Black Cinema Without Borders: An International Film Festival
Feb 6 - 27
Vander Vennet Theatre
| Thursday, Feb. 6 - Thursday, Feb. 27 |
The Departments of Global Studies and Modern Languages and Cultures at Saint Mary's College, in collaboration with the Division of Inclusion and Equity and the Office of Academic Excellence and Inclusion cordially invite you to our annual International Film Festival. This year the festival is titled “Black Cinema Without Borders” and is co-sponsored by the Departments of Gender and Women’s Studies and Film Studies.
Join us every Thursday during the month of February @ 7:00 pm in the Vander Vennet Theater, located within the Saint Mary's College Student Center. The films will be introduced and followed by a discussion. All films are subtitled in English.
For additional information, please contact Jennifer Zachman at jzachman@saintmarys.edu
February 6th, 2025 - 7:00 PM
Old Righteous Blues
A Film by Muneera Sallies
South Africa |2024| 89 minutes
Genre: Drama
Language: Afrikaans with English subtitles
Introduction and post-film discussion moderated by Dr. Nell Haynes, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Saint Mary’s College.
SYNOPSIS
A young man is forced to confront his limitations, face the ghosts of the past and rise above establishment constraints to unite a fractured community and realise his life-long dream of leading his town’s Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory. However, he is to pay the price for the path his father chose twenty years ago, which split the fabulous Old Righteous Blues Kerskoor in two and fractured the community. For the next twenty years, pitched street battles raged, loyalties were tested, families were divided, and the two rival bands marched defiantly under their own banner, each claiming ownership of the town’s Kerskoor, with devastating and violent consequences for the community. - from distributor’s website. More information
February 13th, 2025 - 7:00 PM
La Suprema
A film by Felipe Holguín Caro
Colombia |2023| 83 mins
Genre: Drama
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
introduction and post-film discussion moderated by Dr. Ruth Solarte-Hensgen, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish, Saint Mary’s College
SYNOPSIS
Teeming with irrepressible energy, La Suprema takes us back to 2001 Colombia and to a tiny and remote village in the Caribbean region far from any beach and seemingly lost in time.
Laureana is a strong-willed teenager who’s not about to conform to what society or her abuela have in store for her. When she finds out via the newspaper that her estranged uncle is days away from fighting in a boxing world championship in Venezuela, she ignites a spark that will quickly get the whole town on board with watching the match live on national television. The problem? It may be the 21st century, but the village has no electricity and no one has a TV set.
Laureana enlists the help of Efraín, the local trainer who discovered her uncle years ago. After much hesitation, he agrees to follow her lead and set sail for the big city. All odds are against them, but they know this history-making moment might put their town on the map and it is worth giving it their all - from distributor’s website. More information
February 20th, 2025 - 7:00 PM
Crossing the Color Line
A film by Sabrina Onana
Italy |2019| 101 minutes
Genre: Drama
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Introduction and post-film discussion moderated by Dr. Demetrio Yocum, Visiting Associate Professor of Italian, Saint Mary’s College
SYNOPSIS
“This documentary project aims to correct the distorted vision that contemporary Italy has of its own Afro-descendant children and hopes to establish a healthier and more constructive space of dialogue regarding 'identity' issues in the country and abroad, especially in this particular socio-political and historical period of time.
What does it mean to grow up in Italy, today, as an afro-descendant child of immigrants? From North to South, Crossing the color line tells their stories, experiences, and points of view. The documentary was thought of as a 'safe space' where Italian afro-descendants could freely express themselves and rebuild together a first-person narrative: a new Italian youth, with a rich identity, complex and sometimes hesitant, talks about roots, self-acceptance, nationality and dual belonging.
Beyond the color line, those testimonies challenge the existing idea of 'italianity' and ask to rethink the sense of belonging to a national identity, redefining the traditional geographical and political boundaries, as contemporary Italy now has another face, which also looks like them” - from distributor’s website. More information
February 27th, 2025 - 7:00 PM
Dancing the Twist in Bamako
A film by Robert Guédiguian
France / Canada /Senegal [2021] 129 minutes
Genre: Drama
Language: French with English subtitles
Introduction and post-film discussion moderated by Dr. Jaimie Bleck, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame
SYNOPSIS
“The 1960s were a time of change everywhere, and that includes Bamako, the capital city of Mali, a nation only recently independent from French colonial rule.
DANCING THE TWIST IN BAMAKO is a romance fraught with the drama of political change, infused with the musical energy of that decade. Samba, a young, idealistic socialist, works toward creating a more just nation by day and dances with girlfriend Lara to the Beach Boys, Otis Redding, and the Supremes by night.
The film’s sensibility is inspired by the vibrant images, patterns, and compositions of famed Malian photographer, Malick Sidibé. Lara’s orange silk dress and Samba’s dazzling white suit, shot against the striped backdrop of their dance club and the black and white checked dance floor they cut up — all suggest that change is coming rapidly, that life is for living” - from diistributor’s website. More information