Tuscaloosa will host its 11th Annual Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival to include two feature films and a number of shorts created by young filmmakers from Ghana and Nigeria.Screenings of this year’s selection will occur at the University of Alabama Student Center Theater and will include panel discussions inspired by the issues highlighted by the movies. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the African Students’ Association.

This program will feature "What they do not want you to know'', a documentary film about the life, work and death of Walter Rodney. His widow Patricia Rodney shares the impact of Rodney’s assasination on the family.This Alabama premier of this internationally acclaimed documentary is a unique opportunity to learn of the life and work of one the intellectuals of the civil rights movement. Contributors include Angela Davis and Gina Miller. Rodney’s book, "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'' is a staple for many university courses across the globe. He is an inspiration for civil rights, the anti-colonial struggle, BLM and the reparations movement.(72 minutes).

The second feature is The Africologist is a futuristic documentary on Africa’s history through science and technology. With a 3 D character, whom we travel along a chronological timeline starting with the birth of the universe, the origins of humanity in Africa. Africa’s Golden Age from Kemet to Great Zimbabwe, its dark ages from slavery through colonialism and the rebirth of freedom during the post-colonial era. Along the way, Africa’s major contributions to science and technology serve as a thread to connect the stories. A unique chronicling of the oldest story on earth.(72 minutes - English/Swahili).

The four shorts by young African film-makers are amazing and thought provoking addition to the program:

The first is Kpeshie Egbo (Dead Lagoon) by Ghanaian Film producer Mawuli Dagadu, the winning film of the 2023 Benpaali Film Festival in Ghana, offers a microcosm into the larger environmental catastrophe which awaits the country, if no timely action is taken (9 min 54 sec).

The second short is Oko K3 Akueteh - Treading water, is presented by Multichoice Talent Factory, West Africa and directed by Deladem Duvi. It is a compelling short on how a traumatic event is dealt with psychologically within the traditional context. This is a movie in Ga and English, set in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. (9 min 56 sec)

Director Julie Ako presents Bride Untangled also from the Multichoice Talent Factory, West Africa. This is where modernity and tradition collide at a wedding ceremony, depicting the cultural complexity of Africa, through a Nigerian lens (9 min 54 sec).

Orire Lucky Nwani’s Omugwo is a sensitive short about postpartum depression and is also presented by the Multichoice Talent Factory. The producers are Esther Akakpo and Chioma Paul- Dike (9 min 54 sec).

The Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival is presented by Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation (EAUMF) and Afram South Inc., two non-profit organizations supporting education and public health initiatives in Ghana, West Africa and West Alabama respectively. It is also co- sponsored by The College of Community Health Sciences (CCHS) at UA and Tuscaloosa Sister Cities Commission. Tuscaloosa is a sister city of Sunyani –Techiman in Ghana.

Date: February 10, 2024

Location:

The University of Alabama Student Center
751 Campus W Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

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