With special thanks to Salem Mekuria and The Wellesley College
October 4 (Monday) 7:00 pm
Directed by Ngozi
Onwurah
Nigeria/GB 1995, color,
35mm, 90 min.
With Suzette Llewellyn, Saffron Burrows, Valentine Nonyela, Brian Bovell
This debut feature film of Ngozi Onwurah (The Body Beautiful), which takes its title from a song by the hip-hop group Public Enemy, is a sci-fi fable set 15 years into the future in a claustrophobic black ghetto. It is the story of a black man and his white girlfriend caught in a chaotic and violent environment, adrift in no man’s land. Onwurah’s uncompromising and disturbing film earned its director the first prize at the Birmingham International Film Festival, the Cologne Film Festival and the audience prize at the Verona Film Festival.
October 6 (Wednesday) 7:00 pm
Directed by Wanjiru Kinyanjui
Kenya/Germany 1994, color, 35mm, 82 min.
The conflict between traditional religions and Christianity has provided dramatic material for many African films. Here a tree comes to symbolize this conflict when a Christian women’s Union takes it upon itself to rid its community of heathen African beliefs, including the sacred ‘mugumo’ tree. A truly funny comedy that treats very serious matters with an earthy touch applied with dazzling delight.
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Copyright © 2006 President and Fellows of Harvard College.