The U.S. Consulate General in Lagos is partnering with the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) to present four American documentaries to Nigerian audiences.
The films, The If Project, All the Difference, She Started It, and Class Divide are all featured in the American Film Showcase (AFS), a partnership between the U.S. State Department and the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
It is the premier American film diplomacy program, organizing screenings and workshops with American filmmakers in more than 40 countries.
AFS offers a view of American society and culture as seen by independent filmmakers and highlights the value of film in fostering understanding and cooperation, dialogue, and debate.
Synopses
The If Project
The If Project follows a group of inmates incarcerated in a maximum security women’s prison who are part of a writing workshop co-created by a Seattle police detective and a repeat offender serving a nine-year prison sentence. The film takes you on a journey as the women take a brutally honest look into their past and work to explore what exactly led them to prison.
All the Difference
The largely invisible and often crushing struggles of young African-American men come vividly to life in this film which traces the paths of two teens from the South Side of Chicago who dream of graduating from college. Oscar-nominated producer/director Tod Lending’s intimate film follows the young men through five years of hard work, sacrifice, setbacks, and uncertainty as they discover that support from family, teachers, and mentors makes all the difference in defying the odds.
She Started It
The film takes viewers on a global roller coaster ride from San Francisco to Mississippi, France, and Vietnam as it explores the cultural roots of female underrepresentation in entrepreneurship – including pervasive self-doubt, fear of failure, and risk aversion among young women. It exposes, too, the structural realities women face as they become entrepreneurs, including lack of female role models and investors, as well as the persistent dearth of venture capital funding made available to women-led companies.
Class Divide
This documentary takes kids from two very different sides of 10th Avenue and 26th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City as they witness a microcosm of what’s happening around the world – rising inequality, stagnant class mobility, gentrification and much more. The film is a moving chronicle of kids who are neighbors, yet from very different backgrounds, all trying to make sense of where they fit in this rapidly changing world.
AFRIFF is taking place from October 29 to November 4 in Lagos at the Genesis Deluxe Cinemas, Silverbird Cinemas, and Terra Kulture.
The special U.S. Embassy screenings will occur on Thursday, November 2 from 11 am to 4 pm at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island. The screenings are free of charge and open to the public.
AFRIFF is an annual showcase that presents a complete immersion into the world of filmmaking with participation from local and international filmmakers, actors, directors, film critics, buyers, distributors, visual artists, film students, equipment manufacturers, and members of the press.
Since its inaugural edition, hosted in Port Harcourt in 2010, the Festival has brought together more than 2000 industry guests, more than 500 workshop participants, and more than 500 international entries from professional and amateur filmmakers around the world.
