Saturday 28 Nov 4pm at Barbican

Winner of the FIRPRESCI Prize 1989 Cannes Film Festival and the Gold Award at the Tokyo Film Festival

Yaaba is the word given to Grandmother in Burkina Faso and this is the name that a young boy chooses to call an old woman he befriends. The old lady is ostracised from the community as she is a witch and through the impartial eyes of the boy the prejudices of the adult world are revealed. Refreshingly natural performances and beautifully cinematography augment this carefully composed portrait of intergenerational connection.

Director: Idrissa Ouedraogo
Writer:
Cast:
Country: Burkina Faso/Switzerland/France
Year: 1989
Runtime: 90 min

Saturday 28 November 4.00pm at The Lexi Cinema – UK Première – Book Now!

This award winning drama is a South African Romeo and Juliet tale, GUGU AND ANDILE is a love-story set against the backdrop of the war that raged through South Africa’s townships in the early 1990s. It tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers, unlucky enough to be born into families on opposite sides of the political and cultural divide. Gugu, a sweet and innocent sixteen-year old, comes from a Zulu-speaking family, while Andile, eighteen and equally ready for love, comes from a family steeped in the Xhosa tradition.
Their love is thoroughly disapproved of by the rest of the community. In the prevailing climate it is forbidden for two people from such different backgrounds to form a connection. The war, with its cultural differences and associated political allegiances, encroaches on Gugu and Andile’s lives and, in spite of their resistance, they become deeply embroiled. As in the original Romeo and Juliet, they will both lose loved ones and go through flame and fire for the sake of their love.

Director: Minky Schlesinger
Writer: Lodi Matsetela
Cast: Litha Booi,Lungelo Dhladhla
Country: South Africa
Year: 2008
Runtime: 96 min

Saturday 28 Nov 6.30pm at Ciné Lumière – UK Première – Book Now!

Amal Setta and Hicham Bahloul in Burned Hearts

Amin’s uncle is dying. He returns hurriedly to Fes in the hope of freeing himself from the pain inflicted to him by the man who brought him up. The confrontation between the two is not what Amin expected. Every corner of the city reminds him of his difficult childhood, and the film cleverly interweaves his memories and internal struggles with the lives of those around him. Revealing with subtlety conflicts in contemporary Moroccan’s society, Burned Hearts also features an excellent soundtrack.

Director: Ahmed El Maanouni
Writer: Ahmed El Maanouni
Cast:
Country: Morocco
Year: 2007
Runtime: 84 min

Sat 28 November 6.15pm at Rich Mix – Book Now!

Winner of the best film at the African Movie Academy Awards 2009, the film is based on the 1998 bombing of U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. Tamani has devoted much of his life to looking for her mother, who disappeared on that day ten years ago. From a Whisper is a powerful and emotional tale of yearning and grief to accept, forgive and understand.

Director: Wanui Kahiu
Writers: Wanui Kahiu
Cast: Ken Ambani,Abubakar Mwenda,Corrine Anyango
Country: Kenya
Year: 2008
Runtime: 110 min