7/31/2019 African Film Festival in the Bronx, Mama Africa film

1/1

Har l em News Gr ou p B R O N XHARLEM . QUEENS . BROOKLYN . BRONX

M OMM A AFRICA AT BRONX FILM FESTIVALBy Howard Giske

The Bronx Museums outdoor

Africanisimo 6 event, in col-

laboration with the African

Film Festival of New York began

with a performance by Francis

Akrofi and the Authentic Rhythms.

Mr. Akrofi sang in African lan-

guages, punctuated by his wonderful

trumpet solos and occasional English

calls to Shake Your Booty. With

the conga line that at one point

snaked its way through Joyce KilmerPark, you know that there was a

party going on.

Next was a film created by

the Bronx Museum Teen Council

entitled The People Make the Park.

A group of 15 teenagers with the

help of Liz and Hannie from the

Museum staff created the short film

about the people who enjoy Joyce

Kilmer Park, at 161st St and the

Grand Concourse, Bronx. The

young filmmakers interviewed adults

about their memories of the park. A

man remembers as a boy moving

into an apartment building across the

street and lending out his new bike

to another boy to ride in the park.

The boy disappeared for 6 hours, but

came back and became a best friend.

A woman remembers having her first

kiss in the park as a teenager. A man

remembers years of walking in the

park and feeling safe, and sometimes

hearing concerts at Joyce Kilmer

Park. An older black woman

remembers moving in and feeling

liked when the area was still largely

Jewish. People commented on the

famous large white fountain in the

park, the Lorelei fountain that had

been moved from one end of the

park to the other. The film ended

with shots of the young filmmakers

holding up their mini graffiti tags on

cardboard.

The highlight of the eveningwas the showing of Momma

Africa, about Miriam Makebe.

First, the audience got some back-

ground on the African Film Festival,

started in 1990 by Ms. Mahen

Manetti, who spoke. As an annual

event at Lincoln Center, the Film

Festival has served as an educational

event, with films sent out around the

city, the country and to places like

Kingston, Jamaica, in collaboration

with the Bob Marley Museum.

The film Mamma Africa

goes through the life of singer Miri-

am Makebe. In the 1950s, she

became a sensation in South Africa

with her hit, Pata Pata. Then

Makebe was filmed in an anti-

apartheid film Come Back Africa.

At the invitation of its filmmaker

Lionel Rogosin, she went on tour in

Europe and America, but when shetried to go back home to South

Africa, she could not. Makebe

became the first black artist to speak

at the United Nations, demanding

rights for the black people of South

Africa. She also toured many

African countries. She is shown

singing the Tanzanian song Malaika,

about a young man who wants to

marry a beautiful woman, but cant

because he does not have any

money.

After he marriage to Black

Power promoter Stokely Carmichael,

her husband for 10 years, Makebe

could not do concert tours in the

West for a long time. Makebe was

living in the African nation of

Guinea. The film includes inter-

views with Zenzi Lee, Makebes

granddaughter, and Makebes grand-

son Nelson Lumumba Lee. Later,Miriam Makebe again became popu-

lar in the United States and Europe.

She died in 2008, right after a benefit

concert she gave in Italy.

For more information about

events at the Bronx Museum, please

go to www.bronxmuseum.org, or call

718-681-6000.

Francis Akrofi playing trumpet Film The People Make the ParkWomen dancing to the music

11TH ANNUAL JEROM E-GUN HILL

BID FALL FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 22ND

11th Annual Jerome-Gun Hill

BID Fall Festival, sponsored

by the Jerome-Gun Hill Busi-

ness Improvement District (BID).

The festival will be held on Satur-

day, September 22nd, 2012, 11am-

6pm, on Jerome Avenue between

East Gun Hill Road & Mosholu

Parkway, and 208th Street between

Jerome and Dekalb Avenues in the

Norwood section of the Bronx.

The purpose of this year's

festival is to celebrate 11 years of

our biggest annual event, the

Jerome-Gun Hill BID ANNUAL

FALL FESTIVAL. Attendees as

well as sponsors will have access

to over 30,000 people, including

250 BID merchants. The day will

consist of an all day concert series

featuring today's most popular

artists, food stands, and over 100

vendors who will showcase and

sell goods and services to Bronx-

ites and fellow New Yorkers.

Last year was our greatest

success yet,and we hope that this

year, marking our 11th Year

Anniversary Celebration will be

even greater! There will be exclu-

sive stage segments and signage

for corporate sponsors. The pres-

ence of well-known artists will be

endless.

We hope you will join us at

this fantastic, fun-filled free annual

community event.