The much-anticipated film "Half of a Yellow Sun" directed by Nigerian filmmaker Biyi Bandele. (Photo: AFF)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Tuesday, April 1st, 2014
New York (TADIAS) — At this year’s New York African Film Festival, which opens at Lincoln Center next month, audiences will be treated to the critically acclaimed Half of a Yellow Sun, adopted from the internationally best-selling novel of the same name by the Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and directed by the U.K.-based Nigerian filmmaker Biyi Bandele-Thomas. It is fitting that the work of Adichie and Biyi Bandele is on display at the festival given that the 2014 event is also dedicated to the celebration of the centenary of Nigeria. Half of a Yellow Sun is also the “centerpiece selection” and featuring “twins navigating life, love and the turbulence of the Biafra (Nigerian Civil) war in 1960s Nigeria.”
Organizers announced that the festival opens at Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center from May 7th to May 13th, the Maysles Cinema Institute from May 15th to May 18th, and at Brooklyn Academy of Music from May 23rd to May 26th 2014, under the theme ‘Revolution and Liberation in the Digital Age.’ The Centerpiece Gala will be held at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music at Cargy Hall (450 West 37th Street) immediately following the NYC premiere of Half of a Yellow Sun on Friday, May 9th.
Now in its second decade, the annual New York African Film Festival is an opportunity for emerging and established filmmakers, hailing both from Africa and the Diaspora, to showcase their work and network with media scholars and each other. The screenings at Lincoln Center (7th to 13th May, 2014) — jointly presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) — highlights eleven feature films and eight shorts.
“With a gracious nod to Nollywood, the world’s second largest film industry and the 100th centenary of Nigeria, the festival Opening Night Film will be Confusion Na Wa, the dark comedy by Kenneth Gyang,” AFF noted in a press release. “Winner of Best Picture at the 2013 African Movie Academy Awards, the film stars OC Ukeje and Gold Ikponmwosa as two grifters whose decision to blackmail a straying husband (played by Ramsey Nouah) sets in motion a chain of events leading to a shocking conclusion.”
A film about Queen Sarraounia will be featured on closing night. Sarraounia led the Azans of Niger in battle against French colonial powers. “The historical drama took first prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in 1987. Regular festival pricing applies.”
Additionally, writer Marguerite Abouet and illustrator Clément Oubrerie will present their animated feature Aya of Yop City, “which follows the adventures of a 19-year old girl and her girlfriends in Ivory Coast.”
Video: HALF OF A YELLOW SUN Trailer
Video: CONFUSION NA WA Trailer
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If You Go:
Click here for tickets to the Opening Reception & Screening .
Click here for tickets to the Centerpiece Gala & Screening.
For details, visit African Film Festival online at www.africanfilmny.org.
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