Many thanks to the organizers of the film festival. It was a really enjoyable evening last night. We came to see the Youssou N'Dour movie and it was a very interesting story of the reuniting of West African music and Jazz . The music was so beautiful and the message an important one.

A tip of the hat to St Paul's Church and Uptown Crew for pulling this off where our city's museum so sadly failed.

TODAY:
African Leaders Program

3pm Franz Fanon: His Life, His Struggle, His Work
Martinique/France/Algeria/Tunisia, 2001, 52 minutes
Documentary (French, with English Subtitles)
.and.
Amilcar Cabral

5pm Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory and Torment
Brazil, 2001, 100 minutes
Drama (Portuguese with English subtitles)

DVD Launch Today
NEW 2-DVD SET DEPICTS THE LIFE OF BRAZILIAN SCULPTOR ANT?NIO FRANCISCO LISBOA (ALEIJADINHO)
AND TAKES A CRITICAL LOOK AT BRAZILIAN SOAP OPERAS
With Reception

Sean Sawyer, Director of White Boy Brown, was interviewed last night by Nick Ciavatta. Check it out:

http://www.frigginfabulousradio.com/home.html

Three films today. Come on over.

More information at the NY African Diaspora International Film Festival website.

Parking, yes. In the St. Dominick's lot at Duncan and Kennedy.
See you there.

I've been to this in past years at JC Museum- really good.

Is there parking?

I found more info at the web site
http://www.nyadff.org/JerseyCity_11.html

7TH ANNUAL AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL- JERSEY CITY - JAN 14-16, 2011

FRIDAY, JAN 14

6PM Opening Night Reception

7PM
WHITE BOY BROWN
Jersey City Premiere
Armed with only a very important letter, Curtis Brown, a young black man embarks on the most difficult journey of his life, a journey that will force him to confront his own demons of hatred and prejudice, while rediscovering a love, long lost for his adopted white brother Johnny. Through a series of flashbacks and stories, Curtis learns of the life of a brother he once knew, a life of a brother who, although being white, experienced the same racism he himself experienced, ultimately binding the two together. USA, 2009, 88 min, drama, English, Sean Sawyer dir.
Q&A WITH DIRECTOR AFTER THE SCREENING.

SATURDAY, JAN 15 @ 3PM

NO TIME TO DIE
Jersey City Premiere
A hearse driver meets and falls in love with a young, beautiful dancer who is planning an elaborate homegoing celebration for her mother. This comedy follows the hearse driver as he does everything to win the affection of the young woman. Ghana/West Germany, 2006, 95 minutes, Comedy (English), King Ampaw, Director

SATURDAY, JAN 15 @ 5PM

SHADOWS OF THE LYNCHING TREE
Jersey City Premiere
The shrouded history of lynching in America is the subject of a powerful new documentary from producer/director Carvin Eison. During the late 19th and much of the 20th century, countless numbers of African-Americans were murdered at the end of a rope. In the age of Obama, have we reconciled this misshapen history or does its legacy live on? ?Let sleeping dogs lie?? is a way of saying leave that certain thing alone, it could hurt you. Shadows of the Lynching Tree kicks the sleeping dog and awakens a troublesome past. The dog is awake, will we finally confront the beast or does it return to an uneasy slumber?? USA, 2009, 60 minutes, Documentary (English), Carvin Eison, Director
Q&A WITH DIRECTOR AFTER THE SCREENING.


SATURDAY, JAN 15 @ 7PM

YOUSSOU N'DOUR: RETURN TO GOREE
A musical road movie, Youssou N'Dour: Return to Gor?e follows Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour's historical journey tracing the trail left by slaves and the jazz music they created. Youssou N'Dour's challenge is to bring back to Africa a jazz repertoire of his own songs to perform a concert in Gor?e, the island that today symbolizes the slave trade and stands to honor its victims. Senegal/Switzerland/Luxembourg, 2006, 108 minutes, Musical Documentary (English and French with English subtitles), Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, Director

SUNDAY, JAN 16 @ 3:00PM

AFRICAN LEADERS PROGRAM

FRANTZ FANON: HIS LIFE, HIS STRUGGLE, HIS WORK
Jersey City Premiere
Frantz Fanon was a psychiatrist, originally from Martinique, who became a spokesman for the Algerian revolution against French colonialism. Embittered by his experience with racism in the French Army, he gravitated to radical politics, Sartrean existentialism and the philosophy of black consciousness known as negritude. His 1952 book, Black Skin, White Masks, offers a penetrating analysis of racism and of the ways in which it is internalized by its victims. While secretly aiding the rebels of the Algerian anti-colonial war as a doctor in Algeria, Fanon cared for victims and perpetrators alike, producing case notes that shed invaluable light on the psychic traumas of colonial war. Expelled from Algeria in 1956, Fanon moved to Tunis where he wrote for El Moudjahid, the rebel newspaper, founded Africa's first psychiatric clinic, and wrote several influential books on decolonization. The film traces the short and intense life of one of the great thinkers of the 20th century. Martinique/France/Algeria/Tunisia, 2001, 52 minutes, Documentary (French with English subtitles), Cheikh Djemai, Director

Followed by
AMILCAR CABRAL
Jersey City Premiere
Amilcar Cabral was the leader of the Liberation Movement of Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau and the founder of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC). He was born in Guinea in 1924 and assassinated in Conakry in 1973. Regarded as a true icon of African history, this documentary provides considerable background to this revolutionary giant and reveals Cabral in several dimensions: as a man, a father, politician, humanist and poet. The documentary is skillfully produced and uses a wealth of rare archive footage, balanced inclusion of varied testimonies of important African personalities and the credible recreation of notable episodes of Cabral's life. Cape Verde/Portugal, 2001, 52 minutes, Historical Documentary (Portuguese with English subtitles), Ana Ramos Lisboa, Director


SUNDAY, JAN 16 @ 5PM

ALEIJADINHO: PASSION, GLORY AND TORMENT
Set in 19th century Brazil at a time when slavery was still at the foundation of the Latin American economy, this fascinating historical drama is loosely based on the life of sculptor Antonio Francisco Lisboa ("Aleijadinho"), one of Latin America?s greatest sculptors. Brazil, 2001, 100 minutes, Drama (Portuguese with English subtitles), Geraldo Santos Pereira, Director

Screening followed by a DVD launch reception: Come celebrate with us the launching of the 2-DVD set:
RACE AND HISTORY IN BRAZIL.

TICKETS: $15 Opening Night (includes
_________ reception)
$9 Regular per film
$7 Seniors/Students per film
$35 Weekend Pass
$20 Saturday all day
$15 Sunday all day

WHERE:__St. Paul's Episcopal Church
38 Duncan Avenue
(201) 332-6824
SECURE YOUR SEAT TODAY!
CLICK HERE http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=214587TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE

We only accept CASH at the door.

DVDs of films from Africa and the African Diaspora will be on sale at the theater. $15 per DVD; $25 for 2 DVD; $30 for three DVD and $10 for each additional DVD. Cash only.

For 18 years the NY African Diaspora International Film Festival has been showing the best of films relating to the global reach of the African emigrant experience. This is the 7th annual NYADIFF in Jersey City, and Uptown Crewis proud to collaborate to present this program in the heart of Jersey City.

This coming Friday through Sunday, January 14-16.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
38 Duncan Avenue
between Bergen Avenue and JFK Boulevard

Opening Reception, Friday, January 14
Director Q&As
DVD Launch
Flexible pricing

Click here for map.

THE CREW IS YOU.