MARK TAYLOR takes a look at everything you can expect from this year’s Afrika Eye festival
THE South West’s biggest celebration of African cinema and culture is returning to Bristol, after Covid forced the cancellation of last year’s event. Afrika Eye will take place in a number of new venues for a full week of film, music and spoken word events.
Highlights of the November festival will include the world premiere of Afrika Eye’s first documentary, and an intro to Moroccan ‘gnawa’ music featuring Robert Plant’s and Jah Wobble’s guitarist Justin Adams.
Afrika Eye will be using several new venues in Bristol including The Cube, Easton Community Centre and The Old Picture House in Totterdown, as well as the Curzon cinema in Clevedon.
One of the most eagerly anticipated events of the festival is the first public screening of Rooted in Bristol. The short film by Tay Aziz, which will be screened at the Watershed, celebrates Bristol allotment growers of African heritage who are using their plots to keep alive the African and Afro-Caribbean food traditions of their families.
An opening night gig features guitarist Justin Adams and gimbri maestro Mohammed Errabbaa playing the gnawa sound of Morocco, and showcases new short films by Bristol-based filmmakers Michael Jenkins and Pierre Amiral.
There will also be a pop-up tent where families and children will be able to enjoy a film and story-telling sessions with Kabbo Hue Ferdinand.
Festival director Annie Menter says: “After Covid enforced the cancellation of last year’s festival, Afrika Eye is delighted to be bouncing back with a rich programme designed to engage, entertain and inspire, bringing us together as we explore global issues, including migration, music and politics, gender and climate emergency with Africa the focus. Lives lived and imagined, seen through the eyes of the filmmaker.
“We are particularly thrilled to have renowned guitarist, Justin
Adams and Mohammed Errabbaa bringing the compelling sounds of Moroccan ‘gnawa’ music to the Watershed cafe/bar on our opening night there.”
Afrika Eye Film Festival was founded in 2005 by two Bristol-based film-makers: Zimbabwe-born Simon Bright and Ingrid Sinclair who lived and worked in southern Africa for nearly 20 years.
The festival’s mission is to offer audiences of all ages and backgrounds opportunities to explore the richness of African creativity, culture and history, using film and arts to challenge the stereotypes, dispel the myths and uncover more about the ever-changing social and political landscape of the continent of Africa and diaspora.
Afrika Eye’s full 2021 programme is due to be published in late September. Keep up to date on Afrika Eye’s website