The Best of the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) is back from January 15th to 18th, 2020.
With a selection of some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films showcased in ADIFF NYC 2020.
Screenings will be held virtually at NYADIFF.org
Several films that made the cut go back into history:
Opening Night film, St. Louis Blues by Allen Resiner, is the 1958 classic film broadly based on the life of W. C. Handy and featuring Nat ‘King’ Cole, Eartha Kitt, Pearl Bailey, and Juano Hernandez.
It was presented in ADIFF 2020 in the program Juano Hernandez, an Afro-Latino Actor in Hollywood about the Puerto Rican who became the first Afro-Latino actor to work in Hollywood.
Best South African Film winner at the 2019 Durban International Film Festival and ADIFF 2020 Centerpiece film, Back of the Moon by Oscar-nominated South African director Angus Gibson (Mandela) is a period drama set in 1958 Sophiatown that tells the story of a brief encounter between local gangster Badman and Eve, a beautiful singer, on the eve of his home being demolished by Apartheid police.
The Cuba-Mali Connection / Africa Mia by Richard Minier and Edouard Salieris is a musical documentary about ten young promising musicians from Mali sent to Cuba in 1964 to study music and developed a revolutionary new sound mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms with traditional African music.
Kafe Negro tells the story of migrations around a small grain that has become the second most important raw material on the global market.
This film tells the story of the waves of migration of Haitian workers who, over time, have profoundly transformed the culture and demography of Cuba and allowed the development of coffee growing on the island.
Wagner Moura’s Marighella, Best of ADIFF Guest Film currently censored in Brazil, is a Brazilian action drama set in 1969 based on the life of Afro-Brazilian politician and guerrilla fighter Carlos Marighella.
Facing a violent military dictatorship and with little support from a timid opposition, writer-turned-politician Carlos Marighella organizes a resistance movement.
Narrated by former United States Attorney General Eric Holder whose father is from Barbados, the Errol Barrow docudrama Barrow: Freedom Fighter tells the story of The Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow who successfully led Barbados to independence on November 30th, 1966 after more than 300 years as a British colony.
The Best of ADIFF also brings back the Winner and Runner Up in the Public Award competition for the Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color:
Finding Sally is a personal investigation into the mysterious life of the director’s Aunt Sally, an Ethiopian aristocrat-turned-communist-rebel who disappeared after the revolution that led to the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Forgiveness For Whom? is a captivating film about the clash of cultures and customs.
A couple in an arranged marriage must face the reality of what true love is and is not when a love interest from the outside threatens the very foundation of their lives.
Other Highlights Include:
Check out the entire line up here
ADIFF 2020 Closing Night film Lil’ Buck, Real Swan by Louis Wallecan, a comprehensive documentary about Charles “Lil Buck” Riley who learned the smooth art of Memphis jookin and transformed it through his experience in the ballet world to become one of the greatest contemporary dancers in the world.
The Esmeraldas Beach by Patrice Raynal, a documentary that sets out to expose the invisibility of Afro-Ecuadorians and rectify the narrative of the country’s history.
Among other stories is that of the 1999 assassination of Prime Minister Jaime Hurtado, the first Black to hold that office.
The African Diaspora International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization.
Best of the 28th Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival from $7. Festival pass $60
Photo credit: Lil’ Buck from Wikipedia.
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