New York, April 11, 2018
The New York Forum of Amazigh Film (NYFAF) warmly welcomes you to its annual film forum showcasing the lives of the indigenous -Amazigh- peoples of North Africa. Held this year under the theme of “Women’s Perspective” and presented over two days at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27, 2018, NYFAF features contemporary dramatic, documentary, and short films by and about the Imazighen (plural of Amazigh).
This year’s forum offers a timely community discussion on the theme of women’s perspectives. How do North African women negotiate their social, professional and political identities? What can we learn from Amazigh cinema about transmission of cultural belonging and meaningful change?
Commonly known as Berbers, the Imazighen are a diverse people originally from North and Sub-Saharan Africa — now spread out across Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and the larger diaspora. NYFAF’s fourth edition will consider varieties of women’s experience: The Lock, a French-Tunisian documentary, looks at the struggle between tradition and emancipation as three young women experience the tasfih, a magical ritual that aims to protect them before marriage. Lidia Terki’s feature film, Paris la blanche, tells the story of 70-year old Rekia who leaves her Algerian village to bring back her husband, an immigrant in France for 40 years. Can intimacy survive economic displacement? Can love sustain us?
Our Keynote speaker, Dr. Fazia Aitel from Claremont McKenna College, will present research on Amazigh expression and join a student-led discussion on gender issues across cultures. On Thursday, a musical performance by Yuba will be followed by a reception and evening feature. On Friday, audience members will vote on the Short Film Prize and meet the young women filmmakers in competition.
NYFAF is made possible through the generosity of the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and LaGuardia Community College, and co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Middle East Institute. It is affiliated with the Festival International du Film Oriental de Genève (FIFOG). The Forum is co-organized by a team of researchers including founder Habiba Boumlik, Lucy McNair, Yahya Laayouni, Wafa Bahri, Mustapha Akhoullou, Cheri Carr, and Caron Knauer.
More info can be found at:Â www.nyfaf.com
