AFRICAN, ASIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
“What a Wonderful World”
Milan, 18-25 March 2018
>> The winners of the 28th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival <<
The 28th edition of the African Asian and Latin American Film Festival took place in Milan from 18th to 25th March 2018.
It’s the only film festival in Italy entirely focused on films and cultures of the three continents.
Our prismatic zebra returned for the third year in a row to symbolize the Festival’s multi-faceted program, this time in a “hi-tech” version with the tagline WWW – What a Wonderful World, that summarized our intent to show how Internet and the new technologies contributed not only to the three continents’ economic growth, but also to a considerable development of the art scene.
This was exactly the aim of the 2 main special events scheduled this year:
WWW! What a Wonderful World! – How new technologies are changing Africa
A roundtable dedicated to innovation-related issues, organized by COE and FCAAAL in collaboration with Fondazione EDU and Meet the Media Guru.
We talked about the Internet’s social and cultural impact in Africa presenting two interesting startup case studies in the ITC field.
The event took place on 19th March 2018 at Spazio Oberdan.
AfricaAfrica, exploring the Now of African design and photography
Photo exhibition at Palazzo Litta Cultura (15 marzo – 2 aprile 2018) that aspired to show the best of contemporary African photography.
The exhibition AfricaAfrica marked the third collaboration between FCAAAL and Lagos Photo Festival.
The world-famous ivorian photographer Joana Choumali is among the selected artists. Joana was also a guest of the Festival: a selection of works unknown to Milan’s audience was presented at the Festival Center (Casello Ovest di Porta Venezia 17-25 marzo).
More special events included:
> the interesting program of the Festival Center, a meeting point for the guests and the public who are both invited to join our multicultural activities from and about Africa, Asia and Latin America
> the second edition of Festival OFF, in collaboration with Porta Venezia Social District, which offers a series of activities to engage the public in the neighborhood of Porta Venezia
Film program
51 films – selected among 600 submissions -, Italian previews and 7 days of showings.
The 28th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival officially kicked off on Sunday 18th March 2018, 8.30pm, at Auditorium San Fedele in Milan.
The films in competition were judged by an International Jury of 3 experts, who assigned the Best Film Award from the Windows on the World Competition, and by a Press Jury of 3 Italian journalists who assigned the Best African Short Film Award and the Best Film from the Extr’A Section Award.
>> The winners of the 28th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival <<
Opening film
The Festival’s 28th edition kicked off with the Italian premiere of Une saison en France, the much-anticipated film by an old friend of the Festival: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who won the Special Jury Prize in Venice for Daratt. The chadian director was inspired by the immigration issues raised in France to tell his story: an intimate drama that deals with the burning theme of the asylum-seekers without clichés, also thanks to the intense performance of Eriq Ebouaney and Sandrine Bonnaire.
Sections
Windows on the World Competition for Best Feature Film: 10 films (fiction and documentaries) carefully selected among the latest productions from the three continents, giving priority to young filmmakers.
African Short Films Competition: the best short films (fiction and documentaries) made by directors from Africa or the African diaspora. The selection aims to promote young directors taking their first steps in filmmaking and to show the new trends and experimentations of African cinema.
Extr’A Competition: dedicated to films made by Italian filmmakers who are confronted by different cultures and want to show a side of Italy that reflects cultural diversity. The selected films are either shot in the three continents or are centered around immigration issues.
Flash: this section presents the special film events of the Festival: important premieres of films made by famous directors, the most awarded and critically-acclaimed works, the best expressions of contemporary cinema that tells and inteprets the modernity from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Everybody’s laughing…: the funniest comedies from the three continents.
Moreover, a lot of activities for students were planned: morning screenings for middle and high schools (Spazio Scuola) and interesting meetings and lectures for university students (Spazio Università).
The 28th African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival was also part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, promoted by MiBACT and by the European Union institutions.
Further information:
COE – Centro Orientamento Educativo
phone 02 6696258; email: festival@coeweb.org
www.festivalcinemaafricano.org; www.coeweb.org
Press Office:
Studio Sottocorno – Lorena Borghi
lorenab@sottocorno.it, lorenaborghi@gmail.com
The African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival is organized by COE – Associazione Centro Orientamento Educativo. The Festival is a founding member of Milano Film Network (MFN), a network that groups the experiences and resources of Milan’s 7 festivals.
