Introducing the New Orléans Afrikan Film and Arts Festival

March 02, 2009

Launched in summer 2008 by Senegalese filmmaker Joseph Gaï Ramaka, now residing in New Orleans, and Eileen Julien, a native New Orleanian and professor of French, comparative literature, and African diaspora studies at Indiana University, the New Orléans Afrikan Film and Arts Festival (NOAFEST) exposes the New Orleans public to new ideas and other worlds through multi-media events involving film and music, dance, literary and visual arts. Africa and its diasporas are points of departure though which we open ourselves to the world.

We care about social justice and just as deeply about the beauty and power of art forms which have the capacity to explore and crystallize the range of human experiences. NOAFEST strives to cultivate the excitement and energy produced by encounter and exchange between artists, whom we bring to our screenings, and spectators.

NOAFEST currently has two components:

The Audi-Visual Workshop, We're Back! sustains historical and contemporary memory in New Orleans by providing an opportunity for young filmmakers especially to work on documentary and fiction filmmaking under the tutelage of Joseph Gaï Ramaka. We have begun work on a documentary film directed by two local students that tells the story of the collaborative performance of The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) and The Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra (GNOYO) which took place on May 30-31, 2008 at Tulane University. The film, tentatively entitled Coming Up Taller!, will help GNOYO and NOBA recruit and engage new participants and obtain future arts funding to better serve the New Orleans community. It will also demonstrate the power of music and dance to help young people make connections beyond their differing social, economic and racial backgrounds;

Cinéma Première is a monthly celebration of new international and American films, preceded by short live performances of new music or other arts, followed by discussion with the filmmakers, and premiering in diverse New Orleans neighborhoods.

Cinéma Première offers the New Orleans community a rare opportunity to see 35 mm prints at The Prytania Theatre, the last single-screen theatre in southern Louisiana. On subsequent evenings we may hold screenings at Ashé Cultural Arts Center, a vibrant cultural center in Central City that links culture to outreach and community development, or at The Porch/7thWard Neighborhood Center, or other such venues. We have now begun a partnership with Tekrema Center for Art and Culture and All Souls Episcopal Church in the 9th Ward and will routinely hold screenings there. We take filmmakers and their films to a range of neighborhoods with the goal of creating distinctive experiences tied to the city's varied localities and demography.

Encounter and Exchange. Each month, we host free screenings and performances in a festive, interactive space of dialogue, bringing together a public that is multi-racial, multi-generational, of differing educational and socio-economic backgrounds, encompassing the diversity of New Orleans, yet united by the desire to enjoy powerful artistic experiences. Our events allow audiences to engage in meaningful exchange with filmmakers and other spectators and to share and connect through their differences.

Our History. Our inaugural season began in July 2008 with an emphasis on the similarities and connections between South Africa and New Orleans. We hosted South African filmmaker Zola Maseko and his internationally acclaimed feature film, Drum, and in August, American filmmaker Charles Burnett and his latest film, Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation. September screenings were postponed because of Hurricane Gustav. In October, Cinéma Première hosted Ugandan-born director Lovinsa Kavuma (Rape for Who I Am) and American director Louise Hogarth (Angels in the Dust). On November 7, in partnership with the City of New Orleans, we screened Spike Lee's new film, Miracle at St Anna, as a tribute to veterans, firefighters, first responders and other workers who insure the wellbeing of the City.

In December, as a holiday offering to the City's children, we screened Kirikou, an animated film inspired by traditional African tales, in an English language version for children across the city and, in a French language version for students in bilingual schools who partnered with us. We just opened our 2009 season with Joan Frosch's two films on contemporary African dance, Movement (R)evolution Africa (2007) and Nora (2008) and will screen those films at the end of February at All Souls Church in the 9th Ward.

Community Response. We consistently have strong turnouts for Cinéma Première events (280-300 at The Prytania, 60-90 at Ashé, and 30 at The Porch/7thWard Neighborhood Center) as well as very positive responses from individual attendees and the community as a whole. Our self-subscribed mailing list, now at 400, continues to grow. We regularly receive calls and notes of appreciation from supporters. One attendee has written, "I want to express the importance I feel your events have for those of us of European descent struggling with our community's difficult history. Moving us from exploitation, hatred, fear and distrust to understanding and tolerance, and on to respect and love is but one effect NOAFEST has."

NOAFEST has also garnered significant support from diverse sectors of the New Orleans community and beyond. We have the endorsement of the Mayor's Office of the City of New Orleans, and our honorary committee includes prominent artists, educators and professionals: such as Ms. Leah Chase, owner and chef, Dooky Chase Restaurant, New Orleans; Mr. Ellis Marsalis, musician and educator; Mr. Danny Glover, actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. We have also received small grants from the Mayor's Office and the New Orleans Arts Council and have developed relationships with businesses and institutions near and far, including Whole Foods, FedEx Kinko's, Loyola University of New Orleans, and Indiana University Bloomington. NOAFEST is a public charity exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Cinéma Première, Cinéma Créole, Spring & Summer 2009
Building upon the success of our inaugural year, we will move into a new cycle of films, Cinéma Première, Cinéma Créole, in order to explore and build upon New Orleans' complex set of historical and contemporary ties to Haiti and the Caribbean, from shared cultural traditions of Catholicism and vodoun, to Afro-creole languages, to jazz and Mardi Gras. We also want to reach out to the many Haitian and Caribbean nationals, new and old, of New Orleans. This cycle of films will open with Amy Serrano's Sugar Babies and Claudio del Punta's award-winning feature Haïti Chérie (Haiti/Italy, 2007), both set in contemporary sugarcane fields.

Molto, a new chamber ensemble led by Jean Montès, musician and director of Orchestral Studies at Loyola and originally from Haiti, is a longstanding partner. Molto performs an eclectic fusion of classical, jazz and world music; its performance of new music inspired by traditional Haitian folk music will particularly complement the Cinéma Créole cycle.


Cinéma Première, Latinoamérica, Fall & Winter 2009-10
Following its season on Haiti and the Caribbean, Cinéma Première will begin a six-month cycle of films from or about Cuba, Mexico, and Brazil, countries with important cinematic traditions that are little known in New Orleans and the U.S. The demographic and cultural impact of these countries on life in the U.S. today makes it still more critical to discover the world seen from their perspectives. We shall screen films that resonate with urban and cultural life in New Orleans, including Marcel Camus' classic Orfeu negro, Walter Salles' Central do Brasil, Fernando Meirelles' Cidade de Deus. As is our tradition, each film will be preceded by a performance; we especially look forward to pairing traditional New Orleans musicians with Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club.

Cinéma Première, Ciné Kids: Lebon, Lepon!
Over the course of the year, Cinéma Première will offer screenings for children. Building on our partnership with bilingual schools for the screening of Kirikou, we will organize three such events in May, September, and December.

The multiple programs of the New Orléans Afrikan Film and Arts Festival enrich and strengthen our community through exposure to artistic experiences, diverse cultures, ideas and people.

In putting these cultural and educational initiatives in place, we would be grateful to have your support.

We are able to provide additional information or to meet with you

Thank you for your consideration.




Eileen Julien
Co-President
Professor & Chair, Comparative Literature
Professor, French & Italian, African American & African Diaspora Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington

Joseph Gaï Ramaka
Co-President
Festival Director
Independent Screenwriter & Filmmaker