The Anthology Cinema in West Village, one of several
festival venues was chosen to host the opening night
film and NY premiere, GOSPEL HILL. It's directed by
Giancarlo Esposito. USA / 2008 / 98 minutes and is a
polished piece of US Indie cinema, driven by the
directors commitment to profound storytelling rather
than the sex and action spectacle of Hollywood. The
tale investigates the legacy of the civil rights
movement in present day Carolina with characters
coming to terms with their own attitudes and those of
their parent's generation. Aside from being an
exploration of racism its a portrait of the social
corrosion from inequality. Actor, Giancarlo Esposito,
from Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and the more
recent tv drama serial 'Homicide; life on the
streets', called in favours to bring an all-star cast,
incl. Danny Glover and Samuel Jackson for his
riveting debut feature. Its complex ensemble script
didn't deter an enthusiastic audience who thrilled at its timely optimism and message of resolve despite the heinous wrongs of the past.

Feature films from outside the US include the
captivating NY premiere of Paloma Delight (2006), from
Algerian director, Nadir Mokneche. Its a lively
narrative centred on a larger than life character and
offers another angle on a region renowned for male
dominance and brutal fundamentalism. Madame Aldjeria
is a survivor, despite her sex and background. With
determined hedonism this ‘procuress and fixer’ pursues
her dream, in the face of the conflicting demands of
family and civil corruption.

Other films are revivals from recent years. The 1991
classic, Bezness from director Nouri Bouzid is set on
the beach resorts in Tunisia where young men seek the
patronage and promise of escape to be found in visiting
tourists. Clashing cultures and the voyeurism of the
exotic combine in a taut, pschological drama where to
look is to touch and to touch has fateful consequence
for both visitors and inabitants, East and West.

In complete contrast of tone and mood is the
celebratory Karmen Gei, directed by Joseph Gai Ramaka.
This spectacular re-telling of Carmen from 2001
outraged Senegal authorities who banned it outright
and it's not hard to see why? Lavish colour and
composition and casting unique to the region combine
in a masque set around the original location of the
Goree slave prison where the community survive through drug smuggling. This gorgeous Felliniesque romance celebrates female sexuality and showers contempt on a corrupt and authoritarian state.

Karmen Gei

Classic cinema is equally matched by powerful and
insightful documentary. The Future is Elsewhere
explores BUMIDOM, an ‘enforced’ migration of young
West Indians in 60’s Martinique and Guadeloupe in
the face of a collapsing sugar cane and distillery
industry. Instead of the promised El Dorado they find
slum housing and drudgery in Paris (a plight most
strikingly portrayed in the Sembene’s classic, Black
Girl). This visual and sensitive portrait of people,
place and period picks up the story today. Alongside literary luminaries such as Aimee Cesaire, young second
generation French arrivals use art and music to
explore their identity and steer their difficult
odyssey in a new country.

Other notable documentaries include Fist of a Nation,
a NY film premiere about Panama. It tells the
story of Roberto Duran a kid from the poorest barrios who became a boxing hero and a symbol for not only his own country but for all Latin Americans as it fought for its independence in the face of mounting US economic
imperialism. With great attention to detail the US
premiere of Jacques Romain: Passion for a country
tells the story of a remarkable Haitian author and
political activist whose ommission from the history
books is a crime. Roumain came from a wealthy

plantation family but chose to explore his Mulatto roots and and identify with the struggle of the African peoples of this tormented nation that had defeated French and British empire and overthrown the institu- tion of slavery. His exile and subsequent writ- ing (aclaimed novel, Masters of the Dew (rght) , adap- ted by third cinema maestro, Guiterrez-Alez) brought him into contact with many leading writers, poets and artists such as Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen and Paul Robeson.

Contrasting the political documentary, art in its
truest sense is found in Old As My Tongue, a portrait
of legendary singer, Bi Kidude from Tanzania. At 105
she still thrills world music audiences with her

Old As My Tongue

embodiment of deep culture and the power of the voice.
It screened to a largely female audience who revelled
in its unashamed presentation of female sexuality and
ecstasy and is another view of how women express
themselves physically and psychically in a male
dominated, Islamo-Chrsitian morality - its a
documentary counterpart to similar themes in the fiction features such as Paloma Delight and Karmen Gai.

These are just a few of the brilliant selection
of titles in this season; coming still are
Chaos - Night in Egypt, a NY film premiere from the
late, legendary director Youssef Chahine. Its a
strange and powerful love story describing the turmoil
and turmoil of contemporary Cairo and the screening will
be accompanied by the visiting producer. Leading African American director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep, To Sleep with Anger) directs Namibia's first feature film drama, Namibia, telling the story about its recent war for independence and appeared in discussion after the premiere. The End of Poverty, a US documentary premiere that challenges capitalism and the American way and asks if the true causes of poverty stem from a deliberate orchestration of resource misallocation that was started in colonial times. NYADFF is a not to be missed occasion that has seen 16 festivals and will hopefully see many more to come!