Another Excellent Film to Support & Put on Your Radar, "KINYARWANDA"

If you missed this year’s Bronze Lens Film Festival in Atlanta, GA then you missed out on a plethora of goodies. One in particular was the film that won Best International Film KINYARWANDA, directed by Alrick Brown (Rwanda/USA). 

AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, is pleased to announce that it will open its second film, KINYARWANDA, in theaters on Friday, December 2 in eight cities nationwide. 

During the Rwandan genocide, when neighbors killed neighbors and friends betrayed friends, some crossed lines of hatred to protect each other.

At the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Mufti of Rwanda, the most respected Muslim leader in the country, issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from participating in the killing of the Tutsi. As the country became a slaughterhouse, mosques became places of refuge where Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis came together to protect each other. KINYARWANDA is based on true accounts from survivors who took refuge at the Grand Mosque of Kigali and the madrassa of Nyanza. It recounts how the Imams opened the doors of the mosques to give refuge to the Tutsi and those Hutu who refused to participate in the killing.

KINYARWANDA interweaves six different tales that together form one grand narrative that provides the most complex and real depiction yet presented of human resilience and life during the genocide. With an amalgamation of characters, we pay homage to many, using the voices of a few.

Writer/director Alrick Brown’s compelling feature directorial debut garnered the Sundance Film Festival 2011 Audience Award in the World Cinema Drama category this year, and captured the Grand Prize at the lauded Skip City Film Festival in Japan last week.

KINYARWANDA definitely needs your support once it hits the mainstream theaters. Just like there was a huge success with AFFRM’s inaugural release the award-winning film, I WILL FOLLOW, (which opened March 2011 in more than 20 cities during its seven week run.) The same energy and some needs to go into this film as well!!

If you don’t believe me check out the trailer…

KINYARWANDA will be released in AFFRM’s founding markets: New York (AMC Empire 25), Los Angeles (LAEMMLE Music Hall), Atlanta (AMC Phipps Plaza), Philadelphia (AMC Franklin Mills) and Seattle (Uptown Theater).  In addition, three new opening week cities have been added: Chicago (AMC River East), Washington DC (AMC Hoffman) and San Francisco.

"KINYARWANDA brings the victims and killers together as they seek to find a place of forgiveness in their hearts so that their country can survive and move forward.  This film, although dealing with an intense subject, is not graphic with violence, but full of emotional depth and hope as a country seeks to heal."

To find out more about this engaging and mesmerizing film please check out the website at http://www.kinyarwandamovie.com/ . You will not be disappointed at all!!

Some Sundance Film Festival 2011 Highlights

As you know its Sundance season and all the indie flicks are hitting the stage for the masses to come and see. I have highlighted a few that I personally would like to see and some that just might surprise us and get some nationwide pub, its happened before!! Take a look and see what Sundance has to offer for the indie lover!

 
*Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
-Michael Rapaport 2011
Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip-hop bands of all time, A Tribe Called Quest has kept a generation hungry for more of its groundbreaking music since the group’s much-publicized breakup in 1998. The band shaped a unique sound by wedding jazz-infused musicscapes to Afrocentric rhymes espousing unity and community. Its music became the anthem for cool and broke down barriers for people who had never before connected with hip-hop. In spite of unparalleled artistic success, however, the group encountered pitfalls that eventually caused its tumultuous breakup.
Beats, Rhymes & Life, the feature directorial debut of acclaimed actor Michael Rapaport, documents the inner workings and behind-the-scenes drama that follow the band even today and explores what's next for a group many claim are the pioneers of alternative rap. Rapaport’s passion for his subjects allows them to open up to the camera, resulting in a remarkably honest, emotional portrait that does justice to this seminal band.

Film Contact

Edward Parks, Rival Pictures
Email: edparks@rivalpictures.net

*An African Election
 -Jarreth Merz 2010
In a world plagued by stolen elections, secret government agendas, and a renewed interest in the exploitation of African natural resources, what value does democracy offer, particularly in the tumultuous region of West Africa? For Ghana, a nation that has been Africa’s barometer of political stability, democracy may mean the difference between peace and prosperity—and murderous chaos under military coup.
An African Election is a remarkable documentary that grants viewers unprecedented access to the anatomy of Ghana’s 2008 presidential elections. Capturing the intrigue of electioneering, the intensity of the vote-counting process, and the mood of the countrymen whose fate lies precariously in the balance, director Jarreth Merz’s coverage unfolds with all the tension of a political thriller, revealing the emotions, passions, and ethical decisions that both threaten—and maintain—the integrity of the democratic process. An African Election illuminates a beacon of hope for Africa and for the value and vitality of democracy today.

Film Contact

Jarreth Merz, Urban Republic
Email: info@urbanrepublic.org

*All Your Dead Ones
-Carlos Moreno 2010
In this eerie and fantastically shot tragicomic satire, an ordinary farmer’s morning routine is interrupted when he makes a grim discovery in the middle of his cornfield—a huge pile of dead bodies. Aghast, he reports the mysterious massacre on what happens to be Election Day. When the small-town mayor and police lieutenant take notice, fearful of unleashing a public scandal, they stall and intimidate the farmer and his family. Meanwhile, the sun beats down, and the eerie corpses remain, refusing to be ignored.
All Your Dead Ones unspools a disquieting allegory, a silent indictment of Colombia’s ongoing civil war. The imagery and sound, crafted with unsettling intensity, illustrate a frightening crisis of social conscience. Tinged with mordant surrealism, director Carlos Moreno’s return to Sundance (Perro Come Perro screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival) demonstrates a rare ability to transcend genre and a remarkable storytelling vigor, anchored within a haunting and arresting visual motif.
Film Contact
Diego Ramírez
Email: diego@64afilms.com

*The Guard
-John Michael McDonagh 2010
Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a salty village cop in Ireland, has a subversive sense of humor, a caustic wit, and an uncanny knack for keeping people at arm’s length. When a straitlaced FBI agent chasing an international drug-smuggling ring hits town, Boyle has no intention of letting the arrival disrupt his routine of hookers and wisecracks. Initially, he relishes offending and ridiculing the agent, but a murder and a series of peculiar events draw the reluctant sergeant into the investigation.
John Michael McDonagh’s crisply written debut feature transcends the rules of the buddy cop comedy, wryly offering genuine humor and thrills against an unexpectedly moving portrait of its protagonist. Brendan Gleeson’s beguiling portrayal of Boyle defies easy definition as hero or buffoon, hinting instead at the lonely, intelligent man behind the sharp retorts. The Guard is a clever, fresh character study, as well as a snappy joyride of an action comedy.

Film Contact

Chris Clark
Email: chris@reprisalfilms.com

*Another Happy Day 
- Sam Levinson 2011
A wedding at her parents’ Annapolis estate hurls high-strung Lynn into the fire of primal, Byzantine family dynamics. It’s the wedding of Lynn’s son, whom she was deprived of raising because of her acrimonious divorce, and a feud still rages between Lynn and her ex-husband’s hot-tempered wife. Meanwhile, the three children Lynn did raise display a panoply of disturbing behaviors like cutting and drug addiction, which Lynn’s mother and sisters alternately ridicule and blame her for. As Lynn attempts catharsis, her mother sweeps issues under the rug, but painful truths bubble and spurt. Clan members deploy ricocheting arrows to protect themselves—and wound others—as the fine lines between victims and perpetrators blur.

Film Contact

Celine Rattray, Mandalay Vision
Phone: (212) 725-3550
Email: celiner@mandalay.com

*The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

-Gail Dolgin, Robin Fryday 2010

An African American barber in Birmingham, Alabama, experiences the fulfillment of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president.
Film Contact
Robin Fryday, Purposeful Productions, Inc.
Email: tgirfryday@aol.com

*Becoming Chaz
-Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato 2010
Chaz Bono was a male trapped in a female shell for as long as he can remember. Growing up as Sonny and Cher’s adorable golden-haired daughter in a body he felt wasn’t his own was a crucible it took years to transcend. Now, as he undertakes gender reassignment, he’s bravely decided to share the process on camera. Becoming Chaz invites us along on Chaz’s remarkable journey of transformation. As hormone shots give way to top surgery, down-to-earth, unflappable Chaz beams with a sense of liberation and goes public with his story to put a face on a misunderstood issue. Meanwhile, his gregarious girlfriend grapples with the realities of suddenly living with a man, and it’s clear sex change isn’t solely a physical transition. Intimate and nakedly honest, the film reveals the humanity and courage it takes for Chaz to ultimately embrace his true self. His moving struggle will reverberate profoundly for anyone to whom authenticity matters.

Film Contact

Mona Card, World Of Wonder
Email: mcard@worldofwonder.net

For more information about the festival and to check out more films, please go to http://www.sundance.org/festival/