Download summer 2009 flyer:front back
For many New Yorkers, summertime in the city is the best part of the year. With the wide spectrum of inspiring and eye-opening activities to choose from, we are constantly reminded of why this is called "the city that never sleeps." Each summer, New Yorkers celebrate the arts in a thrilling and eclectic smorgasbord of cultural events which are free and open to the public!
As summer has finally kicked into full swing, the African Film Festival, Inc. is proud to celebrate the season with the 10th edition of Cinema Under the Stars, our annual Summer Outdoor Series. This year, we will continue to bring you, free of charge, the best in live performances, storytelling, arts and crafts workshops, dance and drumming classes, and most importantly an exciting selection of timely and timeless films from Africa and the African Diaspora. All this along with fine African and Caribbean cuisine, that is delicious and affordable. Partnering again with our gracious hosts and co-presentors at our favorite outdoor destinations, in this edition we return to Central Park SummerStage, Central Park’s Harlem Meer, (110th Street); Saint Nicholas Park (135th Street); the Andrew Freedman Home (Grand Concourse, Bronx); Corona Park (Queens); Fulton Park (Bed Stuy); and of course Governors Island, for our family day celebration.
Don’t miss out on summer fun! Pack a blanket, bring friends and family and join us for great entertainment, under the stars, as we continue to celebrate the richness of African and African Diaspora culture!
Schedule
Rhythm, Dance, and Film on the Meer
Harlem Meer, Central Park, Manhattan (Lawn adjacent to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, 110th St. between 5th and Lenox Aves.)(directions)
Thursday, July 23, 7:00pm
Rain date: Thursday, July 30, 7:00pm
Live Performance: Jonathan Russell, Young Jazz Prodigy, and Joe Ascione
Film: World Festival of Negro Arts (William Greaves, Senegal/USA, 1966, 40m.) synopsis
followed by:
Film: Yande Codou, the Griot of Senghor (Angèle Diabang Brener, Senegal, 2008, 52m.) synopsis
This special program is part of a celebration, commemorating Duke Ellington’s 110th birthday and the Central Park Conservancy’s restoration of northern Central Park.
Passport Fridays
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens (directions)
Rain venue: Queens Museum of Art
Friday, July 31, 6:30 pm
Live Performance: Uganda Transworld Performance Arts Ensemble
Film: Diamonds in the Rough (Brett Mazurek, Uganda, 2008, 72m.) synopsis
Central Park SummerStage
Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. (directions)
Rain or shine
Wednesday, August 5, 7:00 pm
Music: DJ Asho Live Performance: The Pedrito Martinez Project
Film: I Am Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov, Cuba/USSR, 1964, 141m.) synopsis
FIRST FRIDAYS! AFRICANISMO 3
Andrew Freedman Home (directions)
Rain venue: The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse
Friday, August 7, 6:00pm
Live Performance: Dj Leydis spins afro-beat and reggae performance by Francis Akrofi and Dynamic Band
Film: Bronx Princess (Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed, Ghana/USA, 2008, 38m.) synopsis
followed by:
Film: HomeGrown: Hiplife in Ghana (Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Ghana, 2008, 58m.) synopsis
KIDflix Film Festival
Fulton Park, Brooklyn (Stuyvesant St. & Fulton St.) (directions)
Rain Date: The following Saturday night
Fridays August 7, 14, 21, 28 - 7:30 pm
Presented in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), KIDflix guarantees four evenings of entertaining and educational films for kids and families in Brooklyn’s Fulton Park. This year’s film screenings include music, documentaries, works by local filmmakers and as always, the grand finale screening of The Wiz, complete with a costume and dance contest! Come as your favorite Wiz character for costume contest.
Family Day Celebration
Governors Island, Manhattan(directions)
Saturday, August 8, 12:00pm–5:00pm
Rain date: Sunday, August 9, 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Download Governors Island 2009 flyer: inside outside
The sights and sounds of Africa are just a three-minute ferry ride away! Please join African Film Festival, Inc. and the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation for this exceptional all day celebration on Governors Island. This event will feature FREE dance classes with world-renowned artists from Brazil, Senegal, and Guinea. There will also be FREE storytelling, double-dutch and quilting demonstrations and workshops. Short African films by emerging directors will be shown continually throughout the day. African food vendors will be on site.
African Night at St. Nicholas Park
St. Nicholas Park, Manhattan (135th St. & St. Nicholas Ave.) (directions)
Rain venue: The Harlem School of the Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Ave. at 141st St.
Wednesday, August 12, 7:30 pm
Live Performance: Mandingo Ambassadors
Film: Sex, Okra and Salted Butter (Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Chad/France, 2008, 81m.) synopsis
African Diaspora Celebration
Great Hill, Central Park, Manhattan, (106th St. and Central Park West) (directions)
Saturday, August 15, 7:00 pm
Rain date: Saturday, August 22, 7:00pm
Live Performance: Mouminatou Camara with Seewe African Dance Company
Film: Kirikou and the Sorceress (Michel Ocelot, France/Senegal, 1998, 74m.) synopsis
The Harlem Teen Film Festival
The Harlem School of the Arts, Manhattan (645 St. Nicholas Ave. at 141st St.) (directions)
Saturdays, September 12 5:00pm-8:00pm, September 19 & 26 3:00pm-5:00pm
The Harlem School of the Arts and African Film Festival, Inc. invite you to attend three Saturdays bursting with inspiring films from some of Africa’s most innovative and gifted storytellers. Screenings include In My Genes, a documentary on albinism in Africa that asks us to consider what it is like to be “white” in a “black” society; The Fighting Spirit, which tells the story of three boxers, two men and a woman from a poor slum in Ghana, fighting their way to the glittering rings of New York and London; and Bronx Princess, which follows headstrong 17-year-old Rocky as she leaves New York City to reunite with her father, a chief in Ghana, and reconciles her African heritage with her dream of independence.