Afrika Eye's opening film, BENDA BILILI set the scene with a sell out audience, while music from EXPLOSIVE NZAROMBA and AFROMIKE kept people dancing till late. Bristol EYEFULLwinners were the charming animation A MAN, HIS WIFE AND A PIANOdirected by Candice Pepperall and the beautifully scripted FATHER TO BE, written and directed by Sandro Granda and Ben McLean.
For years, South Africans fought a bitter struggle against the apartheid state.
Absorbing and moving, the women in South Africa's Consitutional Court make judgements that have improved many lives.
Courting Justiceis about the women involved in the Constitutional Court. They come from diverse backgrounds and are entrusted with enormous responsibilities. Although the road is long and tricky, this film shows some of the inspirational thinking that has gone into building a new South Africa.
In 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected first black president. The new constitution was constructed after massive popular consultation, aiming for DEMOCRACY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, and FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS.
DAR4 won!!! Afrika Eye's football tournament, fought out on the battlefield of Netham Park, boasted 7 Bristol teams, including Darfuris (winners), Kenyans, Sudanese and Zimbabweans, with one team coming from as far as Newport. Player of the day CHRIS DIWAYI won tickets to our opening event. Football film, YELLOW CARD, grabbed the audience’s attention and the Zimbabwean meal complete with beef stew, cows feet and tripe was magnificent. Best of all, people who had never known each other, met and enjoyed themselves - and that’s part of what Afrika Eye is for.
Have brunch before BEHIND THE RAINBOW, a fascinating insight into South Africa’s transformation from revolution to democracy. Watch the fight: educated thinker vs man of the people. Can the pursuit of power lead a once idealistic movement to the same dictatorship it has overthrown?
Thabo Mbeki, an educated intellectual, succeeded Mandela as President in 1999. He transformed South Africa econcomically, but was forced to resign accused of interfering with the corruption trial of Jacob Zuma. Zuma, despite little formal education, was popular with the Trade Unions, the Communist Party and the women’s and youth leagues of the ANC ruling party. In May 2009 Jacob Zuma was sworn in as President of South Africa
Behind the Rainbow follows these two men, brothers-in-arms under Apartheid, whose duel for power threatened to tear apart the ANC and the country, as the poor desperately sought hope in change and the elite fought for the spoils of victory. Film tickets £7/£5.50 Brunch £7.25/£4.95
will definitely start with a bang! We'll have EXPLOSIVE NZAKOMBAfiring us up with Congolese energy vibrating through their guitars and high spirited dancing while DJs AFROMIKEhit the pulse of highlife, jit-jive, soukous, and afrobeat. Dance the night away to the sounds of Africa and enjoy our celebration of its rhythms, colours, creativity and expression!
Opening night film ticket includes party. Film 8.30pm Party 10.30pm
Available Watershed booking office or online www.watershed.co.uk
Netham Park, Avonvale Road, Redfield, Bristol BS5 9RN
A fun day for family and kids with football,food and film!!
We begin with a 5-a-side football tournament between teams representing a vast cultural diversity, reminiscent of the South African World Cup!Matches in the lovely Netham Park are followed by a film in the new Pavilion.YELLOW CARD(88 mins) is set in Harare, Zimbabwe and follows 17 year old footballing sensation, Tiyane. Though his path to success is fraught with problems, it's also filled with hope, happiness and love. As you watch, eat a delicious African meal that continues the theme of African representation.
Register a team (£20 cheque or PO to Afrika Eye, 17 Cotham Side, Bristol BS6 5TP) or just come and enjoy the fun, the park and the film. Watch the football and film for free, food £3/£1.50 for children.
Our programme’s ready! A HOT mix of films about music, injustice, South Africa and football.
Full details on programme tab.
Celebrate 50 years of Nigerian independence …
A Slice of FelaSun 31 Oct 15:30
Dir: Gerard Schmidt 2010 USA 53 mins
The story of legendary Afrobeat musician and political icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, with excerpts from documentaries and recorded concerts. His red-hot music dealt with the political and social issues threatening him and many other Nigerians. Hugely influential, the music spread across Africa and through Black Power movements in America. Screening followed by a talk which will include the personal recollections of Rikki Stein, Fela’s long time manager. Presented in collaboration with THE NEW BLACK
We’re delighted - Afrika Eye have secured a media partnership with Ujima Radio, Bristol’s community radio station. So from now on you’ll be able to catch Great Afrikan Music, Great Afrikan Chat, and Great Afrikan Opportunities, brought to you by Afrika Eye and Ujima!
Ujima 98 features local voices and aims to inform, represent, educate, entertain, and celebrate culture, heritage, and diversity within Bristol. In particular it welcomes contributions from the African and Caribbean communities living in the St Paul’s and Easton areas of Bristol.
Keep posted and listen out for interviews with the Afrika Eye team, some great South African and Congolese music, and clips from the best of our films!
For those of you plugged-in to the vast world of social media, you can now follow Afrika Eye 2010 on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube!
We'll be using Facebook and Twitter to send out bitesize chunks of news from the main Afrika Eye hub, as well as airing the thoughts, feelings, and latest news from the Afrika Eye directors as the weekend of the festival approaches!
You can visit these pages by clicking on the images below:
YouTube is a little more exciting. For now you can watch the trailers of all the films announced so far, but we'll also be posting a whole host of related clips and snippets!
You can visit the Afrika Eye YouTube channel by clicking on the image below:
Director: Sara Blecher & Dimakatso Raphoto;
Origin: South Africa, 2010;
Running time: 85 minutes
We are delighted to have confirmed the second film under the theme of reconciliation. A brand new documentary, Surfing Soweto is scary, shocking, and an insightful window into some of South Africa’s post-apartheid lives.
‘Surfing’ on top of speeding trains is the ultimate adrenaline rush for South Africa’s disillusioned youth. Exposing this illegal and dangerous pastime, Surfing Soweto shows the complexity of how structural ‘disadvantage’ in the wake of apartheid impacts on peoples lives. The proposition being that only when this impact is properly understood and acknowledged can meaningful reconciliation can take place.
Most of the surfers come from broken homes. They spend their days drinking, smoking, and teaching each other the latest train surfing techniques. Director Sara Blecher documented the lives of three train surfers: “We have followed Bitch Nigga, Lefa, and Mzembe on to the top of trains hurtling though Soweto. We have watched their lives fall apart. And we have watched them battling to piece them back together again”.
We’re showing a brand new version of the original documentary released in 2007. Watch a clip below and sign up to our mailing list to be in the loop when tickets go on sale!
Directors: Florent de la Tullaye & Renaud Barret;
Origin: Democratic Republic of Congo/France, 2010;
Running time: 90 minutes
Our opening film isn’t from South Africa, but we’re so excited to have scooped its Bristol premiere that we couldn’t resist including it in the programme!
Benda Bilili! ("looks aren't everything") documents the career of Staff Benda Bilili, a band of seven paraplegic Congolese musicians living in poverty on the streets of Kinshasa. Directors Florent de la Tullaye and Renaud Barret started following the band in 2005 and continued to do so as their global popularity began to grow. After meeting Belgian record producer Vincent Kenis, the band released Très Très Fort on Crammed Discs in 2009 and have been touring a string of European dates since, including both Glastonbury and WOMAD 2010 (to name but a few). The film - about both the lives and music of the band and its members - received a standing ovation at Cannes, where it was chosen as the opening film of the Director's Fortnight. With a soundtrack of the highest calibre, Benda Bilili! will get you dancing in the aisles and in the mood for the Afrika Eye 2010 after party, featuring a local Congolese band to help you let your hair down and move your feet!
Watch the trailer here and check out our YouTube Channel for a clip of Staff Benda Bilili performing live!
This film and the opening night of Afrika Eye 2010 will be hosted
on Friday 29th October at the Watershed cinema, Bristol.
Stay tuned for details of how to book tickets by signing up to our mailing list!
We are pleased to announce the opening of EYEFULL 2010.
EYEFULL gives local and regional filmmakers the opportunity to have their short films - told from an African or Diaspora perspective - screened at the Watershed cinema as part of the Afrika Eye Film Festival.
This year a prize of £250 will be awarded to the best short.
For more information visit the EYEFULL page.
Director: Mark J. Kaplan; Producer: Grey Matter Media;
Origin: South Africa, 2003; Running time: 68 minutes
An entire day of Afrika Eye 2010 will be dedicated to the topic of reconciliation - strategies to heal old wounds. Three films, carefully selected as real discussion raisers, will be screened and complemented with talks, discussions, and workshops on the same topic. The first of these films is Between Joyce and Remembrance, which tells a personal story that took place as part of the extraordinary, South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Started in 1995, the TRC offered "free confession" for people who had acted for the apartheid state against its people. There was to be no punishment, and the meetings and relationships that developed in its wake offer an insight into the mechanisms of reconciliation.
22-year-old student leader and activist Siphiwo Mtimkulu was shot and burned in 1982 by Security Police under the former apartheid government. Director Mark J. Kaplan spent years documenting the effects of this murder on Mtimkulu's family and what happened when the murderer says he wants apologise face-to-face. Critical, positive, and sometimes just observational, this film offers a revealing and personal exposition of just one of the many attempts at reconciliation that the TRC allowed in post-apartheid South Africa.
Watch the trailer below and keep an eye on the Programme for the time and date of this showing!
More programme announcements coming soon.
To keep up to date with every development,
sign up to the Afrika Eye mailing list (on your right!)
Afrika Eye's opening film, BENDA BILILI set the scene with a sell out audience, while music from EXPLOSIVE NZAROMBA and AFROMIKE kept people dancing till late. Bristol EYEFULL winners were the charming animation A MAN, HIS WIFE AND A PIANO directed by Candice Pepperall and the beautifully scripted FATHER TO BE, written and directed by Sandro Granda and Ben McLean.
DAR4 won!!! Afrika Eye's football tournament, fought out on the battlefield of Netham Park, boasted 7 Bristol teams, including Darfuris (winners), Kenyans, Sudanese and Zimbabweans, with one team coming from as far as Newport. Player of the day CHRIS DIWAYI won tickets to our opening event. Football film, YELLOW CARD, grabbed the audience’s attention and the Zimbabwean meal complete with beef stew, cows feet and tripe was magnificent. Best of all, people who had never known each other, met and enjoyed themselves - and that’s part of what Afrika Eye is for. 
Have brunch before BEHIND THE RAINBOW, a fascinating insight into South Africa’s transformation from revolution to democracy. Watch the fight: educated thinker vs man of the people. Can the pursuit of power lead a once idealistic movement to the same dictatorship it has overthrown? 
The story of legendary Afrobeat musician and political icon Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, with excerpts from documentaries and recorded concerts. His red-hot music dealt with the political and social issues threatening him and many other Nigerians. Hugely influential, the music spread across Africa and through Black Power movements in America. Screening followed by a talk which will include the personal recollections of Rikki Stein, Fela’s long time manager. Presented in collaboration with THE NEW BLACK
We are delighted to have confirmed the second film under the theme of reconciliation. A brand new documentary, Surfing Soweto is scary, shocking, and an insightful window into some of South Africa’s post-apartheid lives.
Most of the surfers come from broken homes. They spend their days drinking, smoking, and teaching each other the latest train surfing techniques. Director Sara Blecher documented the lives of three train surfers: “We have followed Bitch Nigga, Lefa, and Mzembe on to the top of trains hurtling though Soweto. We have watched their lives fall apart. And we have watched them battling to piece them back together again”.
22-year-old student leader and activist Siphiwo Mtimkulu was shot and burned in 1982 by Security Police under the former apartheid government. Director Mark J. Kaplan spent years documenting the effects of this murder on Mtimkulu's family and what happened when the murderer says he wants apologise face-to-face. Critical, positive, and sometimes just observational, this film offers a revealing and personal exposition of just one of the many attempts at reconciliation that the TRC allowed in post-apartheid South Africa.
