Category: PAFF

Bigman Wahala

Bigman Wahala (PAFF 2020)
Narrative/Ghana/101min/2019
Director: Daniel Adjokatcher

A corrupt government minister tries to escape the military in the aftermath of a coup d’etat. He enlists the help of a poor struggling taxi driver to take him to the border. Their conversations and encounters during their journey reveal much about themselves and the events leading up to that point. A road movie like no other. Stars Oscar Provencal, one of Ghana’s finest actors. Nominee, Best First Feature, PAFF 2020

Back of the Moon

Back of the Moon
Narrative/South Africa/96min/2018
Director: Angus Gibson

The date July 28, 1958. Tomorrow, legions of police will force the residents of Gerty Street, Sophiatown out of their homes and they will be trucked to a desolate township, ten miles outside of Johannesburg. Badman, an intellectual and the leader of the most powerful gang in Sophiatown, lives life on his own terms in this crazy, cosmopolitan, half-demolished ghetto on the edge of Johannesburg. The gorgeous Eve Msomi, a torch-singer on the brink of an international career, is giving her last concert in the local hall before she travels to London. Refusing to face the bleak reality of Black South African life, Badman has decided that when the police come, he will not move and will fight to the death for his home. But fate thrusts Eve, whom he has loved from a distance, into his orbit. A stylishly beautiful film with a great soundtrack that captures the mood, the violence, and yes, the beauty in apartheid South Africa. Best South African Feature Film, Durban International Film Festival 2019; Best International Narrative Feature, Black Film Festival Montreal 2020

41st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers

1st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers (PAFF 2010)
Documentary/US/130min/2010
Director: Gregory Everett

The first of a two-part documentary follows the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party from its glorious Black Power beginnings through to its tragic demise. Despite the Party’s formation of free medical clinics and a successful children’s breakfast program, the L.A. chapter was known as the most violent Black political group in the United States. Through interviews and archival footage, this must-see film explores the Black Panther ethos, its conflict with the L.A.P.D. and the US Organization as well as the events that shaped its complicated and often contradictory legacy. Detailing the history of racism in Los Angeles and the communities response, it includes a historical analysis of the Watt’s uprising from the perspective of the participants, the formation of the Party as told by the original surviving members, and an eyewitness account of the Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins murders at UCLA in 1968. Featuring are interviews with Black Panther Party leaders Geronimo Ji Jagga, Elaine Brown, Ericka Huggins, Roland & Ronald Freeman, Wayne Pharr, Jeffrey Everett, Long John Washington, and Muhammad Mubarak, as well as, former L.A.P.D. Chief Bernard Parks, US Organization member Wesley Kabaila, UCLA Professor Scot Brown, and many others.

Audience Award Documentary Feature Film, PAFF 2010

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, BlackDeath

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death (PAFF 2005)
Documentary/Belgium/Australia/Canada/Denmark/Finland/France/Germany/Nethe rlands/UK/92min/2003
Director: Peter Bate

A visually stunning docudrama revealing the true story of the terror and shocking brutality implemented by King Leopold II of Belgium as he created a wealthy empire by turning the Congo into a brutal labor camp for the harvest of rubber, resulting in the death and maiming of over 10 million people between 1885 and 1908. Documentary Honorable Mention, 2005 PAFF

Love Jacked

Love Jacked (PAFF 2018)
Narrative/Canada/South Africa/100min/2017
Director: Alfons Adetuyi

LOVE JACKED is a sophisticated small-town Romantic Comedy centered around Maya, a headstrong 28-year-old with artistic ambitions, and her father Ed, who wants a dutiful daughter to run the family store. Ed is shocked when Maya, asserting her independence, decides to travel to Africa for inspiration and returns with a fiancé who is not quite what he seems. Stars Amber Stevens-West, Shamier Anderson, Keith David, Mike Epps, Demetrius Grosse, Lyriq Bent, Marla Gibbs, Angela Gibbs, Nicole Lyn. Programmers’ Award-Narrative Feature, PAFF 2018

STATEMENT FROM PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL ON THE DEATH OF SIR SIDNEY POITIER

Ayuko Babu and Sir Sidney Poitier at the 2002 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Ayuko Babu and Sir Sidney Poitier at the 2002 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Ayuko Babu and Sir Sidney Poitier at the 2002 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES — Ayuko Babu, co-founder and executive director of the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), released the following statement about the death of the trailblazing actor, director, and activist Sir Sidney Poitier.

"Mr. Poitier was a loud voice letting the world know who we are when Jim Crow tried to muzzle us. He portrayed his people with dignity and integrity, setting a standard of consciousness in Hollywood that elevated the roles available to Black actors. His iconic films such as “Lilies of the Field,” "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," “To Sir, With Love,” and “In the Heat of the Night” opened the door for today's Black actors to demand roles that portray the Black experience with pride, and for that, we will always love him and be grateful. His life and work will continue to be an inspiration throughout generations. Our condolences to his family and loved ones. We all share in this tremendous loss.”

 

About the Pan African Film Festival

Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon), the late Ja’Net DuBois (“Good Times”), and Ayuko Babu (Executive Director), the Pan African Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression.

PAFF is the largest and most prestigious Black film festival in the U.S. and attracts local, national, and international audiences. It is also one of America’s largest Black History Month events.

Find the Pan African Film Festival on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paffnow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paffnow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paffnow
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePanAfricanFilmFestival
The PAFF is generously supported by the City of Los Angeles, the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts and Culture, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Los Angeles Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.

For more information, please contact press@paff.org.