Afrika Eye showcases stories from the south, east, west and north of Africa

Afrika Eye - Bristol’s annual celebration of African cinema and culture - will visit all points on Africa’s compass and beyond when it returns to Bristol from November 14 to 22 with a programme of screenings and events taking in street art, architecture, chess, politics, music, food and folklore.  

The festivals full line-up is now available to book via www.afrikaeye.org.uk and will include:

• On Tuesday 14 November, a screening at The Cube, Dove Street South, of WHO I AM NOT (Dir Tunde Skovran, 2023, 1hr 43mins), an award-winning documentary telling the heartfelt and moving stories of two South Africans learning to live with being among the 2% of people worldwide classed as intersex. Plus Kialy Tihngang’s British Council-funded project, Toghu, combining animation, traditional Cameroon embroidery and the views of LGBTQ+ Cameroonians. 

• On Wednesday 15 November, ‘Afrika Eye Winter Warmer’ at the Coexist Community Kitchen, Easton, a new chance to see Afrika Eye’s home grown documentary ROOTED IN BRISTOL, about local allotment gardeners of African heritage, and chat informally over tasty dishes made from allotment produce.  

• On Thursday 16 November, as a follow-on to an after-hours opening of Arnolfini’s autumn exhibition featuring the found materials work of Ethiopian artist Elias Sime, a screening of SYSTEM K (Renaud Barret, 2019, 1hr 34mins), documenting the different ways in which artists in Kinshasa, DRC, are using the debris of city life, including bullet casings, bottle tops, plastic waste and much more to take art into the streets. With a live post-screening online interview with director Renauld Barret. 

• On Friday 17 November, at Trinity Community Arts, a screening of the internationally-feted NEPTUNE FROST (Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, 2021, 1hr 45mins), set in Burundi and described as an Afrofuturist romantic musical, with poetic response from Shakara and conversation with young black artists to follow. 

• On Saturday 18 November, a full day of screenings at Watershed, beginning with the family-friendly true-life story QUEEN OF KATWE (Mira Noir, 2016, 124 mins), about a poor Ugandan girl who dreams of becoming a chess grandmaster. The programme then continues with the Berlin Film Festival winning SIRA (Appoline Traoré, 2023, 122mins), a gripping story of courage and survival centred on a young Faluni woman whose family is attacked in The Sahel on their way to her wedding. Next up is SING MY SISTER, a music-rich trilogy celebrating how music and dance is empowering women in Mozambique plus a post screening ‘in conversation’ with director Karen Boswall. Watershed’s Afrika Eye day finishes with the SW regional premiere of the Sundance Festival prize-winning MAMI WATA (C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, 2023, 1hr 47 mins), a supernatural thriller, shot mostly in Benin, inspired by folk myths from Nigeria about the power of revered water goddess and then it’s over to the café-bar for live music from Moroccan Gnawa maestro Mohamed Errebbaa & the six-piece band Tagna Groove. 

• On Sunday 19 November, the festival partners with the Curzon, Clevedon, for a screening of “W.I.T.C.H (We Intend to Cause Havoc) (Gio Arlotta 2019 89 mins) an award winning and joyous music documentary, spotlighting Zambia’s most popular rock band of the 1970s and how its lead singer channels Mick Jagger. To accompany the film, there’ll be music from DJ Collective KaBoom & the option to try African flavours cooked by non-profit caterers Houria.

• Afrika Eye 2023 will wrap on Wednesday 22 November with an event in collaboration with Design West at The Architect, Narrow Quay, celebrating the work of Burkino Faso born architect and social activist Diébédo Francis Kéré  - the first black African architect to win the prestigious Pritzker prize in 2022. The event will include a screening of AN ARCHITECT BETWEEN (Daniel Schwartz, 2016, 19 mins), plus several shorts looking at the breadth of Kéré’s work,  ranging from a mud brick school and furniture echoing traditional African designs to London’s Serpentine Gallery and the National Assembly of Mali.    

Afrika Eye’s director Annie Menter says: “Festival Producer Esther Afikiruweh and I are delighted to be bringing our 2023 selection of films from and about Afrika to venues across Bristol this November.  Films that dig deep into political issues, transcend the mundane, highlight the creative spirit and touch hearts and minds. We’ll have insightful interviews with directors, panel discussions and ‘in conversations’ to give context and breadth to our screenings and, as always, offer audiences the chance to have their say.”

Afrika Eye is made possible thanks to the financial support of the BFI awarding funds from the National Lottery.