AiM film festival celebrates independent Africa

10 Aug 2010

Africa in Motion (AiM), a UK-based African film festival, is taking place from 21 October to 5 November 2010 at Edinburgh's Filmhouse Cinema and other venues across the city. This year's festival takes as its main theme 'Celebrations', in commemoration of 50 years of independence of 17 African countries, as well as celebrating the fifth birthday of the festival.

AiM film festival celebrates independent Africa

The festival will feature more than 70 films - fiction features, shorts and documentaries - from 28 African countries over the 16 days of the event. The festival will open with the comedy, Sex, Okra and Salted Butter by award-winning Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, whose latest film A Screaming Man won the jury prize at Cannes earlier this year.

Highlights include African music

The festival plans to celebrate fiction and documentaries ranging from African dance, music, sport, the environment, design, beauty and fashion, to the 20-year anniversary of Mandela's release from prison and 50 years of Congolese and Nigerian independence. Some of the highlights are two days entirely devoted to African music and dance, with films about Senegalese Sabar and Tanzanian Taarab; about the West African talking drum; the rhythms and musical fusions from Zanzibar; Sufi sounds and songs from North Africa; Angola's Kuduro, and choirs from the Cape Peninsula.

Free events will be hosted allowing audiences to appreciate the poetry of emerging Scotland-based African poets; to attend a masterclass in African dance presented by a celebrated Zimbabwean dancer; and to experience live performances by African musicians. Younger audience members will get the chance to create their own animation film in a workshop presented by Kenyan animator Alfred Muchilwa in collaboration with Edinburgh-based animation studio Red Kite. Audiences will recognise his work from Tinga Tinga Tales on CBeebies.

African fashion show

Africa in Motion will close with an African fashion show on 5 November, organised by Noir!, a collective which has been hosting the fashion shows over the past two years.

Festival co-director, Stefanie van de Peer, says of this year's programme: "Having built up close relationships with so many people and events over the past four years has proved to be amazing. It has given us the opportunity to collaborate with more events organisers and venues all over Edinburgh, and every one we have approached has shown us real enthusiasm and dedication. Lizelle and I think this year's festival is going to be the best one yet, not only because the films are so good but also because there is so much to celebrate in all the events."