THE CITIZEN (AZ ALLAMPOLGAR)

$395.00

THE CITIZEN

Directed by Roland Vranik | Hungary | 2016 | Drama | 109 min

SYNOPSIS

In his late fifties Wilson, whose family was killed during an outbreak of civil war in Guinea-Bissau, enters Europe as a political refugee and settles for a sedate life as a security guard in a Budapest shopping center. Wilson's main desire is to acquire Hungarian citizenship. The story follows Wilson as he attempts to find his place in Hungarian society in his daily life, at work, with Mari, a history teacher who helps him study for the citizenship and Shirin, a young Iranian woman whose only hope to avoid deportation is to marry a Hungarian citizen. The Citizen is an Award-winning drama that poignantly dwells on some of the most complex issues of contemporary modern European society.BBC

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Rolad Vranik

GENRES

Drama

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THE GLASS CEILING (LE PLAFOND DE VERRE)

$195.00

THE GLASS CEILING (LE PLAFOND DE VERRE)

DIRECTED BY YAMINA BENGUIGUI

FRANCE / 2004 / FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 90 MIN

SYNOPSIS

Europe's racial make-up is quickly changing. French-Algerian filmmaker Yamina Benguigui is hoping to start a conversation about affirmative action - a policy that does not exist in France today. Benguigui's Le Plafond de Verre (Glass Ceiling) presents a series of sometimes very emotional first-hand accounts of discrimination against mostly black and North African Arab who are trying to find jobs. The documentary offers poignant and revealing accounts of discrimination faced by these full-fledged French citizens who are also children of immigrant parents.

"Now that I am out there looking for work, I cannot forget that I am not French like other French people."
— Nesrine Yahia

"Politicians in France are mostly horrified to even think about such policies ( implementing an American-style affirmative action program with quotas) because they go against what are called the values of the republic. I think that unless there is pressure from the ground up, politics in France will never change."
— Yamina Benguigui

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Yamina Benguigui

GENRES

Documentary

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THE LAST TREE

$395.00

THE LAST TREE

Femi, a British boy of Nigerian descent who, after a happy childhood in rural Lincolnshire with his white fostermother, moves to inner London to live with his Nigerian mum.

Struggling with the unfamiliar culture and values of his new environment, teenage Femi has to figure out which path to adulthood he wants to take, and what it means to be a young black man in London.

Going back home to Nigeria with his mum to find his Nigerian roots will help adolescent Femi find grounding and hope for a better future.

Directed by Shola Amoo, 2019, UK, 98 min, drama, English.

" Thoughtfully alternates universal adolescent insecurities with urgently specific minority politics - filtered through a first-person perspective that itself oscillates between furious clarity and vivid confusion." ~ Variety

* WORLD DRAMATIC COMPETITION - SUNDANCE 2019

* WINNER - British Independent Film Awards 2019
- Best Supporting Actress: Ruthxjiah Bellenea
- Most Promising Newcomer: Sam Adewunmi

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THE NAKED POET

$345.00 $295.00

THE NAKED POET

DIRECTED BY JASON BARRETT

U.K. / 2016 / ENGLISH / 117 MIN

SYNOPSIS

The Naked Poet is a smart, heartfelt drama about infidelity and sexual desire.

Directed and produced by talented independent British filmmaker Jason Barrett - who also stars in the film - The Naked Poet is the story of Lazarus, a young poet exploring the difficulties associated with matters of the heart. He finds himself caught up in a love triangle and confronting the painful and confusing decision of choosing between his long-term girlfriend Louise and newfound love Simone while dealing with his responsibilities as a father to his only child from a past relationship.

Release in the UK in late 2016, The Naked Poet is a comedy-drama with a predominantly Black cast - including UK gone Hollywood actor Aml Ameen (The Maze Runner, Sense8) - which offers a complex, multidimensional portray of life, love and friendship within the young, middle class Black British community.

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Jason Barrett

Starring: Babatunde Aleshe

Starring: Aml Ameen

Starring: Kelle Bryan

GENRES

Romantic Comedy/Drama

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THE STORY OF LOVER'S ROCK

$295.00

The Story of Lovers Rock Trailer - ArtMattan Films from ArtMattan Productions on Vimeo.

DIRECTED BY MENELIK SHABAZZ

U.K. AND BARBADOS / 2011 / ENGLISH / 96 MIN

Lovers Rock, often dubbed 'romantic reggae' is a uniquely black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance- known as 'scrubbing'- at parties and clubs. This dance provided a coping mechanism for what was happening on the streets. Lovers Rock developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands (Police, Culture Club, UB40) These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history.

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Menelik Shabazz

Starring: Dennis Bovell

Starring: Paulette Harris-German

Starring: Janet Kay

GENRES

Musical Documentary

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TIME AND JUDGEMENT: A STORY OF A 400 YEAR EXILE

$195.00

TIME AND JUDGEMENT: A DIARY OF A 400 YEAR EXILE

DIRECTED BY MENELIK SHABAZZ

U.K. AND BARBADOS / 1988 / ENGLISH / 84 MIN

SYNOPSIS

Time and Judgement is an overview of the African Liberation Movement that spans a period of 400 hundred years. The film narrates the tribulations and successes of people of African descent in and out of Africa with a special focus on the struggles of the last century. Through extensive footage of the movement in the Caribbean, Africa, America and Europe, the viewer is exposed to the critical political analysis of leaders such as: Maurice Bishop of Grenada, Walter Rodney of Guyana, Jessie Jackson, Kwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael) and Louis Farrakhan of the USA, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey of Jamaica, and more.

Through the creative use of various art forms including theater, poetry, songs and art, Time and Judgement establishes a connection between a biblical prophecy with the times we are living in, leading toward the final confrontation between the heart and money - the heart symbolizing love and life, and money symbolizing greed and lust for power.

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Menelik Shabazz

Starring: Doris Harper-Wills

Starring: Thomas Pinnock

Starring: Anita Breveld

GENRES

Documentary

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WAALO FENDO: WHERE THE EARTH FREEZES

$245.00

WAALO FENDO: WHERE THE EARTH FREEZES

DIRECTED BY MOHAMMED SOUDANI

SENGAL AND SWITZERLAND / 1998 / WOLOF WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 65 MIN

SYNOPSIS

Milan, like Paris or Stuttgart, and like many other European cities, is the theater of the drama of immigration. Demba reconstructs his story and that of his brother Yaro, both Senegalese immigrants in Italy, in a long and fragmentary flashback that begins with Yaro’s murder and recounts their departure from the village, arrival in Europe, the work they find selling lighters and picking tomatoes in the south of Italy: the stages every “non-EEC citizen” goes through in Italy. It is a story of immigration like so many others but that most people are unaware of. Waalo Fendo illustrates the dehumanization faced by so many immigrants all over the world.

DIRECTOR AND CAST

Director: Mohammed Soudani

Starring: Saidou Moussa Ba

Starring: Oumar Ba

Starring: Baara N'Gom

GENRES

Drama
Also includes film Otomo

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YAFA Forgiveness

$395.00

Demba is an African who has fled an oppressive regime in his own country and is seeking asylum in Paris. One night he encounters Lucien, a policeman from the Caribbean, who speaks to him in the voice of the dominant class. But in his country Demba is a professor of History and Geography while Lucien left school early to help his mother, a cleaning lady.

“YAFA Le Pardon” explores the social and economic dynamics at work in their relationship as they seek to understand each other, aided by Welcome, a Baule Komian who does not hesitate to officiate as the parties meet on the Quai de l’Oise, in the centre of Paris.

Directed by Christian Lara, France, 2019, 85 Minutes, drama, French with English subtitles

"In my young adult years in France, I could see that there was tension between the Caribbean community and the African community, but I didn’t know why. The hidden historical facts, the great Black characters erased or transformed, the identity and culture construction... This is the thread of the ongoing dialogue between Demba (Sidiki Bakaba) and Lucien (Luc Saint-Eloy). The migrant and the policeman. Africa and the West Indies." ~ Karukerament
Read full review HERE

ABOUT DIRECTOR CHRISTIAN LARA
Christian Lara is a Guadeloupean/French film director, writer, cinematographer and producer. Having shot more than twenty feature films in the Caribbean, France, Canada and Africa, he is regarded by many as "the Father of French Antilles cinema".

Official Selection
Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2022
African Diaspora International Film Festival, NYC 2022

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