While we wait for the second edition of the festival, London PAFF offers curated screenings at the West Norwood Picture House in London to bring exceptional Pan-African cinema to the community year-round. These screenings have provided wonderful opportunities to celebrate the richness and diversity of Pan-African cinema with our beautiful community.
Moon Over Aburi, directed by Anniwaa Buachie and Sheila Nortley.
February 2, 2024 at the West Norwood Picture House, followed by a Q&A session with filmmaker Anniwaa Buachie.
Two strangers, a man, and a woman. With one story. The man begins it, the woman concludes it, and highlights the sordid role of a woman’s place in a corrupt lawless society.
Barely Made, directed by Eric Dickens and Shantelle Duah.
February 2, 2024 at the West Norwood Picture House followed by a Q&A session with writer Kobina de Graft-Johnson.
When Adwoa, a fiery first-generation Ghanaian, gets fired from her job, she decides to become an entrepreneur, but she quickly learns that running a business is not as easy as it seems. With mounting pressure from her traditional Ghanaian family, Adwoa must choose between chasing her dreams and returning to the corporate world, all while navigating the steamy world of entrepreneurship.
Omen (Augure), directed by Baloji.
May 3, 2024 at the West Norwood Picture House.
This magic realist film is a tale of family, relationships, suspicion and belonging. It navigates the thin layer between reality and sorcery to weave a distinct, deeply impressionistic aesthetic. It centres Koffi a young Congolese man who travels back to his hometown in Kinshasa to reunite with his family and culture. The complexities abound as four characters bring different worlds and perspectives which intersect through chapters in the film, each adding a new dimension as the narrative unfolds.
Return to Your Corner: Battling Siki directed by Ashley Morrisson
May 24, 2024 at the West Norwood Picture House followed by a Q&A session with Ashley Morrisson.
Who was the first Boxing World Champion from Africa? Why do so few people know his name?
Sadly few know his name even in Africa because Battling Siki was a world Champion during the colonial era and so his world title is recorded as belonging to his colonial ruler.
Siki faced severe racism during his career, but used the very thing used against him to promote himself and his fights. He also stood up to racism at a time when few did. Ultimately he paid the ultimate price for refusing to throw a fight and was shot in a New York Street aged 28. He was buried in New York, but in 1993 his remains were returned to Senegal. Is it time his world title was too?
El Maestro Laba Sosseh directed by Maky Madiba
June 7, 2024 at the West Norwood Picture House, followed by a Q&A session with Film Director Maky Madiba.
The story of the greatest Afro-Cuban music singer in Africa. Laba Sosseh was born in the Gambia in 1943 and spent most of his time in Senegal. This film traces the journey of this atypical artist who has had success wherever he has gone. From New York via Abidjan and Dakar, return on the career of an artist who will have marked his time.