams of being the next big winner. In English and Ga.
Trailer – http://vimeo.com/983288

 LIVING THE HIPLIFE
Jesse W Shipley, US/Ghana, English 2007, 61mins
In 1994 rap musician Reggie Rockstone Ossei returned to his native Ghana sparking a musical revolution. Rockstone left a successful English-language rap career in London to record and perform Akan-language Hip Hop in the clubs and studios of Accra. This film follows Rockstone, known as the “Godfather of Hiplife,” as he tries to build hip hop culture in Ghana. Hiplife consists of African American rap lyricism and beat-making creatively mixed through electronic technology with older proverbial speech and urban highlife rhythms and vocals. With humor and personality the film follows Rockstone through the corners of urban living as he navigates the tenuous life of a hip hop superstar in a postcolonial metropolis. His story is intercut with the trials of the Mobile Boys, a young group of aspiring rappers, as they work to make it in the music industry.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV3a4FKyTFk

 Al HADJI AND HIS WIVES
Jie Li, Nigeria, Fulani, English Subtitles, 2006, 50mins
A film portrait of a Mbororo Fulani patriarch, Al-Hadji Isa, his savvy wives, and their rebellious daughters. The documentary provides a glimpse into their everyday lives, religious and moral practices, as well as the political opinions the Al-Hadji has to offer from his particular corner of the world. With a critical but sympathetic gaze, it also chronicles and investigates the process and rationale by which Amina, a 16-year-old daughter of the family, is forced into an unwanted marriage. While her attempted escape had been in vain, Amina has inscribed her silent protest on the walls of her mother’s hut and onto the film, serving as a testimony of women’s resistance and resilience under an oppressive patriarchy.
Trailer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-i1D_26fQ