Fifty years ago, 17 African countries won their independence from European colonial rule. Ever since that time, 1960 has been known as the Year of African Independence. With political independence came new struggles, like the struggles for economic justice, gender justice, cultural renewal and peace. African filmmakers and the African film industry have played a key role in representing these struggles, as well as comedy, romance and Afro-futurism. The African Jubilee Film Festival, curated by Lynette Jackson and Floyd Webb, and co-sponsored by Portoluz, The DuSable Museum of African American History, the African American Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies departments at UIC and The Public Square, will mark this important milestone with films by African filmmakers, from founding fathers like Ousmane Sembene and Djibril Mambety of Senegal, to rising young women filmmakers like Jihan El Tahri and Wanuri Kahiu of Egypt and Kenya respectively. The African Jubilee Film Festival will hold film screenings and discussions on select Sundays, between June 27 to December 5, 2010.
December 5 – War/Dance
Director: Sean and Andrea Nix
Country: Uganda
This documentary is set against the backdrop of a 20-year long civil war in Northern Uganda in which 30,000 children have been abducted by the rebel army, and many of their parents killed. The documentary follows a group of school children in an internally displaced persons camp who are preparing to compete in Uganda’s National Music and Dance Festival in Kampala. The viewer
is taken on a deeply moving journey full of pain and loss innocence, resilience and hope. A true triumph of the human spirit.
Discussant: Ogenga Otunnu, Depaul University.
