Highlighting Africa at HFA

To spark international interest in African films throughout the United States, The African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF), in conjunction with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has organized the African Film Festival Traveling Series. Seven films are presented during this tour of African cinema. The films hail from Zimbabwe, Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania.

'The Blue Eyes of Yonta' opens the Festival with a mild view of Guinea-Bissau twenty years after the freedom movement's successful revolt against the Portuguese colonial government. Director Flora Gomes focuses on Yonta, a beautiful store clerk, who attracts attention as she walks through her hometown. One young man, Ze, becomes so enamored by her presence that he copies poems which praise 'her blue eyes,'--she has brown eyes--and sends them to her.

Yonta adores Vicente, a local revolutionary hero, who attempts to maintain his fish-exporting business while offering fair wages to the fishermen. The town is plagued by electricity shortages which causes Vicente's warehouse refrigerators to shut down; thus he momentarily cannot store the fish which he must sell. Vincente's revolutionary tendencies conflict with his business loyalties.

Vicente constantly wonders whether independence has improved things for people or if everything remained the same Director Gomes successfully poses this question to the audience from the beginning of the film. Gomes' subtle question climaxes in a harsh confrontation between Yonta and Vicente, the symbolic children of the revolution.

Gomes succeeds in criticizing a world which he portrays with great love. His scenes are richly detailed, especially the pre-marriage ceremonies and a neighbor's worries about being evicted from her home. However, the actual story is not as coherent as it should be. The frequent discussion of Nundo, an old revolutionary friend of Vicente, seems puzzling since no one explains who he is. When the audience finally sees him, Nundo abandons Vicente in a huge tizzy over the moral dilemma of his country's political health. His position is never resolved.

"Gito The Ungrateful," one of the most popular African films in 1992, succeeds beautifully at providing a comic look at the dreams and harsh realities of one arregant man after be graduates from a French university and returns to Burundi confident be can become a cabinet minister. Gito (Joseph Kumbels) reminds one of Tom Cruise's arrogant Charlie Babbitt in "Rain Man."

Gito tells Christine, his Parisian girlfriend, that she can join him after be obtains the position as cabinet minister. When be arrives at the airport, his family greets him proudly, but be looks at his old-fashioned parents with barely hidden disdain. He refuses his brother's hospitality and checks into a hotel. Flora, his childhood sweetheart, reunites with him and rekindles their romance.

Soon things start to fall apart after Gito realizes that his degree is not a direct ticket to prosperity, and when Christine comes unannounced to join him in Burundi. Director Leonce Ngabo creates a sympathetic character in Gito who is decked out in brightly-colored suits and frequents vibrant locations. Ngabo's treatment of Gito's family and love relationships tenderly reveals Gito's slight exasperation overcome with genuine adoration. It is a portrait of true familial and romantic love.

Ngabo sensitively shows Gito's embarrassment at his country and his family's problems. When Christine works in the fields with Gito's family, she laughingly comments on how she can easily lose weight with this kind of activity. Gito quickly responds, "Here they don't do it to lose the weight, they do it to gain some."

"Gito the Ungrateful" entertains with its humorous portrayal of Gito and Burundi's problems. The final confrontation between Gito and his girlfriends is memorable and will leave audience members rolling in the aisles. Ngabo's film is the perfect balance between serious commentary and high comedy.

"Gito the Ungrateful" and "The Blue Eyes of Yonta," are the series's highlights. Other films in the African Film Festival strike a more serious note.

"Heritage Africa," directed by Kwaw Ansah, presents a painful exploration of Kwesi Bosomefi, an African who has rejected his heritage and embraced British culture. Bosomefi hides his mother from his pretentious friends and even leaves his son's funeral to receive a call from the Governor.

Bosomefi finally sparks his mother's fury when be gives the Governor a precious family heirloom which honors the spirit of his ancestors. After a confrontation with his mother, be realizes his transgressions, but the 'natives' are not willing to accept him, and the British feel that be is acting rebellious. Overall, Ansah creates a riveting film, but be should have felt compelled to cut certain explicitly violent scenes which ruin the eloquence of "Heritage Africa."

Created by Flora M'Mbugu-Schelling. "Shida and Matatizo" blends fact and fiction in a docudrams examining the abuses of child labor. She criticizes the Tanzanian government for refusing to respond to the epidemic problerr of street children who are forced into expletive situations of mental, physical and sexual abuse.

Educational institutions lack necessary funding, and the few children who are able to attend school receive the worst conditions: no desks, books, or teachers. At one point, the narrator says, "Education is the key to the future therefore a child working is a future denied."

Unfortunately, M'Mbugu-Schelling ends up creating a film reminiscent of the hour long infomercials which appear at 2 A.M. to solicit audiences for donations to UNICEF. Not surprisingly this film was co funded by UNICEF. While conforming to the standards of protest documentary. "Shida and Matatizo" highlights important issues of child abuse.

In "A Certain Morning," director Fanta Regina Nacro presents an enigmatic and surprising thirteen minute film. Tiga, a Burkinabi farmer, hears a woman calling for help. This simple premise yields a fabulous commentary on cultural differences and responses. "A Certain Morning" was the first film created by a Burkinabi woman. Nacro's creation is a seamless presentation of an incredible tale.

"Wendemi: Child of the Good Lord," directed by S. Pierre Yameogo, and "Neria," directed by God-win Mawuru, elegantly portray African society, mores, and identity.

"Wendemi" focuses on the path of an illegitimate man's search for his true identity after his community does not allow him to marry his love, Pogbi. "Wendemi" falls short of Yamego's goal, a criticism of sexual mores, and degenerates into a slow, plodding low-energy rhythm.

In "Neria," a widow who is victimized by her greedy brothers-in-law, loses her possessions and her children to her possessions and her children to her manipulative brother in law, but finally fights back triumphantly. Mawuru's film was widely acclaimed in the United States during 1993.

There are numerous elements to admire in this movie, but the strength of a mother in the face of restrictive tribal tradition stands out. When Neria's brother-in-law, Phineas, refuses to take her daughter to the hospital as she suffers from appendicitis, Neria carries her to the hospital on her back. Mawuru bravely explores the world of injustice and emerges with the scales of justice balanced.

The African Film Festival reflects the diverse cultural expression in African film. If you do not have time to see all the films. "Gito the Ungrateful" and "The Blue Eyes of Yonta" are the decided highlights. If time permits, "Neria" will inspire," Herstage Africa," "Shida and Matatizc." "A Certain Morning" and "Wendemi: Child of the Good Lord" will farther educate audiences on different African social concerns such as tribal customs, cultural identity, and child abuse. Perhaps the festival presents too much of a good thing--the breadth and depth of films are over whelming Thus festival should be a purely memorable and enjoyable one.