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BET
Movies/STARZ! Bringing the Diaspora to a Television Near You
By Lisa R. Foeman
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Courtesy of BET Movies
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BET
Movies/STARZ!, the all Black movie channel, will host its Third Annual Pan-African Film
Festival that features critically acclaimed, award-winning films from Africa and the
African Diaspora. The eight films air every Wednesday at 8pm (ET/PT) starting July 7th and
ending August 25th. BET Movies founded the festival to showcase
“the depth and breadth of the Black film experience,” said Lee Gash-Maxey,
Managing Producer of BET Movies. BET Movies “realized that there really wasn’t
anyone, on a consistent basis, showing people of Black descent,” she continued. The
festival allows viewers the opportunity to see otherwise unavailable films and gives
African and Africa Diaspora filmmakers access to American television. |
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BET Movies founded the festival to showcase “the depth and breadth of the Black
film experience.”
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Returning to host this year’s festival is acclaimed
actress CCH Pounder, popularly known for her recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on ER.
Pounder will introduce the featured film, its filmmaker and offer unique insight on the
film industry of the movie’s originating country.
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The eight films in this year’s festival are as follows:
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Dancehall Queen (Jamaica - airs
July 7th) is about a single mother who works as a street vendor and also accepts financial
assistance from an “uncle” who demands sex from one of her two daughters as
repayment
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The award-winning Faraw! Mother of the Dunes
(Mali - airs July 14th) tells the inspirational story of a poor woman in an impoverished
desert village who is determined to improve her family’s life.
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TGV (Senegal - airs July 21st)
is the name of an express bus service that makes trips between Senegal and Guinea. Three
main characters make the risky trip despite a Bassari uprising on the Guinea border.
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The Eleventh Commandment (France
- airs July 28th) is a drama set in Paris that employs the flashback modality to describe
the mysterious relationship between a French man and a troubled young man of mixed race.
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The award-winning Pieces of Identity
(Congo - airs August 4th), a multi-thematic film, tells the story of a Zairian king in
search of his daughter whom he has not seen since her childhood.
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Speak Like A Child (UK - airs
August 11th) examines the bond of friendship between three troubled teenagers whose
relationship is forged in a children’s home.
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Whirlwind (Burkina Faso - airs
August 18th) candidly examines an exiled Lebanese family’s involvement in a West
African country’s corrupt environment.
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Bitter Sugar (Guadeloupe - airs
August 25th) depicts a trial that reexamines the legendary Ignace, the man who delivered
Guadeloupe from French slavery. Witnesses and jurors include major historical figures,
both living and dead.
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Due to the enormous success of the Pan African Film
Festival, BET Movies created Pan African Cinema to show films the other ten months of the
year. This monthly franchise was established “to showcase films from talented
producers, directors, and actors from around the world that are seldom - if ever - seen on
U.S. television,” remarked Marc McCarthy, Director of Communications of BET Movies . Who
Killed Pixote?, a Brazilian film exploring the plight of street urchins
forced into criminal lives, will kickoff Pan African Cinema on September 15th at 8pm
(ET/PT). M
July 1999 |
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