Symposium: African Cinema and the City: Space-making, Place-making, Film-Making

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Annual Symposium Series

Mama Lova

About the event

English — The symposium explores the rich, diverse, and dynamic representations of the city in African films, past and present. The symposium will facilitate conversations that examine the ideas of the city, the commitments to the city, and the spatial politics of the city in African films. The aim of the symposium is to highlight the social, political, and cultural environments portrayed in African and African diasporic films. The focus on film and the city invites critical thoughts on the important place that cities occupy in the world of African films, and on the kinds of social, economic, political, and cultural conditions of African lives and experiences. Among other things, the symposium will address questions about the celebration of city lives, the image of
cities, the city as space/place for political and social change, the cultural and economic spheres of the city in African films, and the experiences of Africans in diasporic cities, especially in those of Manitoba and Canada more broadly.

The 2022 AM-FM Symposium will host a keynote speaker, Tunde Kelani, who will speak to the theme of the year’s festival. Tunde Kelani is the preeminent Nigerian filmmaker, and one of the most distinguished directors on the African continent. His cinematographic endeavors come under the aegis of Mainframe Television and Film Production, which is situated in the heart of Abeokuta, Nigeria. His films are considered to be important works of substance, referenced as having contributed to transforming the culture of the film industry in Nigeria. The keynote presentation will be complemented by two separate panel discussions. One of the panels will host leaders of different African community organizations in a conversation on the
place and space of Africans in the world and in the specific locations of their residence in the world. The second panel will host cineastes, critics, and film enthusiasts in a conversation on African films and the city.

Date: September 24, 2022
Time: 9am (8:30 Red Carpet/Coffee)
Venue: Gas Station Arts Center, 445 River Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3L 0C3
Ticket: Complementary.

This event is hosted by Manitoba African Film Festival Inc., organizers of the African Movie Festival in Manitoba. The 5th Annual African Film Festival in Manitoba is scheduled for September 23 to 25, 2022.

For further information about the festival please visit www.am-fm.ca.
For inquiries and collaboration opportunities, please contact Ben Akoh at bakoh@am-fm.ca..

About the keynote, respondents and panelists

Keynote Speaker: Tunde Kelani, Lagos, Nigeria.

Tunde Kelani, who will speak to the theme of the year’s festival. Tunde Kelani is the preeminent Nigerian filmmaker, and one of the most distinguished directors on the African continent. His cinematographic endeavors come under the aegis of Mainframe Television and Film Production, which is situated in the heart of Abeokuta, Nigeria. His films are considered to be important works of substance, referenced as having contributed to transforming the culture of the film industry in Nigeria. 

Panelist: Shelly Anthis, Filmmaker, Winnipeg, MB:

Shelly Anthis has been a filmmaker and professional crewmember since 1999. Having worked in various capacities, as a Casting Director, Production Manager, Location Manager and Location Scout has allowed Shelly to work closely with creative teams while honing her skills as a film technician. Working in a variety of roles within the film industry has solidified Shelly’s solid work ethic, while supporting and helping to create a harmonious set where filmmakers can flourish. With a passion for all facets of production, Shelly has enhanced her directing and producing skills in the Manitoba independent film scene, union productions and in July 2021 joined the Film and Special Events Office as the City Film Liaison for The City of Winnipeg.
Shelly is a proud member of the Directors Guild of Manitoba as an Assistant Location Manager and loves to network with filmmakers of all genres.

Selected credits in Casting/Extras Casting: A Dogs Purpose, We Were Children, American Girl, Chucky 5, Joy Ride 3, Sunnyside and Stegman is Dead
Selected credits in Locations Scouting/Management: Channel Zero, Nobody, Tales from the Loop, Finality of Dusk and DJ Burnt Bannock.

Panelist: Onookome Okome, Professor,  Edmonton, AB: 

Onookome Okome trained at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and is currently Professor of English and Film in the Department of Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His research interests are in African popular expression, African literatures, popular culture, African cinema, Nollywood and critical race studies. Some of his edited publications include Global Nollywood: The Transnational Dimension of An African Video Film Industry (Indiana University Press, 2013) with Matthias Krings and African Popular Culture: The Episteme of Everyday Life (Routledge, 2014) and with Stephanie Newell. His most recent essay is “The Social History of Nollywood”(Oxford University Press, 2022). He is widely regarded by his peers as one of the pioneers of Nollywood Studies. Okome is a Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar. He is also a Senior Fellow at NIAS, the Netherland Institute of Advanced Studies and the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies, FRAIS.

Panelist: Steven Kohm, Professor, Winnipeg, MB:

Dr. Steven Kohm is a Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg where he has taught about media, crime and popular culture since 2004. His research on Canadian crime films is published widely in academic journals and in the recent co-edited book Screening Justice: Canadian Crime Films, Culture and Society (2017, Fernwood Publishing). His work on Canadian crime film is featured in a documentary video series produced by Eagle Vision Productions, an award-winning Indigenous owned film and TV production company located in Winnipeg, Canada: http://uwinnipeg.ca/frozen-justice

Panelist: Juliette Hagopian, Filmmaker, Winnipeg, MB:

Bringing Greetings: Honourable Andrew Smith, Minister of Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport of Manitoba.