![\"Toussaint](\"http:\/\/www.africanfilmfestival.org\/2013\/files\/2012\/12\/toussaint-louverture1.jpg\")
Toussaint Louverture<\/strong> CFAF is excited to start the 23rd<\/sup> festival with a selection of films about the African Diaspora, in the Caribbean, including the award-winning, action-packed epic Toussaint Louverture<\/i><\/a> about the life of Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803) who led the only successful slave rebellion in the history of the Americas. It was this 18th<\/sup> century revolt that sparked the Haitian Revolution. We are excited that director Philippe Niang will be with us from France to introduce his film and answer questions afterwards. Our screenings at the Hollywood Theatre historically \u201csell out,\u201d so do come early to ensure a parking spot and a seat. Plus, you do not want to miss the Jefferson Dancers<\/a>,\u00a0a nationally recognized dance troupe from Portland\u2019s Jefferson High School, who will launch the festival with a performance at 6:30 p.m. There will be a brief intermission in the middle of this three-hour film.<\/p>\n The Centerpiece Film is the multi-award-winning Egyptian film Microphone<\/i><\/a>,which has been called \u201ca document of, and love-letter to, the vibrant, underground arts scene in Alexandria.\u201d This year\u2019s other feature films come to us from across the African continent, including Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n The Student Fest matinee is back this year with two films. The first, Stocktown X: South Africa<\/i><\/a>, is a documentary about musicians, self-described \u201cghetto fabulous\u201d fashion designers, fashion and music \u201cmesh\u201d creators, and various indie clothing designers. The second is Inside Story<\/a>,<\/i> the story of young Kalu, who gets the opportunity to become part of a professional soccer team the same day that his father is killed in an accident. Now the main breadwinner for his mother and sister, Kalu has also unknowingly been exposed to the HIV virus. The film follows him as he faces the xenophobia of his new teammates as well as the effects of his HIV illness.<\/p>\n Zarafa<\/strong><\/i><\/p><\/div>\n Family Film Day will be held at PCC\u2019s Cascade Campus this year to accommodate the larger audience that attends this special day. In keeping with tradition, Malian artist and author Baba Wagu\u00e9 Diakit\u00e9 will once again captivate all with folktales from West Africa before the two films, Mwansa the Great<\/i><\/a> and Zarafa<\/i><\/a>. Mwansa the Great<\/i> is an imaginative short film about eight-year-old Mwansa, who aspires to be a hero and embarks upon a journey to prove his greatness. Zarafa<\/i> is an animated adventure about the friendship between a 10-year old boy and an orphaned giraffe, and their epic journey from Sudan to Paris. Along the way, they have many adventures with cows, pirates, and a crossing of the snow-capped Alps.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s documentaries include An African Election<\/i><\/a>, which captures the 2008 presidential election in Ghana; Benda Bilili<\/i><\/a>, the story of five paraplegics and a young teenager whose band\u2019s dream of making it big on the world music festival circuit becomes a reality; Rouge Parole<\/i><\/a>, which explores the Tunisian protests that launched the \u201cArab Spring\u201d and ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali; and The Education of Auma Obama<\/i><\/a>, an intercultural identity film that traces the history of Auma Obama\u2019s father and family, her growing up in Kenya, her European education and return to Kenya, and finally the opening of her foundation, Loud Voice.<\/p>\n CFAF is proud to welcome two women filmmakers to this year\u2019s Women Filmmakers Week: Penda Diakit\u00e9 and Eliaichi Sadikiel Kimaro. Ms. Diakit\u00e9 joins us on Thursday, February 28 to share her Malian film Tanti and The Neighborhood Kids Winter Vacation<\/i><\/a>, which introduces us to five-year-old Tanti Ballo and her friends as they take a break from school. Ms. Kimaro will share her documentary A Lot Like You<\/i><\/a> in a matinee screening on March 2nd<\/sup>. With a father from Tanzania and a mother from South Korea, Ms. Kimaro is a first-generation African-Asian-American struggling with her own sense of identity.<\/p>\n
(Jimmy Jean-Louis)<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n![\"Zarafa\"](\"http:\/\/www.africanfilmfestival.org\/2013\/files\/2012\/12\/zarafa-240x160.jpg\")