AfricAvenir Windhoek curates African Short Film Section at Sercine, Brasil, 19 to 25 July

The 4th edition of Sercine – Festival Sergipe de Audiovisual will take place in Sergipe, Brasil from 19 to 25 July. AfricAvenir Windhoek is partner of Sercine and contributes to the Festival with an African Short Film Section. In order to promote audio visual productions from Africa, Christian Mahnke, director of the Namibia section of AfricAvenir has curated a selection of 10 African short films. The films include Namibia’s “Cries at Night” (directed by Oshosheni Hiveluah) and “My Beautiful Nightmare” (directed by Perivi Katjavivi). The selection encompasses a broad range of short films from across the continent – from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Cote d’ivoire, DRC/Burkina Faso. See the list below.nThe partnership between AfricAvenir and Sercine aims at enabling the Brazilian public to discover a cinema they usually don’t have access to, and attract Brazilian audiences to cinematic products from Africa, relevant to the African rooted Brazilian society. nFor more information regarding the partnership, please  follow the link:http://www.sercine.com.br/?page_id=862 n
The selected films are

10 African Short Films, for www.sercine.com.br, 19-25 July 2014, curated by Hans-Christian Mahnke, AfricAvenir n1) My Beautiful Nightmare (Namibia)

"My Beautiful Nightmare", directed by Perivi Katjavivi, 12 min, 2012, is a film about a young woman bruised by the city, dreams of escape and the freedom of her childhood. A girl spends her evenings prostituting herself out on the streets of Windhoek. But when a client roughs her up the experience leaves her shaken and forces her to rethink what she’s doing and how far she has come from the sweet little girl she used to be.  nAwards
Best Actress award, Namibia Film and Theatre Awards, 2012
Radwan El-Kashef Independent Shaba Foundation Award, 2nd Luxor African Film Festival 2013. n2) Lezare – For Today (Ethiopia) n“Lezare – For Today”, directed by Zelalem Woldemariam, 14 min, 2010. A small homeless boy, Abush, wakes up hungry early in the morning in a small village. Right in front of where he is sleeping, there is a bakery. He can smell the bread, but he does not have any money. He starts to beg to buy bread but no one pays him any attention. The villagers are busy preparing for the tree-planting event that afternoon. Finally, an elderly man gives Abush some money, but asks him to help with the tree-planting first. But, the day is long and getting food is so hard… nAwards
In total nine international awards, including
Best Short Film Youth Jury Award, African Film Festival, Tarifa, Spain, 2010
Best East African film Award, Zanzibar International Film Festival, 2011
Best Short Film, Kenya International Film Festival, 2010 n3) Sharing Day (Zimbabwe)

“Sharing Day”, directed by Tsitsi Dangarembga, produced by  Nyeria Films, Zimbabwe, 17 min,2008, Shona with subtitles in English. This UNICEF funded short film depicts the story of Tabitha, an AIDS orphan, who is being taken care off by her aunt, who can’t provide her with a nutritious diet. When Tabitha turns ill, her classmate Tino and her mother show persistance and care for the child.  A sad, yet positive, story about the realities of families living with AIDS.  Note: Music with and from Plaxedes Wenyika. nAwards
Nomination Best Short Film, African Academy Movie Awards, Lagos, Nigeria, 2009
Nomination for Plaxedes Wenyika, for her role in “The Sharing Day”, National Arts Merit Awards, Harare, Zimbabwe, 2009 n4) Legend of Ngong Hills (Kenya)

„The Legend of Ngong Hills“, directed by Kwame Nyong’o, produced by Apes in Space, 10 min, 2011, is a traditional Maasai story, about the creation myth of these magnificent hills that backdrop present day Nairobi. The film turns this oral folktale into an action-packed animated adventure, using an aesthetic based upon the Makonde sculptural style from eastern Kenya. nAwards
East African talent award, Zanzibar International Film Festival, 2011
Best Animation Film, African Movie Academy Awards, Lagos, Nigeria, 2012
Best Animation Production, Kalasha TV and Film Awards, Nairobi, Kenya, 2011 n5) Cries at Night (Namibia)
“Cries at Night”, directed by Oshosheni Hiveluah, produced by Media Logistics/Goethe Institute Johannesburg, 13 min, 2009. Lazarus’ niece is involved in an accident where he meets Victor.  Something about Victor leaves Lazarus restless and he can’t forget the encounter or the man. His restlessness turns into obsession when he begins to follow Victor and kidnaps him and locks him in a dark cellar. There they embark on a trip down memory lane. Victor is revealed as Lazarus’ former torturer who tormented and traumatized him in the dungeons before Namibia’s independence. Lazarus finds it hard to deal with his past, which has haunted him in his dreams ever since and craves for forgiveness and healing. n6) Zebu and the Photofish (Uganda/Kenya)

Zebu and the Photofish, Kenya/Uganda, directed by Zippy Nyaruri, 13 min, 2011. Set in a close-knit fishing village, to the disbelief of his father, Zebu embarks on an adventure to rid his dad of debt, have his mother’s illness treated, and stabilize his family for good. nAwards
Benjamin Abemigisha, Nomination for Best Child Actor, for his role in “Zebu and the Photofish”,
African Academy Movie Awards, 2011
Nomination for Best Short Film, African Academy Movie Awards,  2011
Best Short, AfryKamera, Warsaw, Poland, 2011,
Best Director, Best Script, Best Supporting Actor, at Auteur Experimental Short Film Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, 2011 n7) Yellow Fever (Kenya)

“Yellow Fever”, directed by Ngendo Mukii, Kenya/UK, Swahili/English, 7 min, 2012. The ideal of fair skin tempts many girls and women in Africa to make painful attempts to change their appearance. This film the condition of feeling insufficient in an exciting mix of collage, animation and dance, ingeniously addressing the racist causes of this feeling of inferiority and their reinforcement by today’s mass media .Through memories and interviews, Yellow Fever reflects on the effect globalization is having on the African woman’s understanding of beauty. nAwards
3rd place, Afrinolly Short Film Competition, 2014
Silver Hugo for Best Animated Short,  49th Chicago International Film Festival, 2013
Best Animation, This Is England Film Festival, France
Best Student Film, Underexposed Film Festival, USA
Special Mention, 59th Internationale Oberhausen Kurzfilmtage, Germany, 2013
Best Short Film, Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, Nigeria, 2013
Best Animation Kenya International Film Festival
Best Short, AfryKamera, Warsaw, Poland, 2014 n8) Thomas Sankara (DRC/Burkina Faso) n“Thomas Sankara”, directed by Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, DRC, 26 min, French with English subtitles, 1991. Captain Thomas Sankara was the leader of the Burkinabe Revolution. In the former Upper Volta known today as Burkina Faso, a group of men decided to launch a revolution that would enable the country "to accept the responsibility of its reality and its destiny with human dignity". Thomas Sankara belongs to the group of African leaders who wanted to give the continent in general and their countries in particular a new socio-political dimension. n9) The Radio (Cote d’Ivoire)

“The Radio”, directed by Armand Brice Tchikamen & Kofi Fidele, 15 min, 2013. Un vieil homme, propriétaire d’un poste transistor tout neuf est obsédé par l’idée que l’appareil est en panne. Boni, le réparateur chez qui le vieil homme apporte le poste radio «défectueux» semble ne pas être de cet avis. Mais que peut bien faire le réparateur, sinon «réparer» un poste qui paraît sans problème ? Et si la panne tant recherchée était tout autre chose ? nAwards
Special Mention, Short Film Competition, Vues d’Afrique, Montreal, Canada, 2014 n10) The Projectionist (Morocco)

“The Projectionist”, directed by Najat Jellab, Morocco, 20 min, 2013. “The Projectionist” is a film for the love of cinema and an open call to the end of the decline of cinemas in Morocco, Africa and the world at large. Majid is almost indifferent to the world that surrounds him. He lives only for his job, as a projectionist, and his passion for films. But when he learns that the owner of the theatre, where he works, has decided to sell it, his whole life shatters in front of his eyes. nAwards
Best Short Film Award, Harlem International Film Festival, 2013
Special Mention, 3rd Luxor African Film Festival, 2014 nContact for more information:
Hans-Christian Mahnke, Director AfricAvenir Windhoek
Email: gro.rinevacirfa@eknham.c, africavenir.whk(at)googlemail.com
Tel.: +264 (0) 855630949