POLAND: An African film festival is touring Poland to raise awareness and educate audiences on the African continent

Record ID: 456085

  • Title: POLAND: An African film festival is touring Poland to raise awareness and educate audiences on the African continent
  • Date: 18th May 2007
  • Summary: FESTIVAL ORGANIZER MILKA STEPIEN TALKING IN CINEMA STEPIEN AUDIENCE SITTING MAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) FESTIVAL ORGANIZER MILKA STEPIEN, SAYING: "Both me and my brother were born in Africa and for this reason that we feel very connected to the continent. One of the problems that we've noticed in Poland is that not many people know what Poland is like. Most of the information that they get is from films that are from the perspective of Europeans about Africa. And it is very well that you see the other perspective, the inside perspective of the people who actually live there, who have the possibility of making the films. I think that African cinematography is an up and coming thing thing. It definitely going to be something very big in the near future."
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Reuters ID: LVAA8VHYJU230C234LXMUUA1AB4W
  • Story Text: Residents in Lodz have been given the opportunity to learn about the African continent from the travelling AfryKamera film festival, which shows African feature films, documentaries and shorts.
    On its second visit to the city, AfryKamera film festival features films from around Africa including films from South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Angola and Zimbabwe, to name a few.
    Milka Stepien is a Pole born in Africa, and fascinated by the continent. She organized the festival to bring an African perspective on Africa to screens in Poland.
    "Both me and my brother were born in Africa and for this reason that we feel very connected to the continent. One of the problems that we've noticed in Poland is that not many people know what Poland is like. Most of the information that they get is from films that are from the perspective of Europeans about Africa. And it is very well that you see the other perspective, the inside perspective of the people who actually live there, who have the possibility of making the films. I think that African cinematography is an up and coming thing thing. It definitely going to be something very big in the near future," said Milka Stepien, one of the organisers of the festival.
    South Africa ambassador Febe Potgieter-Gqubule said the festival films subject matter concerned African life and not only problems that were specific to the continent.
    "The types of films that we chose, this is the second year that the AfryKamera Film Festival is running, doesn't just focus on the problems. It also look at another aspects of African life, where it is how people interact, how they deal with growing up, how they deal with falling in love, how they deal with relationships between in communities and family. So it deals with the problems, some of the problems are universal. It also deals with specific problems of the African continent. So I think that's what makes it so interesting African cinematography at this point so interesting because it deals with not just the normal things but it gives a broad perspective of the continent which audiences don't often see," she said.
    Films screening at the festival include 'U Carmen' a South African adaptation of Bizet's opera 'Carmen' which is set in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town. It won the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005.
    Yannik Muller, a young director whose film, 'Congo Na Biso', is showing at the festival felt it was important for stories in Africa to be told.
    "I think it's important, because you can see that more and more people are interested about the story of Africa. Because they realize that our own story has a link with Africa and most of people are wondering why does Africa has so many problems actually. And so, so it's important to communicate about it, to show the stories of these countries and to explain the difficulties they had and for people to understand and maybe to be more tolerant about it and well, just to understand this, " he said.
    The 2007 edition of Afrykamera which started kicked off in Warsaw on April 12 will visit Torun, Lublin and Poznan as part of its nationwide tour of Poland.
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