Oct. 16-18 marked the opening weekend of the first African Film Festival of Ottawa, hosted in the River Building on Carleton’s campus.
The festival has so far exhibited eight feature-length and short films.
An additional six will be shown this weekend from filmmakers from around Africa.
The festival was the first of its kind to showcase African films in Ottawa but according to Aboubakar Sanogo, professor of film and African studies at Carleton, the desire for such an event has existed for a long time.
“We’ve had different ad hoc events around African film . . . But the idea of doing something more systematic in the form of a film festival was always there,” Sanogo said.
The event was organized in association with the Canadian Film Institute (CFI) and the African Group of High Commissioners.
Thomas McSorley, is a programmer at the CFI, and said the festival is a step towards progress.
“The CFI’s international programming is already considerable, but we felt we needed more representation from Africa. This festival helps fill out a bit more substantially the cinematic map of the world the CFI has always tried to present,” McSorely said in an email.
McSorely said he sees the festival as a success.
“It was excellent. We are all after the same thing: to present the best of contemporary African cinema to audiences in Canada’s capital city,” he said.
One thing Sanogo sees as characteristic of African movies overall is what he refers to as the “and more,” a shared tendency for the films to educate the viewer politically.
“It’s very hard to go see an African film and come out feeling empty-handed, as you do in most Cineplex movies… They’re trying to do entertainment and more, it’s the ‘and more’ that makes them so special,” Sanogo said.
