An upcoming independent film festival celebrates the wide-ranging black experience by taking viewers around the world in a weekend.
The 13th annual African Diaspora International Film Festival, running Friday through Sunday at George Washington University’s Marvin Center, unleashes 16 films representing a variety of genres, including historical documentary and fiction.
“We go places people don’t go in terms of the stories that we bring to the forefront,” says Diarah N’Daw-Spech, who co-founded the film festival with her husband, Reinaldo Barroso-Spech. This year’s lineup offers movies from Brazil, Barbados, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Guadeloupe, France, Morocco, and the United States.
“We try to bring meaningful entertainment that exposes people to both the richness and the diversity of the black experience from all over the world,” N’Daw-Spech says. “And at the same time, it enables people to understand the common points that people from all over the black experience have.”
After D.C., the festival heads to Paris and New York City. Chicago marked the first stop on this year’s tour.
Here are this year’s must-see films, according to N’Daw-Spech.
Ali’s Comeback: The Untold Story (2018)
Most people know Muhammad Ali was blacklisted from boxing and stripped of his titles over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War, but how’d he get back in the ring? This documentary by Art Jones, which opens the festival, tells that story and reveals the crew responsible for returning him to boxing. If you’re interested in politics, sports, and willpower, you’ll find something to cheer about. “Mentally, physically, Muhammad Ali was a fighter,” N’Daw-Spech says. “And he won.” (Friday, 8 p.m.)
The Black Mozart in Cuba (2008)
This documentary explores the life of Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an 18th-century musical genius from Guadalupe, then a French colony. He was born in 1745 to an enslaved African girl and a white nobleman who owned a plantation and slaves. Educated in France thanks to his father, Saint-Georges worked as a violinist, composer, and conductor in Paris, becoming one of the first classical musical contributors of African descent. “After he died (in 1799), all traces of his life were erased intentionally—everything that could be done to erase Joseph was done because he was a black man,” N’Daw-Spech says. “Now he’s being rediscovered.” Cuba devotes a week-long festival to Saint-George and this celebration appears in the movie. (Saturday, 2 p.m.)
Panama Dreams (2017)
Filmmaker Alison Saunders searches for the descendants of an ancestor who left Barbados to build the Panama Canal in the early part of the 20th century. Along the way, she finds a community of people from Barbados and learns why they left the island. “There’s a whole history behind the reason any people move,” N’Daw-Spech says. “Usually it’s more than a personal choice—the conditions around them provoke them to move.” After the movie, genealogist Sandra Taitt-Eaddy will lead a Q&A session on how you can use the archives to trace your history. (Saturday, 8:30 p.m.)
Baobab Flowers (2019)
This short documentary from Gabriela Watson dives into inequality among blacks in the U.S. and Brazil by exploring the parallels between two black women, Nyanza Bandele in Philadelphia and Priscila Dias in São Paulo. Both are high school teachers and single mothers working in depressed areas who find their inner strength through the African-based religions they practice. “Both of them talk about the same kind of issues that exist within their communities, which is segregation, discrimination, lack of resources, and violence,” N’Daw-Spech says. “It’s interesting to see how similar their life experience is, but it’s hopeful because these women are fighters. They are struggling through life to improve their situation.” Baobab Flowers will screen as one part of a triad of shorts, along with Made in His Image and What Are You? (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.)
Tazzeka (2018)
This film in French and Arabic tells the story of Elias, a cook in Morocco who dreams of moving to Paris to become a chef after meeting a premier Parisian chef and a young lady. “It’s a sweet story with lots of love and food in the film,” N’Daw-Spech says. “It’s also an immigration story because he moves to Paris and what happens when you don’t have papers? Are your dreams crushed or do you fight for your dreams?” (Sunday, 5 p.m.)
