PRESS RELEASE

9th Annual Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival (TAFF)

Saturday and Sunday, February 27-28, 2021

6 PM – 6 PM

24-hour login period

Tuscaloosa will host its 9th Annual Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival, in a virtual format considering the global pandemic. The festival features acclaimed movies from the African continent and the broader African Diaspora. This is the first time our selection of critically acclaimed Africana movies will be presented virtually. Three movies will be screened this year and participants can join from the comfort of their device of choice by logging on anytime during the 24-hour period from 6pm on 02/27-6 pm on 02/28.

The program details for this 9th edition of TAFF are as follows:

SNCC 2020   

A new film by Danny Lyon, SNCC (2020), brings together hundreds of never seen black-and-white photographs made by Lyon during the years that he was employed as the staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC. Beginning in 1962 in Cairo, Illinois when Lyon, then a University of Chicago student, met John Lewis, Freedom Rider, traces the story of their friendship alongside the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the US. The images are layered with archival audio recordings of speeches by and conversations with Lewis, Julian Bond, and Dotty Zellner, among others, as well as freedom songs that were recorded by Alan Ribback in churches and meetings in Atlanta in the 1960s.This is 75 minutes of pure history in the present.

Mama Africa

Directed by Mika Kaurismaki, South Africa and Germany, 2011, English, 90 minutes.

SOUTH AFRICA AND GERMANY / 2011 / ENGLISH / 90 MIN

Miriam Makeba was one of the first African musicians who won international stardom and whose music was always anchored in her traditional South African roots. Miriam Makeba was forced into exile in 1959.  She sang for John F. Kennedy, performed with Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone, and was married to Hugh Masekela and later to Kwame Toure, previously known as Stokely Carmichael.  Her life was tumultuous. She always stood for truth and justice. She fought for the oppressed most importantly for black Africans, as a fervent campaigner against apartheid. She died November 2008 after a concert in Italy.

Mika Kaurismäki’s documentary, traces fifty years of her music and her performing life. Through rare archive footage of her performances and through interviews with her contemporaries, we discover the remarkable journey of this global icon, Miriam Makeba.

The Mali – Cuba Connection/Africa MIA

1964: During the Cold War, ten young promising musicians from Mali are sent to Cuba to study music and strengthen cultural links between the two socialist countries. Combining Malian and Afro-Cuban influences, they develop a revolutionary new sound and become the iconic ensemble ‘Las Maravillas de Mali’. 

New Year’s Eve 2000, Richard Minier, a French music producer meets a former of the band in Bamako and decides to bring the band back together.

“From Bamako to Havana, with the help of Malian singer Salif Keita, musician of the Super Rail Band Cheick Tidiane Seck and widow of the group’s pianist, the two directors bring back a magnificent moment of World Music, while exploring important historical events.” ~La Nouvel Obsevateur

“Vibrant, touching. Colorful, this film is a magnificent celebration of life and music.” – Le Figaro

The Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival is presented by the 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 the Tuscaloosa Sister Cities Commission. Tuscaloosa is a sister city of Sunyani –Techiman in Ghana.

Tickets are: General admission – $10.00

Tickets are available online at http://www.eventbrite.com  Search for “Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival”

For more information contact Bill Foster at 334-322-0824 or Thad Ulzen at 205-561-7000.

Email: info.africanafilmfestival@gmail.com