Edinburgh’s sixth annual Africa in Motion Film Festival will take place between 2-6 November 2011. This year’s programme of films and events reflects a theme focused on children and youth in Africa, featuring films that represent childhood and many of Africa’s young nations.
Largely run by volunteers, the festival’s programme is similarly far reaching in its broad spectrum of film genres; incorporating feature fiction and documentary, animation and shorts from an array of filmmakers.
The opening film is ‘Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul’, a visually arresting story of the relationship between a man and his granddaughter by Nacer Khemir. There is also a screening of Obi Emelonye’s new feature film ‘The Mirror Boy’ and a filmmaker’s seminar with Emelonye himself on Thursday 3 November.
Other highlights from this year’s festival include a programme of documentaries developed in partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Theology and Public Issues as well as a short film competition, now in its fourth year. This provides audiences with an opportunity to see a diverse selection of films from emerging African filmmakers and to present the Audience Choice Award to their favourite piece of work.
To complement the season of films, there are a number of workshops for African music, dance and storytelling and, in-keeping with our theme, an entire day programmed for children which combines engaging films with fun events on Saturday 5th November at the Filmhouse on Lothian Road, where the majority of screenings will be.
The Edinburgh Reporter will be reporting from some of the screenings, so remember to check back for reviews and analysis at the beginning of next month.
