This is GREAT news for New Yorkers! Both films will be making their New York premieres; in fact, I believe La Pirogue will be making its USA premiere. 

But this should excite a lot of you… I hope. Both films have received lots of coverage on this site; I saw part of the 3-hour epic drama Toussaint L'Ouverture at the Pan-African Film Festival in LA (the night that it screened was my last night at the festival, and I couldn't stay for the entire screening, because I had a flight to catch), and I haven't seen anything of La Pirogue at all, so both of these will essentially be first-timers for me, and I'm looking forward to it!

The news, in brief…

The International Organization of La Francophonie and The African Diaspora International Film Festival present screenings of: first, the festival's Centerpiece film, Philippe Niang's Toussaint L'Ouverture, on Saturday, December 1 at 5pm, at Teachers College, Cowin Center; and second, the festival's Gala screening of Moussa Touré's La Pirogue, on Tuesday, November 27, 7PM also at Teachers College, Cowin Center.

La Pirogue tells the story of a group of Senegalese men who set off for Europe on a simple fishing boat, hoping for a better life. But it's so much more than that, as I've explained numerous times in previous posts about the film, which you can revisit.

As for Toussaint L'Ouverture, I think the title says it all!

The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF), here in New York City, kicks off  its 2012 edition (also its 20th anniversary, a milestone year) on November 23rd, running through December 11th.

Nigerian filmmaker Tony Abulu's cross-continental drama/thriller, Doctor Bello, a film S&A readers should also already be familiar with, is this year's opening night film!

So… a great-looking lineup thus far! 

More to come…