RETURN TO GORÉE

MADE IN BANGLADESH

Shimu, 23, works in a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Faced with difficult conditions at work, she decides to start a union with her co-workers. Despite threats from the management and disapproval of her husband, Shimu is determined to go on. Together the women must fight and find a way.

By Rubaiyat Hossain, Bangladesh/France/Denmark/Portugal, 2019, 95min, social drama, English & Bengali w/English subtitles

WINNER, Public Award Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color ADIFF 2019.

SHE HAD A DREAM

She Had a Dream Trailer - ArtMattan Films from ArtMattan Productions on Vimeo.

Ghofrane, 25, is a young Black Tunisian woman. A committed activist who speaks her mind, she embodies Tunisia’s current political upheaval. As a victim of racial discrimination, Ghofrane decides to go into politics.  In its own unique way, this documentary sheds light on the place of women and Black people in Tunisia’s changing society.

By Raja Amari, Tunisia, 2020, 90min, documentary, Arabic and French w/English subtitles.

WINNER, Public Award Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color ADIFF 2021.

Rhythm of Dammam

Rhythm of Dammam is the first narrative feature film to explore the distinct cultural identity and historical struggles of the Siddi community in India—descendants of Bantu peoples brought to the subcontinent centuries ago as captives.

The film centers on twelve-year-old Jayaram Siddi, who becomes haunted by his late grandfather’s spirit, pushing his family toward ancestral rituals and the spiritual energy of Dammam music for guidance. The filmmaking itself is notable for its sensitive, immersive quality, carefully avoiding exoticization while establishing a visually rich, rhythmically structured world that elevates the music from mere backdrop to a core cinematic and spiritual force.

The director, an award-winning filmmaker with a deep familiarity with the community, expertly frames the haunting not just as an individual crisis, but as a metaphor for the burden of intergenerational trauma and the communal quest for healing.

As a work that bridges spiritual fiction with documentary realism, Rhythm of Dammam offers rare insight into the African diasporic presence in South Asia, celebrating the Siddi people’s unique devotional music as both a source of identity and a path toward profound spiritual restoration.

USA/India, 2024, 92 mins, drama in Kannada, Urdu (with English subtitles), Jayan Cherian, dir. 

About director Jayan Cherian

Jayan Cherian is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and poet known for his socially and politically committed work. A graduate of Hunter College and The City College of New York, his cinematic focus consistently addresses the complexities of marginalization and post-colonial identity. His previous features, which include the award-winning Papilio Buddha (2013) and Ka Bodyscapes (2016), have screened at prestigious events such as the Berlin International Film Festival. Cherian's films often blend fiction with ethnographic realism, cementing his reputation for creating formally ambitious works that challenge cinematic and social conventions.

"Jayan Cherian's film blends realism with surrealism to produce a strikingly vivid image of the Siddi community's intergenerational trauma." ~ The News Minute

“A mesmeric journey through the Siddis’ past and present.” ~ Swaroop Kodur, The News Minute

“An exceptionally evocative, visually arresting film … Hitting all the right notes.” ~ Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV 

“A beautiful attempt in surreal documentation of a marginalized community.”~ Amartya Acharya, High On Films 

Rolê - Stories of Brazilian Protests in Malls

ROSA CHUMBE

ROTATING SQUARE 

SARA GOMEZ: AN AFRO-CUBAN FILMMAKER 

Selling a Colonial War

Who gets to decide how a nation remembers its past?

When Indonesia declared independence in 1945, the Netherlands responded with a military campaign that the Dutch government described not as a war, but as “police actions” intended to restore order. For decades, that language helped shape public understanding of the conflict and obscured questions of colonial violence, accountability, and responsibility.

Using extraordinary archival footage—much of it produced or controlled by Dutch authorities—filmmaker In-Soo Radstake investigates how the government presented the war to its own population and constructed an official narrative around the conflict. Often shocking images reveal a striking gap between that narrative and the realities on the ground.

Through interviews with international historians and experts, Selling a Colonial War places the Indonesian struggle for independence within the broader history of European colonialism, decolonization, postwar geopolitics, propaganda, and historical memory.

The film also raises questions that extend far beyond the Netherlands and Indonesia: How do governments shape public understanding of war? Who determines what enters a nation’s official history? What happens when archival evidence challenges the story a country has told about itself?

At a time when the teaching and presentation of national history are being fiercely debated in the United States and elsewhere, Selling a Colonial War provides a compelling case study for examining the relationship between political power, media, historical memory, and the writing of history.

Recommended for courses in:
History • Colonialism & Decolonization • Southeast Asian Studies • Media & Propaganda • Political Science • Postcolonial Studies • International Relations • Archival Studies • Memory Studies

Netherlands / Indonesia, 2024, 105 min.
Documentary | English, Indonesian and Dutch with English subtitles
Directed by In-Soo Radstake

World Premiere: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) – International Competition
Winner: Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Creative Use of Archive

"Selling a Colonial War looks to encourage the Dutch government and society to accept responsibility for their actions as a colonial power in Indonesia – and especially their actions when fighting a war in Indonesia after the country declared independence in 1945. The Dutch government still refrains from using the term “war crimes” to describe their actions as this would have great impact on calls for reparation." ~ Leo Barraclough, Variety

SEXY MONEY

SHAIHU UMAR

A Landmark of Nigerian Cinema | 1976–2026

Rediscover a major work of Nigerian film history in its 50th anniversary year.

Filmed in Hausa in 1976 by Nigerian director Adamu Halilu, Shaihu Umar is a landmark of pre-Nollywood Nigerian cinema and an important work for the study of African film, history, literature, Islam, slavery, and cultural memory.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who later became Nigeria’s first prime minister, the film is set in northern Nigeria at the end of the 19th century. Through the life journey of Shaihu Umar, it explores displacement, slavery, Islamic education, family separation, spiritual development, and the search for identity and belonging.

Long considered lost, Shaihu Umar was rediscovered when its camera negative was located in the Nigerian Film Corporation archive in 2016. The film was subsequently digitally restored by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art with the support of the German Embassy in Abuja. The restored version premiered at the Berlinale in February 2018.

In 2026, fifty years after its original release, Shaihu Umar offers students and educators an exceptional opportunity to engage with a rarely seen chapter of Nigerian and African cinema history.

Recommended for courses and collections in:
African Studies • Africana Studies • Film & Media Studies • Nigerian History • African History • Hausa Studies • Islamic Studies • African Literature • Slavery Studies • Postcolonial Studies • Film Preservation and Archival Studies

SYNOPSIS

Set in northern Nigeria towards the end of the 19th century, Shaihu Umar begins with a discussion between Islamic students and their renowned teacher, the wise Shaihu Umar.

Asked about his origins, Umar recounts the extraordinary story of his life. Born into a modest family, he is separated from his mother after the death of his father and the banishment of his stepfather. His subsequent journey is marked by displacement, enslavement, hardship, and profound personal transformation.

Eventually adopted by his Arab master, Abdulkarim, Umar attends Koranic school and later becomes an imam. Following a powerful dream, he resolves to search for the mother from whom he was separated as a child.

Through Umar’s journey, the film examines slavery within Africa, Islamic education and spirituality, family and belonging, and the social world of 19th-century northern Nigeria.

ABOUT THE RESTORATION

Nigerian filmmaker and film critic Didi Cheeka has worked for years to reassess and preserve Nigeria’s cinematic heritage. He initiated the archive project Reclaiming History, Unveiling Memory, dedicated to restoring, digitizing, and curating rediscovered Nigerian films.

Shaihu Umar, one of the most significant works uncovered through this effort, had long been considered lost. The rediscovery of its camera negative in 2016 made the reconstruction of the film possible.

Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art restored the film with the support of the German Embassy in Abuja. The digitally restored version premiered at the Berlinale in February 2018.

FILM DETAILS

SHAIHU UMAR
Directed by Adamu Halilu
Epic Drama | Nigeria | 1976 | 142 min.
Hausa with English subtitles

Based on the novel Shaihu Umar by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

CAST

Umaru Ladan — Shaihu Umar
Mairiga Aliyu — Fatima
Husaini Mohammed — Umar, age 3
Umaru Dembo — Makau
Assad Yasin — Abdulkarim
Harira Kachia — Kaka

CREW

Director
Adamu Halilu

Screenplay
Adamu Halilu, based on the novel of the same title by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Directors of Photography
Yusuf Mohammed, Zakari Yusufu

Editing
Edwin Apim

Sound
Baba Gana

Production Design
Assad Yasin

Producers
Umaru Ladan, Umaru Dembo

Produced by
Federal Ministry of Information (Federal Film Unit Kaduna)

ABOUT ADAMU HALILU

Adamu Halilu was born in Adamawa State, Nigeria, in 1936. He studied screenwriting and editing in London. In addition to directing feature films, Halilu wrote screenplays and participated in the production of nearly 70 documentary films. He died in 2001.

Selected Filmography

1963 — Mama Learns a Lesson, 48 min.
1971 — Child Bride, 70 min.
1976 — Shaihu Umar
1978 — Kanta of Kebbi
1981 — Moment of Truth, 90 min.
1982 — Zainab

Bio- and filmography based on Berlinale 2018 materials.

SHE HAD A DREAM - Young, Tunisian and Black

Ghofrane, 25, is a young Black Tunisian woman. A committed activist who speaks her mind, she embodies Tunisia's current political upheaval. As a victim of racial discrimination, Ghofrane decides to go into politics.

We follow her extraordinary path, ranging from acting on her ambition to be in politics to disillusion. Through her attempts to persuade both close friends and complete strangers to vote for her, her campaign reveals the many faces of a country seeking to forge a new identity.

In its own unique way, this documentary sheds light on the place of women and Black people in Tunisia's changing society.

Directed by Raja Amari, Tunisia, 2020, 90min, documentary, Arabic and French w/English subtitles

* IDFA 2020 - World Premiere

"Binous' determination to be an agent of change lends the film an engaging, upbeat energy that enhances its appeal..." ~ Screen International

"Effortlessly balancing the personal and the political - and the invisible line between them - the filmmaker offers a glimpse into the future of a better Tunisia through Binous's unique odyssey." ~ Film Inquiry

"As a Black woman from a working-class neighborhood in Tunisia, 25-year-old Ghofrane Binous has spent her whole life dealing with class inequality, racism, and sex discrimination. Following an extremely racist incident in 2018 while working as a flight attendant, she posted a cry for help on social media that was widely viewed, then joined a women’s movement and became politically active. The film follows this charismatic figure in the run-up to the 2019 national elections—during the turbulent campaign period, on the way to countless meetings, and in heated conversations with family members, friends, and party members.

The camera stays close to this young woman who is keen to perpetuate the myth of her own invulnerability—and maybe that’s exactly what she needs to do to rise to the top. The backdrop to her political ambition is a divided society where people have little confidence in their own democracy. Connecting it all is the voice-over in which Binous shares her vision of life, and her motivations for becoming politically active in a paternalistic, segregated society where women generally draw the shortest straw." IDFA

SIA, THE DREAM OF THE PYTHON

SINS OF THE FLESH (HARAM EL GASAD)

SOUL IN THE EYE

STAMBALI

STAND DOWN SOLDIER

STORIES IN EXILE: THE CITIZEN & BLACK DJU: Two fiction films that explore life in exile. Set in Hungary, THE CITIZEN follows Guinea-Bissau political refugee Wilson. BLACK DJU is a drama set in Luxembourg about a young man from Cape Verde looking for his father.

THE CITIZEN

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.

Directed by Roland Vranik | Hungary | 2018 | Drama | 109 min

BLACK DJU

From the sea and sun of the Cape Verde Island, it's a very big step to rainy, gloomy, land-locked Luxembourg, but that's the journey 20-year-old Dju Dele Dibonga must take to track down his dad, whose yearly visits and monthly guest worker checks have stopped. But it's not just the weather that's not welcoming, Dju also has to face overzealous immigration cops intent on filling deportation quotas and the noisy outrage of a hard-boozing police lieutenant (veteran actor Philippe Léotard). Dad's trail looks cold, until lieutenant decides to join in the hunt and to become Dju's partner in this tale of love and friendship. With the exceptional participation of Cape Verdian singer Cesaria Evora as Dju's mother and Manu Dibango as himself.

STORIES OF POST-COLONIALISM is a double DVD that is a source of information, reflection, retrospective and critical thinking regarding the presence of foreign powers on the continent and what that entails for the general population as very well illustrated in THE BIG BANANA. In the nation building process, governments have to face a multiplicity of tasks to build the countries' economic, educational, health, and justice systems, to name a few. CELL 512 illustrates the challenges of building a democratic society in a new nation.

THE BIG BANANA

Banned in Cameroon,The Big Banana illustrates the poor working conditions in banana plantations and exposes the adverse impact on the people of a corporatocracy government that affords super profits for corporations at the expense of the local population.

The Big Banana outlines land grabbing tactics by company Plantation du Haut Penja (PHP) and the ensuing devastation for communities: poverty, pollution, and sickness from pesticides. Bieleu, who spent two years filming residents in the remote countryside of Cameroon also features local cooperatives resisting the devastation through business alliances with fair trade organizations.

By Franck Bieleu, Cameroon, 2011, 85min, Documentary in French with English subtitles.

Sugar-Cane-Malice-Trailer from ArtMattan Productions on Vimeo.

When Maria’s husband died, she was told to either leave the sugarcane plantation or to work in the only existent job: cutting and planting cane.

She decided to work in exchange for a miserable wage and a rudimentary barrack she and her five children call home. With that, she was accepting a precarious life without electricity, drinkable water and sanitary services. This is how people are stuck in a house provided by the Company, ensuring that no other basic service neither civil rights are provided, maintaining people in a life of misery. The vast extension of a sugarcane plantation in Dominican Republic offers this deal to thousands of Haitian workers. Some struggle to leave – like Maria’s daughter, with few chances of working in a hotel by the coast. Some others are forced to leave – like Leidy and her baby, when her father-in-law retires after 50 years of work. Yet, some others – like Yudelka and Telemin – organize and try to change the miserable situation everyone is living in the cane fields. They are an obstacle that hinders the functioning of the great machine that is the Plantation.

Directed by Juan A. Zapata, Dominican Republic/Spain, 2021, 76min, Documentary, Spanish w/English subtitles

 " Sugar Cane Malice is the third film from director [Juan A.] Zapata, a native of the Dominican Republic, who is also an architect and visual artist. Both sensibilities are on display in Sugar Cane Malice, which pays particular attention to the built environment of the workers, and contrasts it through a series of helicopter (or drone) shots with modern construction in the island’s cities and the luxurious beach resorts that are beloved of tourists. He also finds beauty even in the sugar cane fields where these workers labor for the benefits of others. Above all, he respects the dignity of his subjects, who haven’t let their difficult lives become their only story." ~ Sarah Boslaugh

AWARDS

FULL FRAME Documentary Film Festival 2021
Official Competition 

Festival des Libertés 2021
Official Competition 

EATSA Art & Tourism is an International Film Festival 2021
Official Competition 

SOMCINEMA Festival (Spain) 2021
Official Competition 

Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam 2021
Official Competition

Sugar Island

Set amidst the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic, Sugar Island follows Makenya, a young Dominican-Haitian woman facing an unwanted pregnancy while navigating a legacy of colonial violence, racial discrimination, and labor exploitation.

Through Makenya’s eyes, the film unfolds a complex story about the intersections of ethnicity, gender, immigration, and class—echoing the lived experiences of many in the Afro-Caribbean diaspora. Gómez Terrero’s unique "kaleidoscopic aesthetic"—which blends documentary realism, spiritual symbolism, and theatricality—elevates this coming-of-age drama into a visually rich, emotionally layered exploration of identity and resistance.

Spain/Dominican Republic, 2024, 91 mins, drama in Haitian and Spanish (with English subtitles), Johanne Gomez Terrero, dir. 

“Johanné Gómez Terrero blends tradition and spirituality, the literal and the allegorical, in a beautifully made and deeply touching fiction feature debut. The themes of labour rights, protests against the mechanisation of the sugar industry, and decolonial thought make Sugar Island a syncretic, politically engaged work that avoids all traces of didacticism. On the contrary, the film’s gorgeous look, thanks to lensing by Alván Prado, alludes to the many layers of reality and beyond" ~ Savina Petkova, Cineuropa

SUSANA BACA: MEMORIA VIVA

TASUMA, THE FIGHTER

TAZZEKA 

SYNOPSIS

Growing up in the Moroccan village of Tazzeka, Elias learned the secrets of traditional Moroccan cuisine from his grandmother who raised him. Years later, meeting a top Paris chef and a young woman named Salma inspires him to leave home.

THE BIG BANANA