NEWS

Stone Center to share films about African diaspora

By BRANDI WILLIAMS
UNC Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center

CHAPEL HILL -- The experiences of people of African descent in different cultures around the world will be the theme of a film festival this academic year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UNC’s Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center will present the Diaspora Festival for Independent Black Films, showing one to two movies monthly through March. Each film will depict parts of the diaspora (di-AS-por-a), or the spread of African people and their cultures around the globe; all will be free and open to the public at various locations.

"The Stone Center is committed to building a program structure that addresses how culture impacts social change by focusing on the African diaspora," said Dr. Joseph F. Jordan, director. "Using film as a cultural medium, the center will be able to illustrate how African culture, or parts and adaptations of this culture, has lived and developed."

The festival, a new program for the center, will feature films from Africa and Latin and North America during fall semester. Films presented next spring will focus on African diaspora culture in the Caribbean, Oceania and Europe.

A discussion moderated by UNC faculty and staff, the film director and/or actors from each film will follow each film viewing. Each discussion will critically examine sociocultural and political themes presented in each film.

"In some ways our newer program lineup builds upon previous efforts; in other ways it departs, because our thematic approaches allow us to focus on enduring issues in the African diaspora studies from a cultural standpoint," Jordan said.

Titles and information for films shown this fall are listed below. For more information, call the Stone Center, (919) 962-9001, or visit www.unc.edu/depts/bcc.

· "Daresalam," 7 p.m. Sept. 24, Frank Porter Graham Student Union, rooms 208-209. The film, whose title means "Let There Be Peace," follows the start of a civil war in Chad. Peasant farmers and workers rebel against an autocratic regime, and two childhood friends become political foes. The war becomes a business and violence the sole means of communication. Bold and beautiful, this stunningly crafted saga of war focuses on how the lives of ordinary people get swept away by extraordinary events.

Double Feature: "Morning Breath" and "Brotherly Love," 7 p.m. Oct. 8, Varsity Theatre, Franklin Street. "Morning Breath," narrated by the rhythmic beat of spoken word, is an ode to the power of love and the pulsating energy of a city. "Brotherly Love," a comedy, concerns a young man who helps bail out his older, street hustler brother from a debt to a gangster … only to get his wife kidnapped.

"Umbuntu’s Wounds," 7 p.m. Oct. 22, Varsity Theatre, Franklin Street. A South African man living in the United States plans to avenge the murder of his wife when he crosses paths with the man responsible. The film looks at one man’s disappointment with South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for granting amnesty to the person who killed his wife.

"No Turning Back," 7 p.m. Nov. 5, Varsity Theatre, Franklin Street. After losing his wife and house to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, Pablo illegally immigrates to the United States in an attempt to provide a better future for his daughter, Cristina, 5. But a tragic accident forces them to dodge a frantic police pursuit as the only way to preserve their American dream. An intrepid journalist joins them in their escape and films their heart-wrenching struggle.

Lunch Special: "Whispers" and "A Funeral At the Samba School," noon Nov. 12, 110 Lenoir Hall.
"Whispers" -- Kaliq is a young man obsessed with his own success. April 1, 2000, begins as an ordinary day, but for Kaliq, it is the day he is chosen to fall. He becomes caught up in a torrent of whispers and illusions.

"A Funeral at the Samba School" -- A young musician and community leader dies suddenly. At the Mangueira Samba School rehearsal building, old samba masters, young funk musicians, friends and admirers gather to pay their last respects. But amazing things happen during this unique ceremony.

 

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Stone Center Contact: Brandi N. Williams (919) 962-7265

News Services Contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589