Last night at CAFF was one to remember – a warm and lively screening of Gone Too Far! followed by a Q&A with director Destiny Ekharagha (pictured above). This fresh comedy set in Peckham, London, is based on the Olivier Award-winning stage play by Bola Agbaje, and we were delighted yesterday evening to be joined in the audience by Bola’s sister and her friends from Anglia Ruskin University. A truly enjoyable evening of the festival!
Julie MacArthur of the CAFF Advisory Board and Cambridge University alumni Mamusu Kallon joined Destiny for the post-screening discussion. Photographer: Shameela Beeloo.
Today has been a wet and windy one in Cambridge, so what better way to pass the evening then coming along to our FREE screenings hosted at Trinity and Christ’s Colleges? The focus tonight is on migration, with two films that offer an in-depth exploration of the topic. First, we present Le Voyage d’une vie, a documentary that follows four Cameroonian students who leave their homeland to discover a new culture and a new way of life in the French city of Lyon. The film suggests a new way of thinking about culture clash and a lifetime commitment. Filmed over the course of almost two years, these students let us share their hopes for an international career, their fears, their everyday problems but, above all, an overwhelming love for their country.
We are delighted to host a panel with the writer and protagonist, Ferdinand Fokou, and protagonist Keven Arcel Fabo Tchuinkeu, as well as PhD student at Cambridge Unviersity Franca Hoffman and MPhil student at Cambridge University Ellen Davis-Walker (involved in the film), Njoki Wamain (Kenyan student of International Studies, President of the Cambridge East African Society); and Estrella Sendra, Festival Director and PhD student at SOAS, University of London. Join us - 5.30-7.30 in the Winstanley Lecture Theatre at Trinity College.
Next, CAFF will be migrating to the Yusuf Hamied Theatre in Christ’s College Cambridge, for screening of Die Welt (2013). A hybrid film on many levels, this part-fiction, part-documentary reflects sensitively on the conflicting issues of belonging, identity, and youth in contemporary Tunisia. Die Welt tells the story of Abdallah (Abdelhamid Naouara), a DVD shop worker who is disillusioned with Arab leaders and frustrated by the hopeless state of affairs for young people that the 2011 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia was expected to change.
After meeting the Dutch tourist Anna, Abdallah begins to dream that a better life awaits him in Europe, or ‘die Welt’ as his father refers to the ‘world’ beyond the Mediterranean. With frequent flash-forwards representing Europe as an urban landscape that promises success, Abdallah’s dreams embody the mainstream representation of the West, which pushes many people in Africa to migrate there. But, as this film asks, is that ‘other side of the Mediterranean’ really a space where dreams come true?
Director Alex Pitstra and producer Rosan Breman will join us for a post-screening discussion, in conversation with Dr Jean Khalfa. Join us at 8pm in the Yusuf Hamied Theatre in Christ’s College Cambridge
Booking is free, but a suggested donation of £3 will be very welcome to help cover the costs of this completely voluntarily-run festival.
We will be back tomorrow, with another free screening of the incredible documentary Miners Shot Down (you do not want to miss this one) and our pre-closing party, with live music and food. Come and join us!
