If you're in the New York area, we hope you're enjoying the African Diaspora Film Festival, which is screening 63 films at four different venues over the next few weeks.
Here are a few highlights from today's schedule:
LET'S MAKE MONEY!
Thalia Theatre @ 7PM
"Let's Make Money! is a dramatic and visual feast depicting the high flyers of global finance that fueled the economic meltdown juxtaposed powerfully with those around the planet who pay the price–the world's poor and struggling middle classes. The film follows the money–our money–as it travels through the global casino of financial markets and reckless speculation. Essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand the roots of the global financial crisis." – Chuck Collins, Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, co-Author, The Moral Measure of the Economy.
Austria, 2008, 106min, in English and German with English subtitles, Erwin Wagenhofer, dir. Q&A after the screening.
Part of Globalization, Health and the Environment Program.
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FISH ABOVE SEA LEVEL
College, Columbia University – The Chapel (175 Zankel Hall) @ 8:30pm
Talal, a young Ammani professional,discovers upon his father's death that he is penniless. His only way out is to sell a farmhouse once owned by his late father in a village by the Dead Sea. At the village he meets Dawoud, a young farmer who lives in the farmhouse. Before Talal can do anything with the house, Dawoud's approval is essential. A road movie about an affluent young urban professional and a young village farmer who share a common history and roots and find themselves unwilling participants in another cycle of history that pits the prosperity of one against the survival of another.
Jordan, 2011, 78 min, dramedy, Arabic with English subtitles, Mr. Hazim Bitar, dir.
Shown with Zebu and the Photo Fish.
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BLOODY ROOTS & CURACAO
Teachers College @ 6PM
CURACAO
US Premiere
A fascinating documentary that explores the awkward and strained interaction between the locals on the Island of Curaçao and the Dutch community that lives there. The Dutch live in their own world, getting together at segregated parties and on golf courses on private resorts. The blacks and whites hardly ever speak to each other. The manager of a local supermarket develops a training program focusing on the question: "Why do Antilleans refuse to be leaders?" Slowly but surely, it becomes clear that the Dutch don't have the faintest idea about their role in the island's past, let alone its effect on contemporary society.
Curaçao, The Netherlands, 2010, 75 min, Doc, Dutch and Papiamento with English subtitles, Sarah Vos, dir.
Shown with
BLOODY ROOTS
US Premiere
Tue. Nov. 29 @ 6pm – Teachers College
Viviane, a Guadeloupian woman, about forty, lives alone in a project in a Paris suburb. She decides that her cardiac mother who stayed in Guadeloupe should come live with her in France so she may take care of her. But, almost totally isolated, her mother has difficulty adapting to her new life. In the small apartment, Viviane gradually traps her mother in a strange world, invaded by roots of tropical plants: a forest without exit.
Guadeloupe, 2011, 28 min, Drama, French, Marie-Claude Pernelle, dir.
For more details and tickets, visit www.nyadiff.org.