Shorts Program 4: In the Arms of the Mother
New York African Film Festival 2025
May 7 - 13, 2025
This program of short films by and/or about African women includes Kagure N. Kabue’s Iron Fist, Anil Padia and Michael Mwangi Maina’s Temple Road, Dika Ofoma’s God’s Wife, Zoé Cauwet’s Le Grand Calao, Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda’s We Will Be Who We Are, and Mariame N’diaye’s Sira.
This program of short films by and/or about African women includes Mariame N’diaye’s Sira, Anil Padia and Michael Mwangi Maina’s Temple Road, Dika Ofoma’s God’s Wife, Kagure N. Kabue’s Iron Fist, Zoé Cauwet’s Le Grand Calao, and Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda’s We Will Be Who We Are.
Sira
Mariame N’diaye, 2023, France, 24m
Soninké and French with English subtitles
New York Premiere
To stay with her daughter and her husband, a young Malian woman living in France in the 1980s has to abide by one condition.
Temple Road
Anil Padia, Michael Mwangi Maina, 2024, France/Kenya, 13m
Swahili with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Inspired by childhood experiences of women-only ceremonies and family Polaroids from the 1950s to the 1970s, Temple Road recreates the spiritual and ritualistic preparation of a woman. Weaving a dreamlike narrative, it blends rituals from Kenyan Indian heritage with diverse Kenyan cultures, reflected in a multicultural cast and interwoven ceremonies. Emphasizing the reverence women deserve as the pillars of society, the film is both a tribute to the past and a call to recognize women as bearers of culture, tradition, and life amidst rising violence against women in Kenya.
God’s Wife
Dika Ofoma, 2024, Nigeria, 15m
Igbo with English subtitles
North American Premiere
A young widow is propositioned by her late husband’s brother. When she refuses his advances, he threatens to have her ousted from her husband’s home, and she has to reconcile her personal convictions and Catholic beliefs with her in-laws’ demands.
Iron Fist
Kagure N. Kabue, 2024, Kenya, 15m
Swahili with English subtitles
In Nairobi’s bustling streets, hardworking mother Wangari, haunted by trauma, discovers empowerment in a local boxing gym. Her unexpected journey sparks a transformative rebirth, fostering resilience and a thriving spirit amid life’s fiercest battles.
Le Grand Calao
Zoé Cauwet, 2024, France/Burkina Faso, 27m
Mooré and French with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
It’s a hot day, as it often is in Ouagadougou. It’s also a very special day for a group of women taking a long-awaited getaway, a moment of discovery, and a break from the hustle and bustle of the world and their lives. A few tourists are there too, a wealthy family from Burkina Faso is lounging around, and a few soldiers are watching over the place. It’s a small world that moves slowly around the Grand Calao’s swimming pool. Until sunset, the women spend a moment out of time, talking about their lives and their problems, while exploring the new sensation of their bodies in the calm blue water.
We Will Be Who We Are
Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda, 2024, Sierra Leone, 16m
World Premiere
In Sierra Leone, best friends Aya and Boi decide to marry each other in an attempt to escape society’s pressures to conform.
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