The inaugural Black Europe Film Festival of Minneapolis / Saint Paul, a showcase of Afrodescendant cinema from across Europe, debuts tomorrow through Sunday at various locations in Minneapolis.
With feature films, shorts, documentaries and a 1930 silent Russian film called “Black Skin” about racism, accompanied by a live soundscape created by Dameun Strange, plus workshops and discussions, the festival spotlights diverse stories from Black European filmmakers.
Lorenzo Fabbri, a professor at the University of Minnesota and founding director and curator of the festival, said he met founding and artistic director Kudjo Kuwornu 20 years ago, and the two have collaborated on a series of projects since, most recently Kuwornu’s film, “We Were Here,” which will have its U.S. premiere at the festival.
Kuwornu first began organizing a traveling Black Italian Film Showcase.
“In our conversations, we realized it would be compelling to expand the scope beyond Italy to provide a more comprehensive perspective on the Black diaspora in Europe and its cinema,” Fabbri told me in an email.
They decided to focus the festival in Minneapolis, in part because the murder of George Floyd resonated deeply in Europe among Black communities.
“It became an important moment of reckoning and connection between Black Europeans and Black Americans, especially between Black Europe and the Black Twin Cities,” Fabbri wrote. “So we wanted to do justice to that connection and further the conversations that are already happening between local and global Blackness.”
My colleague Deanna Pistono interviewed four of the directors featured in the festival, including founding and artistic director Kuwornu, Daniela Yohannes and Julien Beramis, directors of the experimental film “Atopias,” and Adura Onashile, who wrote and directed the film “Girl.”
Related: Writers and directors show show the diversity and complexity of Black Europeans through the medium of film
Meanwhile, read on to see my responses to four other films in the festival – romantic comedy “The Black Sea,” a coming of age film, “After the Long Rains,” psychological thriller and science fiction fantasy, “The Gravity” and the performative documentary “Edelweiss.”
U.S. premiere of “Edelweiss” followed by Q&A with director Anna Gaberscik (U.S./Austria)
Part documentary, part spoken word performance, part experimental film, “Edelweiss,” by Anna Gaberscik takes its name from the white flower found in the alps, as well as the song about that flower in the musical “The Sound of Music.” The film follows various people of color living in Vienna as they talk about their experiences with micro-aggressions and racism. In an opening sequence, spoken word poetry is heard as a voiceover as the cast pose and move in studio and outdoor settings. There are dance sequences, a dramatized nightclub scene, and a scene where several of the group gather at the Alps and take in the immense beauty of the setting.
I found myself most drawn to the interview portions of the film and hearing some of the stories and experiences of folks who live and make their lives in Austria. As I watched, it struck me that some of their experiences resonated with what I’ve heard from people here in Minnesota. Racism and anti-Blackness may look different depending on geography and context, but there’s a lot likely is similar in different settings.
Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at The Main 3, 115 S.E. Main St., Minneapolis ($12). More information here.
Minnesota Premiere of “After the Long Rains” plus Q&A with director Damien Hauser (Switzerland/Kenya)
Zurich-based filmmaker Damien Hauser sets his third feature film in Watamu, a coastal town in Kenya, and focuses the story on a young girl named Aisha, played by Eletricer Kache Hamisi. A bit dreamy, and a bit contrary, Aisha has an independent streak, and can’t seem to help following her curiosity wherever it happens to lead. When her school teacher gives the class an assignment to find out what they want to be when they grow up, it sparks a journey of both self-discovery and intergenerational connection for the young protagonist.
In the story, Aisha befriends a fisherman named Hassan (played by Bosco Baraka Karisa,) and he helps nurture her dreams of becoming a fisherwoman herself. The two develop an unlikely and tender relationship, but there are a couple of problems. One is her parents disapprove of both the relationship and her choice of extra-curricular activity. The other related problem is that Hassan is an alcoholic.
Hauser handles the nuances of the relationship between the two characters with care. He doesn’t shy away from potential dangers such a relationship might face. There’s one scene where Aisha sits with Hassan and his friend late into the night while they drink. Thankfully, nothing bad happens in that scene, but it also doesn’t seem like a good situation.
At the same time, Hauser explores the positives of their growing admiration for each other, and their capacity to impact each other deeply. The tragedy of the film is the way in which Hassan’s addiction gets in the way of his desire to be a mentor to his new friend.
It’s a beautifully shot film, with a compelling soundtrack and intriguing characters. Really what makes this film is Hamisi herself, who is so captivating as a performer you can’t take your eyes off of her.
Friday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at the Main 3, 115 S.E. Main St., Minneapolis ($12). More information here.
Minnesota premiere of “The Gravity” plus Q&A with director Cedric Ido (France/Burkina Faso)
Burkinabe-French director Cédric Ido came out with “The Gravity” in 2022, but in a stroke of coincidence, the film happens to use a planetary alignment as a central event in the story, which is the same astrological phenomenon that is currently taking place in our night skies.
The story takes place in a crime-ridden Parisian suburb, and involves a clash between an older generation of criminals and a new younger gang that has taken over a housing project. The new group is very well organized, they wear matching outfits, exhibit cult-like behavior and hold the upcoming planetary alignment with religious fervor. I found them to be terrifying.
Daniel (Max Gomis), is a competitive track and field runner, and is doing his best to escape the ghetto and start fresh in North American with his wife and daughter. But emotional ties to his drug dealing disabled brother, Joshua, (Steve Tientcheu), make leaving difficult. Meanwhile, their former childhood friend Christophe (Jean-Baptiste Anoumon), whose own brother died when Joshua was injured, arrives following a stint in prison to complicate Daniel’s exit.
The earth’s gravitational pull, somehow strongly impacted by the planetary parade, proves to be the metaphorical focal point for the film, in addition to being a main supernatural element. I was biting my nails for much of the story, and found myself satisfyingly surprised by the twists Ido takes along the way.
Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at The Main 3, 115 S.E. Main St., Minneapolis ($12). More information here.
Minnesota Premiere of “The Black Sea” plus Q&A with director/lead actor Derrick B. Hardin (U.S.)
I found “The Black Sea” by Crystal Moselle and Derrick B. Harden to be so charming, and a lot of it had to do with the chemistry of the two leads – Harden – who plays Khalid, an African American from Brooklyn who in a twist of fate finds himself in Bulgaria, and Irmena Chichikova as Ina, a world-weary travel agent who hasn’t quite given up on her dreams.
Khalid quits his coffee shop job in Brooklyn and heads to Bulgaria with the promises of an all-expenses paid vacation courtesy of an older woman who found him on Facebook. Unfortunately things don’t turn out as planned when he loses his passport and the would-be romantic transaction gets thwarted by fate. Suddenly, he finds himself in a country where he doesn’t speak the language, he has no money, and he’s the only Black person in the entire town.
Moselle and Harden use the premise to explore dynamics of race and class in the European setting of the movie, while also exploring Khalid’s search for meaning and fulfillment far away from what he knows. Of course you can tell the romance developing from a mile away, but that’s part of the fun. Watching Khalid and Ina learn to trust each other and discover what they each want out of life is a joy to watch because the two actors have such an easy presence together.
Pre-show reception featuring Southern comfort food from Tap In Kitchen & Cocktails.
Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway, Minneapolis ($11.63). More information here.
Other not-to-miss events during the festival:
THURSDAY Jan. 30 | 4:30 p.m. | Main Cinema | More Info/Tickets
Free Short Film Program on the Black Caribbeans plus Q&A with “Atopias” director/lead actress Daniela Yohannes (Eritrea/Ethiopia/France) and director Julien Beramis (France/Guadalupe)
SUNDAY Feb. 2 | 11a.m. | Cedar Cultural Center | More Info/Tickets
Short Film Program on Somali diaspora + Q&A with directors Salad Hilowle (Sweden), Warda Mohamed (UK), and Abdulkadir Ahmed Said (Somalia)
SUNDAY Feb. 2 | 2 p.m. | Minneapolis Institute of Art | More Info/Tickets
Free Film Program on Black Lives in Painting plus Q&A with directors Salad Hilowle and Fred Kuwornu (Italy)
Free receptions:
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. | Main Cinema | Afro-fusion catering (Afro Deli)
Friday, 6:30 p.m. | Main Cinema | Pizza happy hour (Tommie’s Pizza)
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. | Capri Theater | Soul food (Tap In Kitchen & Cocktails)
Sunday, 6 p.m. | Main Cinema | East African food (The Red Sea)
