Around Cambridge
CAFF Children & Family friendly day
Africa for Kids
Traditional Games from Ethiopia: CAFF 2015 pre-Lamb workshop
Venue: Polyvalent room at Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology.
Time: 1.30pm - 2.30pm
FREE ENTRY, booking is essential. Book your FREE tickets here.
Limited spaces: 10 children from 3 to 12 years old with parents.
This small-group sized workshop for children aims to provide a unique opportunity to the world of traditional games and arts and crafts in Ethiopia. Games are universal ways of socialising and constitute a key aspect in our education.
One of the most popular game boards in Ethiopia is the Tegre or Mancala game, with numerous variants all over Africa. It consists of turning egg cartons into a game board, exploring the creativity of children through the use of colours of the Ethiopian flag. It promises to be great fun!
Brought to you by husband and wife team, Lideya Teshome, Ethiopian born and bred; and Michael Thomas, a PhD candidate researching Cinema in Ethiopia, this workshop offers the opportunity for children and parents alike to learn about Ethiopia through this wonderful games experience.
Note: All materials will be provided by the tutors. Just come ready to have fun!
At the Arts Picturehouse
CAFF Family Screenings: Short film + fiction film
Time: 3.30 – 5.00 PM
Book your tickets for both here.
Short film: LES JUMEAUX DE SAMBA (SAMBA’S TWINS)
Country of origin: Burkina Faso
Release date: 2014
Length: 11 min
Language: French with English subtitles
Genre: children’s story, animation, educational
Synopsis: This animated short film introduces us to the oral tradition of West Africa, where children listen around the fire to their grandparents’ stories alongside the music of the kora, an emblematic instrument of griots and storytellers. In this case, the story is about Samba, a father of twins, Binta and Karim, who are of school age. Only able to afford to send one of the twins to school, Samba asks his neighbours for advice in order to find the best solution – to send the boy or the girl to school?
Feature film: LAMB + Q&A
Director: Yared Zeleke
Starring: Rediat Amare, Kidist Siyum, Welela Assefa, Surafel Teka, Rahel Teshome and Indris Mohamed
Country of origin: Ethiopia, France, Germany, Norway
Release date: 2015
Length: 94 min
Language: Amharic with English subtitles
Genre: Coming-of-age drama
Synopsis: Ephraim is a young Ethiopian boy. His father leaves him and his sheep, from which he is inseparable, to be looked after by distant relatives, far from his drought-ridden homeland. Ephraim isn’t very good at farming, but he has a hidden talent: he is an excellent cook. One day his uncle tells him that they have to sacrifice his sheep for the next religious feast. The young boy, however, is ready to do anything to save his only friend and return home.
Lamb is the first Ethiopian film to have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (2015).
The film will be followed by a discussion with Ethiopian film expert Michael Thomas (SOAS, University of London) in conversation with Estrella Sendra (CAFF Director).
At the Arts Picturehouse Café
Book launch of Curating Africa in the Age of Film Festivals (Lindiwe Dovey, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), with Dr Lindiwe Dovey (author, SOAS)
Time: 4.00 – 5.15 PM
We are delighted to be hosting the UK book launch of Curating Africa in the Age of Film Festivals by CAFF’s founding director, Dr Lindiwe Dovey. Come along and drink a glass of wine and chat to Lindiwe about the book, which began its journey at the Cambridge African Film Festival!
The book offers the first scholarly exploration of the vital yet controversial role played by film festivals in curating particular versions of Africa, African film, African filmmakers, and African audiences. It takes us on a festive, historical tour, analysing the curation of Africans at the world fairs, the contemporary curation of African film and African filmmakers at film festivals, and the proliferation of international film festivals across Africa today.
Space is limited so it is vital that you RSVP to be added to the guest list. Send your message to [email protected].
SEMBENE! + Q&A
Time: 5.30 – 7.30 PM
Book your tickets here.
Director: Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman
Country of origin: USA/Senegal
Release date: 2015
Length: 90 min
Language: English, French and Wolof with English subtitles
Genre: biographical
Synopsis: Biographer Samba Gadjigo takes the audience into the life journey of Ousmane Sembène, one of the fathers of African cinema. Sembène was a dockworker from Senegal, who dreamt an impossible dream to become the storyteller for a new Africa. Through reviewing the filmography of this renowned director, the documentary touches on themes such as Pan-Africanism, Afropolitanism and the need to revive African cinema, as well as a call to shift attention from copying the model of Hollywood cinema and begin to tell African stories from African perspectives.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Dr Lindiwe Dovey (SOAS, University of London and CAFF Founding Director) and Estrella Sendra (CAFF Director).
