Princeton Library

with discussion by Emery Whalen ('09), Farrell Harding ('10), Abena MacKall ('09), Lauren Batholomew ('09) and Kimberly Smith, Visiting Professor for the African American Studies and PEI (Princeton Environmental Institute)

Current & Upcoming Film Programs

at the Princeton Public Library

African Cinema Series

continues at Princeton Public Library:

Ndeysaan

Ndeysaan (The Price of Forgiveness)

Thursday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

Princeton Public Library

Senegal; produced and directed by Mansour Sora Wade; in Lébou with English subtitles; 1 hour, 30 minutes

The film can be appreciated simply as a deeply moving, beautifully acted, visually stunning folk story of love, betrayal and redemption, and also as an attempt to reconcile or negotiate traditional and modern sensibilities, a film whose ambiguities are often as fascinating as its certainties.

Sponsored by Akwaaba, the Princeton University African Students Association.

This series highlights films from prestigious African filmmakers who are lesser known in the United States and honors the memory of Ousmane Sembene, a writer, filmmaker and advocate for women’s rights, who died in June of 2007 and is considered the Father of African Cinema.

Introductions and post-screening discussions will be led by Bruno Bosacchi, a recently retired Princeton University professor and an adviser of Akwaaba; Marie-Helene Koffi-Tessio of Togo, an assistant professor at Bard College; and Addo Awo of Ghana, a Princeton University economics student and president of Akwaaba.

Previously screened in this series:

Faat Kine

Thursday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m.

Princeton Public Library

Senegal; directed by Ousmane Sembene; in French and Wolof with English subtitles; 2 hours, 1 minute

Sembene, the acclaimed father of African cinema, returns with a penetrating analysis of the interplay of gender, economics and power in today's Africa. From its first shot to its surprising last, Sembene’s tribute to what he calls the “everyday heroism of African women” is a powerful critique of the despoliation of Africa by a corrupt and ineffective patriarchy.

African Cinema Series

continues at Princeton Public Library:

Forgiveness

Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

Princeton Public Library

South Africa; directed by Ian Gabriel; in English and Afrikaans with English subtitles, 1 hour, 58 minutes

One of the most moving and complex films on the seminal theme of truth and reconciliation to have been produced in South Africa, Forgiveness is a film about time, about unresolved relation to the past; not about forgetting it but forgiving it, to finally let go of it and move on into the future.

PROGRAM NOTE: The series is in conjunction with the Princeton University Sankofa Festival, sponsored by Akwaaba. Screenings included:

Moolaade', directed by Ousmane Sembene, 2004.

Tuesday Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Rebellion against female circumcision in an African village.

Bamako, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006.

Thursday Oct. 4

Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up. In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa's woes, but Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the courtyard.

Film Italian Style

In partnership with Mediterra, the library presents classic Italian films with introductions by Marilyn Krieger, a Fulbright Scholar who received a doctorate in Italian Studies at Columbia University. All films are in Italian with English subtitles.

NEXT FILM IN THE SERIES:

Divorzio all’italiana (Divorce Italian Style)

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.

When Baron Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), he hatches a plan to deal with the one obstacle in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca). Pietro Germi’s hilarious and cutting satire of Sicilian male-chauvinist culture won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Previously screened in this series:

I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street)

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 6 p.m.

Mario Monicelli's hilarious caper follows a group of bumbling criminals in a series of satirical twists and turns that leave us rooting for the likeable down-and-outs. The film features an all-star cast, including Marcello Mastoianni, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale and Toto.

World Cineclub

Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei (The Edukators), Tuesday, Nov. 27, 7:30 p.m. / Brodeuses (Sequins), Tuesday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. / Efter brylluppet (After the Wedding) Tuesday, March 11, 7:30 p.m. / Persepolis, Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the Princeton Public Library and L’Association Francophone de Princeton

Previously screened in this series:

Indigenes (Days of Glory)

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m. French and Arabic with English subtitles; 2 hours

This film follows a small group of World War II infantrymen from Algeria and other French colonies in North Africa as they fight their way through Italy and across France into Alsace. The soldiers are fighting for France, but the nature of their patrimony is painfully ambiguous. The director, Rachid Bouchareb, is of Algerian descent and the film’s male ensemble cast won the Best Actor award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

SAVE THE DATES:

Princeton Environmental Film Festival Jan. 2-6, and Jan. 12, 2008...for more info and schedule go to www.princetonlibrary.org/peff

All films are screened in the library's Community Room on the first floor. Free admission.

Opinions expressed during programming at Princeton Public Library do not necessarily reflect the views of the library, its staff, trustees or supporters.