Columbia College’s Department of Film and Video presents its first annual African Film Festival, “Visions of Africa Through African Eyes,” on Friday and Saturday, April 21 and 22. Screenings will be at the college’s Hokin Center, 623 S. Wabash, and Ferguson Theater, 600 S. Michigan; admission is free. For further information call 663-1600, ext. 287, or 663-1124.
Ta Dona
Souleymane Cisse’s extraordinarily beautiful and mesmerizing fantasy (also known as Yeelen) is set in the ancient Bambara culture of Mali (formerly French Sudan) long before it was invaded by Morocco in the 16th century. A young man (Issiaka Kane) sets out to discover the mysteries of nature (or komo, the science of the gods) with the help of his mother and uncle, but his jealous and spiteful father contrives to prevent him from deciphering the elements of the Bambara sacred rites and tries to kill him. In the course of a heroic and magical journey, the hero masters the Bambara initiation rites, takes over the throne, and ultimately confronts the magic of his father. Apart from creating a dense and exciting universe that should make George Lucas green with envy, Cisse has shot breathtaking images in Fujicolor and has accompanied his story with a spare, hypnotic, percussive score. Conceivably the greatest African film ever made, sublimely mixing the matter-of-fact with the uncanny, this wondrous work provides an ideal introduction to a filmmaker who, next to Ousmane Sembene, is probably Africa’s greatest director. Winner of the jury prize at the 1987 Cannes festival. Not to be missed. (Ferguson Theater, 7:40)
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The first film of Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene (1965). A girl from a lower-class district in Dakar goes to work as a maid for a French couple and accompanies them on a vacation to France, where her newfound sense of freedom gradually turns into feelings of isolation and invisibility. Sembene keeps his metaphors under control, and the result is a message movie with an unusual depth of characterization. (DK) (Ferguson Theater, 10:00 am)
Brightness
Sambizanga
