2010 is going to be a very exciting year for Africa in Motion! This year, 17 African countries are celebrating 50 years of independence from Britain, France and Belgium: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Somalia and Togo. To commemorate 50 years of independence of these countries, AiM10's central theme is Celebrations. We want to celebrate and explore national consciousness and the formation of African nation states as a complex historical fact. As always, we will devote time to constructive discussions and debate in order to create a space for audience members to reflect on the films and what they tell us about nationalism and independence in Africa, as well as on Britain's colonial history and current relationship with its ex-colonies.

We will also celebrate African creativity and the rich diversity of African cultural traditions through showcasing films covering themes such as African music and dance, pre-colonial and contemporary rituals and ceremonies, garments and jewellery used for festivities, culinary traditions, and mask making and wearing. Although our emphasis will firmly be on celebrating Africa, the films screened will resist the exoticisation which Africa so often fall victim to.

Another reason for celebration is AiM's fifth birthday, with the festival having grown into a significant and internationally recognised independent film festival in the short space of five years. We will celebrate AiM's existence as a film festival valuing and giving scope to African filmmakers and their creativity, through which the festival has been able to grow and flourish, along with the vital support of our loyal audiences.

We have not confirmed the dates for AiM10 yet, but it will be, as always, towards the end of October.

Africa in Motion short film competition
For the third year, we are inviting African filmmakers to submit short films of up to 30 minutes for our annual short film competition. In order to target the competition specifically towards young and emerging African film talent, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have completed a feature-length film previously. Films entered must have been completed in 2007 or after. For full details, and to download an entry form, please see: http://www.africa-in-motion.org.uk/shortfilmcomp/


Still from "3SAI: A Rite of Passage" by Paul Emmanuel winner of the 2009 AiM short film competition

Call for African documentaries
We are also inviting African filmmakers to send us documentaries on the theme of celebrations - either on the 50 years of independence of any of the 17 African countries mentioned above, or on other themes celebrating African traditions and cultures. For full details on our call for documentaries, please see: http://www.africa-in-motion.org.uk/callfordocs/

African Animation screenings at Dundee Contemporary Arts


Africa in Motion has teamed up with the Discovery Family Film Club at Dundee Contemporary Arts to bring the African animations films featured in the 2009 AiM festival to Dundee:


Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th Feb 1pm
£2 for children and under 21s, £4 for adults

In this collection of short animations from African filmmakers meet Bovas and Sam, a pair of singing dogs, who are the stars of the music filled Back Yard series. Set in urban South Africa these animations have a lively Kwaito soundtrack. In the Happy Land cartoons Characters Paper, Weight and Float have adventures full of bright colours. And African Tales is a series of short films, currently being shown in Kenyan schools, each of which was made with a local East African artists. Come and see the films that African children have been enjoying on the other side of the world, and share in the fun.

Before the animation screenings on Saturday 6th there will be a storytelling session with Mara Menzies. Mara learnt stories from her grandmother whilst growing up in Kenya and now wants to share them with you!

Storytelling will be at 12 noon on Saturday 6th Feb in the DCA Activity Room and is free with your Africa Animation for Children cinema ticket.

For further info:
http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/discovery-family-film-club-african-animation-for-children.html


Film and Festivals Magazine African Cinema edition


The January edition of Film and Festivals Magazine is all about African cinema! Read the magazine online at: www.filmandfestivals.com. Amongst other articles, AiM co-director Stefanie Van de Peer has contributed an insightful article on the much-neglected region of North African cinema.