Africa in Motion 2010

African film is in the spotlight this month as the Africa in Motion (AiM) film festival celebrates its fifth birthday with a huge number of screenings at the Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 21 October – 5 November.

The extensive programme includes over 78 films from 28 African countries as well as poetry readings, creative workshops and other artistic events and discussions.

Founded in 2006 by Lizelle Bisschoff and Melissa Trachtenberg, AiM has grown from an audience of 1,300 people in its first year to over 3,000 attendees in 2009.

The idea for the festival was borne out of Lizelle’s film studies and her exigent concerns over the accessibility to African film. African cinema has been marginalised for most of its existence, the recent hype over Africa United, described as “Africa’s Slumdog Millionaire”, progressing the argument that the continent is under-represented in UK film-going culture.

The AiM festival is not only focused on the latest productions to come out of Africa, including UK premieres of Ramata (2009), Lagos Hot (2009) and Togetherness Supreme (2010); it also affords cinema-goers the chance to make up for lost time with screenings of classic films such as Jean-Marie Teno’s Africa, I Will Fleece You (1993) and Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt (1996), narrated by Omar Sharif.

Through creating a platform for African filmmakers to exhibit their work in Scotland, AiM has achieved international acclaim for its efforts. Last year the festival focused on the ideas of trauma, conflict and reconciliation in a pan-African context in honour of 2009 being the United Nation’s International Year of Reconciliation. The AiM staff were asked to compile a report on the event for the UN Secretary General and received an award for their contribution towards highlighting reconciliation issues.

The Africa in Motion festival aims to counter stereotypes that are often pursued by the media and enable audiences to learn about the continent through voices and representations created by Africans themselves.

As much as this is a significant objective, the AiM directors add that the main reason for screening the films is “because we believe they are great films which should be seen the world over”. This includes the Highlands and Islands, which will be treated to a mini-tour of the festival after it closes in Edinburgh.

The ethos of inclusion is where AiM flourishes. This year’s theme of celebration sees each day dedicated to a different aspect of African culture, and the complementary events which run alongside the main programme encourage families and individuals to play a part in a carnival of dance, music and art.