#Berlinale2023: KILL BOKSOON. Assassin (and single mom) in the twilight years of her career. Secrets and lies abound. Action is JOHN WICK + THE MATRIX, on steroids. Punctuated by lengthy existential chatter, ultimately a last man standing affair. Jeon Do-yeon kills it. Literally.
#Berlinale2023: AI: AFRICAN INTELLIGENCE. Scholar Manthia Diawara contends with what AI might mean for Africa and its richly diverse cultures. Here, intelligence is measured by life experience. The message: f*ck your zeroes and ones. African elders are a goldmine. Cherish them.
#Berlinale2023: ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WORLD ARE BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE. Coming-of-age tale about identity set in a country (Nigeria) that itself is coming of age RE *taboo* themes the film tenderly tackles. An understated romance as IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE — minus the visual glam.
ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WORLD ARE BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE director Babatunde Apalowo post-screening clip: on being a young, *Neo*-Nigerian filmmaker. I recorded the entire Q&A but won't share yet. It'll spoil the film for others. This was its world premiere. #AkorokoAtBerlinale
#Berlinale2023: THE SURVIVAL OF KINDNESS. Rolf de Heer may have a new muse in Congolese actress Mwajemi Hussein who does the heavy lifting in this confounding, stark neo-western. Like de Heer's David Gulpilil characters, Hussein's performance is all countenance and body language.
Will likely provoke. At the very least, it will challenge. Thematically dense, I'm still not entirely certain what I feel about it. Repeat viewings may be rewarding. Or may not. But repeat viewings are a guarantee! #AkorokoAtBerlinale
#Berlinale2023: DISCO BOY. Could've been a fever dream triptych: a wannabe French legionnaire; a Nigerian fighting Big Oil in the Delta; his sister, a siren with dreams of Italy. Instead, the latter two become near mythical creatures through whom the legionnaire finds redemption.
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#Sundance Day 1. Shorts so far. A standout: Crystal Kayiza's "Rest Stop." Beautifully shot tender portrait a Ugandan-American mother and daughter traveling by bus from NY to OK to reunite with family. Will Ferrell is listed as exec producer. I assume it's him #AkorokoAtSundance
More shorts. Standout: Norwegian Inga E Marakatt's "Unborn Biru": pregnant widow steals cursed silver from dead body to care for daughter. Unnerving slow burn horror, especially considering the tundra on which it was shot. It's a feature film begging to happen #AkorokoAtSundance
Ended #Sundance Day 1 with my first feature film of the festival. But I can't talk about it yet because there's an embargo. I just had to say that for journaling continuity 😏. Overall, it was a solid day of film watching! Until tomorrow, here's some swag... #AkorokoAtSundance
It's "next week!" As promised, as part of our ongoing fundraising campaign, we're giving away subscriptions to our fave streaming platforms. We've given away subscriptions to Criterion and MUBI. This week, we're giving away TWO annual subscriptions to @kweliTV. Read on...
@kweliTV We're giving away TWO year-long kweliTV subscriptions. To enter, sign up for the @akorokoafrica
weekly newsletter. The deadline is Thursday, Oct. 13 at 11:59 PM PST. The two winners will be selected randomly and announced on Friday, Oct. 14. Register: akoroko.com/newsletter/
@kweliTV@akorokoafrica Recommended films currently available to stream on kweliTV include: B FOR BOY (Nigeria), I AM NOT A WITCH (Zambia), FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES (South Africa), and OJUJU (NIGERIA).
Historically, much of the discourse about the African continent painted a broad picture of hopelessness, and desperation across the continent. And that includes its cinema.
The international media (film and television especially) certainly played a significant role in shaping those perceptions. The last decade has seen a 180-degree shift, presenting an Africa that’s “on the rise.” Is it?
What’s more likely: headlines that, for too long, denigrated a continent with cynical caricatures, and false constructions, were, at best, misleading. And recent dominant assertions of a continent “on the rise,” are incomplete. The true reality is likely somewhere in the middle.
Thanks to everyone who's supported in one way or another so far. First full day of the campaign in the books and just over 3% of the minimum goal raised.
A number of events planned for the duration of the 30-day campaign, including an unprecedented conversation series with 30 film and television professionals serving the African space. Here are some of them...
As well as year-long subscription giveaways to my fave streaming platforms — Criterion Channel, MUBI, kweliTV.
It's a tiny "team" (one full-time and one part-time person) right now. For the platform to be effective, it will need a few more people; hence this campaign to raise funds so that I can bring in more people to distribute the load, and accelerate certain components.
When I was chief at Shadow and Act (2009-2017), industry consensus was that there was a whole team behind the operation. Folks were shocked when they learned that it was almost entirely a one-man operation. I work hard — "work ethic," as Tyler Perry would say :-) — BUUTTT....
One key lesson I learned from my years running Shadow and Act is that I can’t do this alone, and I’m humble enough to know where my strengths and weaknesses lie, especially to be as effective as I want Akoroko to be. Experience is the best teacher: gofundme.com/f/akoroko-afri…