Q&A with Yusuf Kapadia, Sewra Kidane, Djali Brown-Cepeda, Djibril Drame, Mamedjarra Diop, Tim Naylor, Zainab Jah, Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood

A selection of shorts made by filmmakers of African descent living in New York.

A Christmas Mission, Sierra Leone
Tim Naylor, U.S., 2017, 10m
World Premiere
During the Christmas season, Dr. Hawanatu Jah organized a medical mission to help the poor in Sierra Leone. In four days, with only four volunteer doctors from Europe and Africa, they treated over 600 patients and performed over 20 surgeries. This film shows how the passion of one inspires good health and hope for many.

Larabilaran: Le Talibé et moi
Djibril Drame and Mamedjarra Diop, Senegal/U.S., 2016, 26m
English, French, and Wolof with English subtitles
This film explores social and economic inequality in Dakar through the life of Seydina, a talibé (or student of the Qur’an), who negotiates his identity and relationship with Mariama, a well-educated and privileged girl.

Mamadou Warma: Deliveryman
Yusuf Kapadia, U.S., 2017, 9m
New York Premiere
Mamadou Warma escaped political persecution in Burkina Faso and came to the United States for a new lease on life. He now earns his living as a NYC bicycle deliveryman. A daylong journey alongside Warma reveals a man who looks optimistically toward his future, despite being an underpaid immigrant in a wealthy metropolis.

A Pesar de su Ausencia
Djali Brown-Cepeda, U.S., 2017, 8m
New York Premiere
In 1978 New York, one girl in a city of eight million, finds herself. Follow her journey.

Proclamation Punctuation
Sewra Kidane, U.S., 2016/2017, 5m
In this enthralling fashion film, a fabulously fascinating woman recites a short soliloquy paying homage to her love of exclamation points. Periods are so period, whereas an exclamation point livens up a sentence! There is simply nothing worse than a long dragged-out sentence ending in an uninspiring dull dot! So, when exclamation points are your philosophy on life, one must always keep it on the upbeat!

Via New York
Kagendo Murungi, U.S./Kenya, 1995, 10m
Drawing from memory and narrative, Via New York explores the politicization of African students in New York and the participation of South African lesbians and gays in the anti-apartheid movement. The film illustrates how both migration and the pursuit of formal education can function as catalysts for self-transformation and social change.

word: collected poetry
Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood, U.S., 2017, 17m
The videos in this anthology of spoken word poems brought to life were adapted from the work of four poets living in New York City. Together, the collection explores an abundance of systematic and human complexities, as well as the everyday realities of being young and black.