Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival Preview

The Annual Tuscaloosa film festival is returning for the 8th consecutive year

The University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences will co-sponsor part one of the Annual Africana Film Festival this Saturday at Central High School’s auditorium.

The event is held annually with the initiative to support education and public health and will have meals available to purchase throughout the night.

This is the 8th consecutive year that the event has been held and will be a two-part event, first featuring two-feature length films and short movies from 6-10 p.m. on Feb. 29.

This Saturday’s event will showcase the feature-length film, “The Mercy of the Jungle”, a French and Swahili spoken film directed by Joel Karekez set at the outbreak of the Second Congo War.

“I think it’s cool how I can see something that the theaters couldn’t give me,” said University of Alabama student Rory Andress.

The short movie, “Razane”, will be shown after. The 15-minute film is in Malagasy with English subtitles and is about a homosexual Parisian who travels to Madagascar to meet with his estranged “in-laws” in order to fulfill the last wishes of his deceased partner.

The festival will conclude with a second event on March. 28 in light of Women’s History Month. This will include women-themed Africana movies, also held at Central High School’s auditorium.

The event is the only time that foreign films are shown locally, outside of Cobb theaters.

UA student Sadie Daigneau said that events like these best benefit those who want to seek our art beyond a mainstream level.

The March event’s feature film, “2 Weeks in Lagos”, is directed by Kathryn Fashega and follows the lives of its protagonists, Ejikeme and Lola.

Next, “enGULFed”, is a Ghanian film looking at modern-day slavery experienced mostly by young migrants from Sub-Saharan, Africa, who embark on dangerous journeys to the Gulf States of the Middle East in search of a better life.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students with ID or can be purchased at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4513132.