film celebration

Montreal: This year’s 10th, and largest, edition of Journees du cinema africain et creole – billed as the only North American showcase of its kind – features an exotic program of 150 film and video productions. The 10-day event premiers with a gala reception and screening April 28 and runs through to May 7.

Organized by Montreal’s Vues d’Afrique, cofounded by president Gerard Le Chene, the purpose of Journee is to bring African and Creole filmmakers in contact with their Canadian counterparts as well as introduce Canadian audiences, including professionals in the distribution and broadcast industries, to films from underdevloped countries such as Togo, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Senegal, Mali, South Africa, Martinique and Haiti.

In Canada, broadcasters seem to be increasingly open to films from third world nations. In the past 12 months alone, Radio-Canada, Radio-Quebec, Television Quatre Saisons and Super Ecran have broadcast a total of 14 African and Creole-originated feature films.