World Nomads May Music, Talks, Dance, and Cinéma

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1 World Nomads Partners NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID NY,NY Permit No African Film Festival, Inc. The African Film Festival, Inc. promotes knowledge and understanding of African culture through the moving image. It increases the distribution of African media in the United States and enhances the opportunities available to African media artists to reach a global audience. The African Film Festival seeks to counter incomplete, distorted perceptions of African people and their culture through the voices and viewpoints of Africans themselves. PEN World Voices PEN World Voices was created in 2004 by the PEN American Center. A satellite of International PEN, the American Center is committed to promoting literature, defending free expression, and fostering international literacy. This year s festival will take place from April 29 to May 4 focusing on the theme, Public Lives/ Private Lives, through a variety of panel discussions, conversations, and readings. Trace magazine Trace, which has been described as one of the most interesting cultural publications by The New Yorker, is a fast growing media brand and an international network. The Trace media family reaches communities in over 130 countries, connecting with a growing global audience. Incorporating the web, a print magazine, and a growing transcultural worldwide network, Trace speaks to savvy, sophisticated trend setters around the world. 22 East 60th Street New York, NY World Nomads May Music, Talks, Dance, and Cinéma

2 Join Us Become a FIAF Member French Institute Alliance Française 22 East 60th Street New York, NY Info: Tickets: fiaf.org Le Skyroom 22 East 60th Street (between Park & Madison avenues) 8th Floor Florence Gould Hall & Tinker Auditorium 55 East 59th Street (between Park & Madison avenues) Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 59th Street N, R to 5th Avenue E to 53rd Street & 5th Avenue Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, Q31 to 59th Street M5 to 58th Street Individuals $35 Youth $70 Seniors/Academics $90 Adults Family $100 Senior/Academic $140 Family Benefits Free or reduced admission to FIAF events Free admission to CinémaTuesdays, FIAF s weekly French film series Invitations to special members-only events Full borrowing privileges at FIAF s Haskell Library Special discounts from Bistro 60, D Artagnan, France-Amérique, Cécile et Jeanne Jewelry, and more Premier Membership Contributing $250 All of the above plus Membership cards for up to five family members Two complimentary tickets to a FIAF event of your choice Two yearly guest passes to CinémaTuesdays Supporting $750 All of the above plus Membership cards for up to seven family members Four complimentary tickets to a FIAF event of your choice Invitation to VIP receptions and events Two yearly guest passes to CinémaTuesdays One 90-minute private French lesson Patron $1500 All of the above plus Membership cards to all immediate family members Eight complimentary tickets to a FIAF event of your choice Invitation to VIP receptions and events Four yearly guest passes to CinémaTuesdays Two 90-minute private French lesson Invitation to President s Donor Dinner Membership Office membership@fiaf.org Visit fiaf.org for more information Photo by Philippe Bernard

3 World Nomads World Nomads is intended as an annual forum for dialogue between cultures. Though the dialogue may have a Francophone accent, this program of music, dance, talks, and cinema is open to various cultural perspectives. For this first edition of World Nomads, the transcultural journey begins in contemporary Africa. FIAF has partnered with three organizations that are leading voices in the transcultural dialogue, African Film Festival, Inc., PEN World Voices, and Trace magazine, to offer a diverse program of 12 events, ranging from current affairs to cultural heritage. This series invites the audience to discover African artists who have been inspired and embraced by Africa, France, and the U.S. In an age when exploring the world is just a flight or even a few keystrokes away, increasing one s awareness of other cultures is more enticing and enriching than ever. The arts are the lingua franca for World Nomads, stimulating an open-minded exploration of cultural differences, similarities, and syntheses. World Nomads does not offer answers; but rather, a space to investigate the complexities of transculturism.

4 Music Ayọ Thursday, May 1 at 8pm To inaugurate the World Nomads series, FIAF presents the well-traveled, satin strains of soul singer Ayọ, performing selections from her double platinumselling (France) album, Joyful. Born in Germany to a Nigerian father and a Roma mother, and ever keeping Paris as her spiritual home, Ayọ s pedigree seeps deep into bittersweet songs built from the world. Liquid organ riffs, acoustic guitars, and bongos punctuate mellifluous vocals that float with ease over deep reggae beats, evoking the stages of the Elysée- Montmartre in one moment, and the streets of Lagos in the next. Florence Gould Hall FIAF Members $20 Non-Members $25 Students w/id $20 Ayọ 4 5

5 Talks African Wars Saturday, May 3 at 3pm With Nuruddin Farah, Chenjerai Hove, and Abdourahman Waberi In collaboration with the PEN World Voices Festival, FIAF presents three of Africa s greatest literary talents Nuruddin Farah (Somalia), Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe), and Abdourahman Waberi (Djibouti) in conversation with Violaine Huisman. Forced into exile for their activism, these authors have turned the tongue of their former colonial oppressors into weapons of pacifism. These French and Englishspeaking writers discuss their practice of literature, their political mission, and the uniting power of language in a conflict-ridden continent. Writing Out Loud Saturday, May 3 at 5pm With Pam Muñoz Ryan and Fatou Diome Does storytelling beget storytellers? Does hearing fables as children make us want to create our own as adults? Award-winning children s book author Pam Muñoz Ryan (U.S.) and bestselling novelist Fatou Diome (Senegal) share their thoughts on what shapes writers. From remote corners of the globe, both have traced their literary inspiration to the same source: the stories their grandmothers told them as young girls. Between oral tradition and the written word, folklore and literature, two writers come together to unearth the dynamics of creativity. African Wars In English Tinker Auditorium Writing Out Loud In English Le Skyroom FIAF and PEN Members $8 Non-Members $12 Photo by Philippe Bernard 7

6 Dance Reggie Wilson & Andréya Ouamba Friday & Saturday, May 9 & 10 at 8pm Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo resound throughout the Mississippi Delta in this anthropological exploration of movement and its origins. A wildly inventive collaboration between New York choreographer Reggie Wilson and Congolese choreographer Andréya Ouamba, this excerpt of workin-progress The Good Dance, continues both men s fascination with the genealogy of culture. They use movement and music drawn from blues and worship traditions to consider the influences both real and metaphorical of Central African culture on world performance forms. Additionally, they will present a selection of works from their respective repertoires. Co-presented with 651 Arts, as part of The Mississippi Delta Heritage Project. Florence Gould Hall FIAF Members $20 Non-Members $25 Students w/id $20 Reggie 8 Wilson & Andréya Ouamba 9

7 Talks Claude Grunitzky on Transculturalism Wednesday, May 14 at 7pm The modern metropolis as cosmopolitan utopia, the savvy city dweller as crosscultural flâneur these are the dreams of Claude Grunitzky, acclaimed editor of Trace magazine. Now he brings them to FIAF for a night of inspired conversation. Grunitzky will discuss his vision of urban space as a place where diversity coalesces rather than collides, where cultural borrowings gradually erode the edges of difference to forge a world of true universality. In English Le Skyroom FIAF Members $8 Non-Members $12 10 Claude Grunitzky 11

8 Cinéma World Nomads: African Cinema May 6 27 This series is, at root, about the art and sensibility of storytelling and about the talent and mind that creates the story. No one in the lineage of African Cinema could better tell the story of a people within a space the life of the country, the encroaching metropolis than Ousmane Sembène. This film series captures some of his vision and influence through rare screenings of six Yennenga prize films. Concluding with an evening of cinema, spoken word, and music, FIAF and African Film Festival, Inc. create an anthem to African Cinema and a salute to Sembène. 12 Ousmane Sembène 13

9 Buud Yam Tuesday, May 6 at 12:30 & 7pm Gaston J-M Kaboré, Color. 99 min. In Mooré (and other African languages) with English subtitles. With Serge Yanogo, Amssatou Maïga, Séverine Oueddouda, Boureima Ouedraogo Wend Kundi was found in a bush as a small child and adopted by a loving family, but tranquil family life is interrupted when his sister falls gravely ill. Setting off in search of a healer, he embarks on a rite of passage, delivering him to his destiny. Sarraounia Tuesday, May 6 at 4 & 9pm Med Hondo, Color. 120 min. With Aï Keïta, Jean-Roger Milo Based on historical accounts of Queen Sarraounia, who lead the Azans into battle against the French colonialists, this sweeping epic is a captivating study of revolution against enslavement. Sarraounia s character is richly drawn, bringing this brilliant strategist and forceful leader to light. Muna Moto Tuesday, May 13 at 12:30 & 7pm Jean-Pierre Dikongue-Pipa, B&W. 89 min. In Duala & French with English subtitles. With David Endene, Arlette Din Bell Ngando and Ndomé share a young and perfect love, yet tradition demands a dowry for Ndomé s hand that Ngando cannot afford. Forced to ask for assistance, Ngando soon finds himself at the mercy of his uncle s lust and greed. Ali Zaoua Tuesday, May 13 at 4 & 9pm Nabil Ayouch, Color. 90 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. With Abdelhak Zhayra, Amal Ayouch, Mounïm Kbab, Mustapha Hansali, Hicham Moussoune A vivid, unforgettable account of four young boys living in the streets of Casablanca who struggle to remain happy, unified, and largely unafraid. But looming tension between the boys and local gangs consumes them, crippling their fantasies and forcing them to grow up too quickly. Baara Tuesday, May 20 at 12:30 & 7pm Souleymane Cissé, Color. 93 min. In Bambara with English subtitles. With Ismaïla Sarr, Baba Niaré The first feature ever produced in Mali, Baara recounts the story of a young engineer who is promoted as head of a factory. He succeeds in improving the factory, but his desire to involve and empower other workers provokes the anger of the owner, who orders the manager s execution. Drum Tuesday, May 20 at 4 & 9pm Zola Maseko, Color. 104 min. In English, Afrikaans & German. With Taye Diggs, Moshidi Motshegwa, Gabriel Mann, Jason Flemyng Drum depicts Sophiatown in the 1950s, a vibrant place full of music, love, and laughter. A generation of courageous South African writers, critics, and musicians emerged, intermingling with Shebeen queens, and tsotsis (young gangsters), bringing resistence to the legalized apartheid. Films are in French with English subtitles, unless otherwise noted Florence Gould Hall FIAF Members Free* ($2 advance tickets) Non-Members $10 Students w/id $7 *Free member tickets are distributed on the day of the event. Please present your membership card at the Florence Gould Hall box office. 14 Taye Diggs in Drum 15

10 Cinéma Homage to Ousmane Sembène Tuesday, May 27 at 7pm Featuring DJ Spooky Revered patriarch of African Cinema. Uncompromising critic of colonial regimes. Astute chronicler of urban Senegal Ousmane Sembène inspired an entire continent s cultural awakening through both literature and film. To close World Nomads, FIAF turns to Sembène and his irreplaceable body of work. Close friend of Sembène, Dr. Mamadou Diouf, director of Columbia University s Institute for African Studies, officiates over an intimate evening to include personal reminiscence, readings, a screening of Sembène s seminal film Borom Sarret, and an original sound score performed by the inimitable DJ Spooky. Borom Sarret Ousmane Sembène,1963. B&W. 18 min. With Ly Abdoulay Borom Sarret is the first film by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène.Through this moving short film, Sembène presents the fruitless day of a Dakar cart driver and his struggle for self-awareness. Florence Gould Hall FIAF Members $10 Non-Members $15 16 DJ Spooky 17

11 Program Sponsors The Cultural Services of the French Embassy Cinema at FIAF is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency Cinema at FIAF is sponsored through the generous support of Lillet The official airline of FIAF Cover: Nontsikelelo Veleko/ Kepi in Bree Street, 2006/ afronova.com Inside Flap: Philippe Bernard/ phili.ber.free.fr p.4: Jean-Marc Lubrano p.6: Philippe Bernard p.8: Antoine Tempé p.11: Nicolas Hidiroglou p.12: New Yorker Films/ Photofest p.14: Nabil Ayouch (Drum) p.16: Giancarlo Minelli 18