Film Restorations

More attention than ever is being paid to women’s roles in the global film industries. Likewise, the awareness of white privilege within the feminist movement is growing, and so women in African cinema rightly demand their screen time ever more forcefully. Africa in Motion Film Festival has contributed to these new waves in cinema by restoring, subtitling, digitising and screening three essential feminist African films as part of the Africa's Lost Classics project. 

AFRICAN WOMEN's FILMS: NEW WAYS OF SEEING ‘OLD’ FILMS

With these restorations and by making the films more widely available in the UK, we want to readdress the canon, its white male dominance and euro-centric nature; we bring attention to the role of African women in film histories; and encourage more diversity on UK cinema screens.

Since 2017 we have continued to tour these  films throughout the UK, as they are of such importance that they deserve more attention in the English-speaking world. FATMA 75 by Selma Baccar (Tunisia, 1975) has never existed with English subtitles and had never been screened to audiences in the UK before November 2017. FLAME by Ingrid Sinclair (Zimbabwe, 1996) is a powerful statement of women’s contributions to independence struggles. Through our restoration and digitisation of these films, we brought rare opportunities to audiences to see these films for what they are: pioneering masterpieces that we must no longer miss out on.

“We admire what Scorsese and the World Cinema Foundation have been doing with their restorations of African classics, which has focused entirely on men’s films – which is important – but we wanted to broaden the scope and restore some seminal women’s films.”

The films and the festival have been F-Rated, as Africa in Motion has always paid special attention to women’s films: since 2006 particular attention has been paid to an appropriate representation of women in African cinema. More than a third of the films we have screened at the festival overall have been director by women; a decent proportion when we consider that only 12% or so directors worldwide are women. 


 

Fatma 75 Screenings

  1. Africa in Motion Film Festival | Filmhouse, Edinburgh | 1 Nov 2017
  2. Zanzibar International Film Festival, Stone Town, Tanzania: 10 July 2018 
  3. Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia: 12 August 2018
  4. London Feminist Film Festival, UK: 16 Aug 2018 
  5. International Women’s Film Festival, Salé, Morocco: 24-29 Sept 2018
  6. American Film Institute, AFI Silver, Washington, USA: 8 Nov 2018 
  7. FemspectivesGlasgow, Scotland: 18 Jan 2019 
  8. Watch-Africa, Cardiff, Wales: 7 March 2019
  9. Open Colour, Brighton, UK: April 2019

 

Flame Screenings

  1. Africa in Motion Film Festival | Glasgow Women's Library | 2 Nov 2017
  2. Watch Africa Film Festival | Temple of Peace, Cardiff, Wales | 9 Nov 2017
  3. Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia: 15 August 2018