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Seven (7) Female Film Directors to Watch at FESPACO 2019
critique
rédigé par Chinyere Okoroafor
publié le 26/02/2019
Chinyere Okoroafor is a writer at Africiné Magazine
Chinyere Okoroafor is a writer at Africiné Magazine
Franklin Ugobude is a writer at Africiné Magazine
Franklin Ugobude is a writer at Africiné Magazine


If there's anything that female filmmakers should take away from the 2019 edition of the Pan African Film and Television of Ouagadogou (Fespaco) running from the 23rd of February to 2nd of March, it is that women are ably represented - right from the jury, two of which are headed by women down to the female film makers who are telling very important stories.
Following the talk of inclusion of women and taking from Regina King's speech at the 2019 Golden Globes, people in position of power need to ensure that there is an active representation of women in everything they do.
In a world as patriarchal as ours today, women are showing that they can do more, keying into the popular quote "what a man can do, a woman can do better". With the likes of Safi Faye, Kemi Adetiba, Wanjiru Kinyanjui and Sarah Maldoror directing popular films, breaking records and gaining recognition at it, it is only fair that more light is thrown on the women who are pursuing a career in a field that is dominated by men.
This year, Fespaco, arguably Africa's biggest film festival showcases the works of female filmmakers. A look at films featuring in this year's festival shows that no fewer than 30 films by women are featured in this edition.
Below is a list of movies by female film makers you should watch at Fespaco 2019

1. Desrances (Apolline Traoré)
Following his parents' death, assassinated by soldiers of the dictatorial regime in place, Francis left Haiti to settle in Abidjan, with his Ivorian wife, Aïssey, and his 12-yeras old daughter Haïla. Francis is looking forward to the birth of an heir. As Aïssey is about to deliver, Abidjan is caught up in a civil war. Francis will discover the unsuspected courage of his daughter and gets to know that she the worthy heir to his illustrious
ancestor.

2. Contre Toute Attente/ Against All Odds (Charity Resian Nampaso and Andrea Ianetta)
The film tells the true story of Charity, a young girl from the Masai Mara region, Kenya. Charity looks forward to the day she will be circumcised, making her a woman like her elders. But one day, she sees a video on the dangers and consequences of the practice. She suddenly changes her mind. Her mother supports her, while the father is afraid of the village's reaction.






3. Black Mamba (Amel Guellaty)
For Sarra, a young Tunisian middle class girl, everything on the surface, is going as her mother planned: she attends sewing classes and is about to get married to a good man. But Sarra has a hidden agenda through which she wishes to escape her current life scenario.

4. Etiquette / Icyasha (Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo)
"Icyasha" follows a twelve-year-old boy and football lover who tries desperately to join a neighbourhood boys' team. His effeminate character disqualifies him. He gets denigrated and bullied several times. He finds himself confronted to a world where he has to prove and claim his masculinity. It is a story that simultaneously discusses the pain and beauty of childhood.

5. Un Air de kora (Angèle Diabang)
Salma, a veiled Muslim woman, dreams of becoming a kora player. But in her tradition, women do not play this instrument. One day, as she goes to the Monastery for her father's kora, she is given the opportunity of secret kora classes with Brother Manuel. This encounter turns out into an idyll. In a joyous melancholy, the musical notes become an oasis for this forbidden passion.

6. My Mother's Stew (Adeniran Sade)
A visit home and the smell of her mother's stew evokes a powerful memory which takes a young woman back to her happy childhood. A feeling of alienation and not belonging besets her when she also recalls the fact that she has recently found out that she was adopted as a baby. Unable to deal with the emotional turmoil, she leaves without announcing her presence.

7. The Woman Lioness (Lobé Ndiaye)
Andrée Marie Diagne Bonané, teacher and writer, nicknamed the woman-lioness, counts among the African elite of intellectual women for whom teaching is a calling. She advocates for retaining girls in school. She is a brave woman who makes it up to the hierarchy of higher education. A highly respected woman, she lives in Senegal with her Senegalese husband, philosophy lecturer at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.

Chinyere Okoroafor (Nigeria)
Franklin Ugobude (Nigeria)

Africiné, The Magazine of the African Federation of Film Critic (AFFC / FACC) - www.africine.org

Africiné Magazine issue no.1 - Monday 25 February 2019, pages 5-6 - FESPACO 2019 /// 26th edition

This magazine is published by the Fédération Africaine de la Critique Cinématographique (FACC). The publication was made possible thanks to the support of La Francophonie, Africalia Belgium, the Goethe-Institut and Ascric-B. It is produced by a collective of 42 African journalists from 23 countries.

Director of Publication : Khalil Demmoun

Editorial committee
Sid-Lamine Salouka
Abraham Bayili
Ahmed Shawky
Robert Mukondiwa
Fatou Kiné Sene
Pélagie N'Gonana
Charles Ayetan
Yacouba Sangaré
Espéra Donouvossi

Layout: Korotimi Sérémé

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