05/05/2006

One could say that this spring has had a distinctly African feel to it in Belgium, with two African film festivals taking place.

The first was the Festival Afrique Taille XL, whose second edition was held at the end of April. The four-day programme of cinema and other events featured the crème de la crème of African filmmakers, Abderrahmane Sissako (La vie sur terre, Bamako), Mweze Dieudonné Ngangura (Les habits neufs du gouverneur), Jean-Marie Téno (Le malentendu colonial) and Moussa Touré (5 x 5, Nous sommes nombreuses).

Between thematic workshops, critics’ workshops and special screenings, 25 shorts, 19 documentaries – such as those from Jean-Marie Teno or Arlit, deuxième paris – and 23 features, of which six were presented at Cannes (including Heremakono, Hyènes and Yeelen), the festival allowed audiences to rediscover the multiplicity and quality of African cinema.

When Afrique Taille XL came to an end, the AfrikaFilmFestival began in Flanders (Leuven), where it will continue until the end of the week. Representing South African and the Congolese cinema, with retrospectives on the best of African production and several preview screenings, this year the festival is presenting over 90 films (shorts, features and documentaries), which will give audiences an opportunity to discover a broader African cinema, whether the films are made in English, French, or Luso (such as the very beautiful The Murmuring Coast on the colonial war in Mozambique and O Heroi).

In a decision to diversify its screenings, the festival organised the event "Congo Spring" in several Belgian cities, which began in April and will continue until the end of May. This year, the AfrikaFilmFestival published "Images et démocratie, Les Congolais face au cinéma et à l’audiovisuel" by Guido Convents, a book that retraces the country’s socio-cultural history since the 19th century.

(Translated from French)