WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023 – 6:30pm Goethe-Institut Ghana

OPENING NIGHT: THE FEMALE GAZE IN CINEMATIC HISTORY

Panel Discussion featuring: Akosua Adoma Owusu (Filmmaker/U.S. Arts Envoy), Aseye Tamakloe (Filmmaker), Marion Astier (Curator), and Akosua Hanson (Moderator)

Screening of short films including: Madame’s Cravings and The Consequences of Feminism, Alice Guy (France), 1906, 5 and 7 minutes; From the Reports of the Security Guards & Patrol Services Part 1, Helke Sander (Germany/FRG), 1985, 11 minutes; Me Broni Ba, Akosua Adoma Owusu (Ghana/United States), 2009, 22 minutes; Black Barbie, Comfort Arthur (Ghana/UK), 2016, 4 minutes. All films are in English or have English subtitles.

THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023 – 6:00pm Goethe-Institut Ghana

AMONG US WOMEN
Sarah Noa Bozenhardt/Danial Abate Tilahun (Germany/Ethiopia), 2021, 92 minutes, Amharic with English subtitles

In the village of Megendi, midwifery is changing. With it the question of women’s self-determination. In the midst of change, young Huluager is expecting her fourth child. Despite all medical advice, she wants to give birth at home with traditional midwife Endal. But complications arise during the birth and midwives from the clinic have to intervene. Between tradition and modernity, patriarchal structures and the complex power of female companionship, the women wrestle with their relationship ttheir bodies, to each other, and to all those who want to decide for them.

Followed by a discussion with film producer Sandrina Koppitz

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023 – 6:00pm Goethe-Institut Ghana

SUPA MODO
Likarion Wainaina (Kenya/Germany/France), 2018, 74 minutes, Kikuyu, English, and Swahili

Nine-year-old Jo loves action films and dreams of being a superhero herself. Her greatest wish: to make a film in which she herself plays the leading role. In her fantasy, she forgets that she is terminally ill. At some point, Jo’s sister can no longer stand by and watch the fun-loving girl spend the precious time she has left only in bed. She encourages Jo to believe in her magical powers and animates the whole village to make Jo’s dream come true. This touching drama by Kenyan filmmaker Likarion Wainaina, made as part of a master class by the German-Kenyan production collective One Fine Day Films, tells of the power of the imagination and of an unusual way of saying goodbye.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2023 – 4:00pm Alliance Française Accra

ASANTEWAA – BATTLE FOR THE GOLDEN STOOL

Jesse Sunkwa-Mills (Ghana), 2022, 90 minutes, Twi and English

For kids and adults alike, Asantewaa tells the legendary story of the first queen and female warrior of the Asante Kingdom, and how she defended both her kingdom and its sacred unifying symbol, the Golden Stool.  Ideal for 5-12 year olds.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11, 2023 – 6:00pm Alliance Française Accra

THE WITCHES OF GAMBAGA
Yaba Badoe (Ghana), 2011, 55 minutes, English and local languages with English subtitles

I AM NOT A WITCH
Rungano Nyoni (Zambia/France/Germany), 2017, 93 minutes, English, Bemba, and Nyanja with English subtitles

To this day, women accused of witchcraft are condemned to live in witch camps separated from society. Yaba Badoe’s documentary The Witches of Gambaga tells the extraordinary story of a community of “witches” in Northern Ghana and the work of activists determined to end communal and domestic violence against women. In the feature film I Am Not a Witch, Rungano Nyoni tells the story of a girl denounced as a witch in a remote Zambian community who quickly becomes a local star a prey to adults trying to exploit her supposed powers for financial gain. These two films, starkly different in tone and style, both shine a light on the ongoing stigma surrounding women considered different from society.

Followed by a discussion between Former Gender Minister Nana Oye Bampoe Addo and Shamima Muslim (Founder, Alliance for Women in Media Africa)

TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2023 – 6:00pm NYU Accra Gardens

DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST
Julie Dash (United States), 1991, 113 minutes, English

At the dawn of the 20th century, a family in the Gullah community – former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors’ Yoruba traditions – struggles to maintain their cultural heritage while contemplating a migration to the mainland.  The
first film by a Black female filmmaker to gain a general theatre release in the United States, the film was met with critical acclaim when it opened in 1991 and continues to be a source of inspiration for artists today.

Presented by Carol Drayton-Darko (U.S. Embassy Ghana)

*Registration recommended: https://bit.ly/WIMAccraRSVP 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2023 – 6:00pm U.S. Commissary

WHEN WOMEN SPEAK

Aseye Tamakloe (Ghana), 2022, 90 minutes, English

When Women Speak is a documentary film shot entirely in Ghana, which traces a cohort of 16 women who came of age in the 1960s & 1970s and catalogues their life experiences, in their own words, as Ghana passed through periods of single-party, multi-party and military government. The film is woven with interviews, animations, archival footage, and photographs.

Followed by a discussion with Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo (Institute of African Affairs, University of Ghana/Producer and Lead Researcher, When Women Speak),  Aseye Tamakloe (Director and Editor, When Women Speak), and Hilary Gbedemah (Lawyer and Women’s Rights Activist)

*Registration required: https://bit.ly/WIMAccraRSVP 

THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2023 – 6:00pm Alliance Française Accra

BLACK GIRL
Ousmane Sembène (France/Senegal), 1966, 65 minutes, French with English subtitles

FATI’S CHOICE
Fatimah Dadzie (Ghana/South Africa), 2021, 42 minutes, English

Two stories of migration that take an unexpected turn: in Ousmane Sembène’s fictional story Black Girl, a Senegalese woman eager to find a better life takes a job as a governess for a French family but, once in France, is constantly made aware of her race and mistreated by her employers. Meanwhile, in Fatimah Dadzie’s documentary Fati’s Choice, Fati abandons dreams of instant prosperity in Italy to return to her five children in Ghana. Her neighbors, friends, and family do not understand her decision to return and gossip behind her back. Together, these films explore societal and economic pressures on women who choose to migrate.

Followed by a discussion with Dr. Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué (Professor of African Women’s History), Fatimah Dadzie (Director, Fati’s Choice), and Elizabeth Johnson (moderator)

FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2023 – 7:00pm Alliance Française Accra

CLOSING NIGHT: THE WOMAN KING

Gina Prince-Bythewood (United States), 2022, 135 minutes, English

The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. The Woman King follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca as she inspires the King to take on the enemies determined to violate their honor and destroy their way of life.

Presented by Dr. Tiffany Thames Copeland (Professor, Montgomery College/Fulbright Scholar in Kumasi)

Female chefs from the Ghana Food Movement will be selling food on site during the screening