From June 15-18 ADIFF Chicago celebrates its 20th anniversary by showcasing films that give voice to misrepresented Black & Indigenous experiences

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, May 25, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- From June 15-18, the Chicago African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF Chicago) celebrates its 20th anniversary with programs and screenings at the Film Center and Facets Multimedia. The films selected will have their Chicago premiere in this international film festival that, since its inception, presents culturally significant films that explore the Black and Indigenous experience, giving a multidimensional voice to often misrepresented realities and peoples.

Several films in this year’s festival explore the interaction between immigrants and their surroundings. In Opening Night film LUDI by Edson Jean (USA) – sponsored by the DuSable Heritage Association and The Haitian American Museum of Chicago - we follow Haitian nurse Ludi Alcidor as she embarks on a frantic scour through Miami's private care-taking world in an increasingly desperate attempt to send money to her family in Haiti. ANGELS ON DIAMOND STREET by Petr Lom (Netherlands/USA) follows three African American women fighting for social justice in a black church in Philadelphia with their soup kitchen and their embrace of a family of Mexican refugees. YAFA, FORGIVENESS by Christian Lara (France/Guadeloupe) explores the social and economic dynamics at work in the relationship between an African immigrant in Paris and a Caribbean policeman from Guadeloupe as they seek to understand each other.

The program Spotlight on New African Cinema presents the work of two young upcoming African filmmakers: THE AFRICOLOGIST by Valerio Lopes (Cape Verde) is an innovative Afrofuturist documentary that takes us on an exploratory journey into the past, present and future of Africa. BLIND EYE by Mengameli Nhlabathi (South African) is a thriller that explores the mechanism behind the all too real corruption problems in South African society today.

The program The Magic of the Blues is comprised of two films: Mercurial blues-man Fantastic Negrito faces his demons amidst the mental health crisis ravaging his Oakland community in the dynamic music documentary FANTASTIC NEGRITO: HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND YET? by Francisco Núñez Capriles & Yvan Iturriaga (USA). MUSIC PICTURES: NEW ORLEANS by Ben Chace (USA) gives us legacy portraits and a rare backstage access into the lives and craft of four New Orleans music legends: Irma Thomas - the reigning “Soul Queen of New Orleans”, Little Freddie King, Ellis Marsalis, and The Tremé Brass Band.

ADIFF’s SPOTLIGHT ON MALI presents two films: WÙLU by Daouda Coulibaly is an urgent and vibrant African thriller that follows Ladji (a beautifully understated Ibrahim Koma) who, when he loses out on a job opportunity, is lured into the lucrative but highly dangerous world of drug smuggling. The other film DANCING THE TWIST IN BAMAKO (TWIST À BAMAKO) by Robert Guédiguian is set in the early 1960s, as Mali’s capital city celebrates the country’s independence from French colonial rule. The idealistic Samba works toward creating a more just nation by day, and dances to Otis Redding and the Supremes with his spirited girlfriend Lara by night. For the film’s theatrical run at New York’s Film Forum, New York Times film critic A.O. Scott wrote ”The cast is... dynamic and sincere in a way that gives the drama a buoyant teen-movie spirit even as it takes a grave turn. It’s affecting.”

ADIFF CLOSING NIGHT is MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE: THE LEGACY OF DOROTHY FOREMAN COTTON, an inspiring portrait of Dorothy Foreman Cotton, a courageous and overlooked key player in the Civil Rights Movement, and a bold and highly effective leader who educated thousands in their citizenship rights and inspired generations of activists with her powerful freedom songs. Director/Producer Deborah C. Hoard and Executive Producer and Senior Advisor Laura Branca will be in attendance for a post screening discussion and reception in celebration of Juneteenth.

For a full schedule and to order advance tickets online please call 773-281-4114 or 212-864-1760 or visit http://www.facets.org or http://www.NYADIFF.org. Tickets are $13 general admission, $10 for groups of 10 and Facets member. The All-Access Weekend Pass is $65.

The ADIFF Chicago Film Festival is made possible thanks to the generous support of FACETS Multimedia, SISKEL Film Center, ArtMattan Productions, the Dusable Heritage Assocation and The Haitian American Museum of Chicago. The African Diaspora International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization.

For screeners, press information, and interviews for the ADIFF Chicago Film Series contact Diarah N’Daw-Spech (Info@NYADFF.org) or visit the Festival web site: www.NYADIFF.org.

ADIFF CHICAGO FILM SERIES FACT SHEET
WHAT: 20th Annual ADIFF CHICAGO
WHERE: Facets Cinema – 1517 West Fullerton Ave, Chicago; Gene Siskel Film Center - 164 N State St, Chicago
WHEN: From June 15 to 18, 2023
TICKETS: All Access Festival pass $65; Opening and Closing Nights: $15;
Spotlight on New African Cinema & The Magic of the Blues programs: $20
Regular Screenings: $13. Groups of 10 or more, Students, Seniors, Siskel/Facets members: $10
10 FILMS – 7 COUNTRIES:
USA, Cape Verde, South Africa, France, Guadeloupe, Mali & Senegal.
WEB SITES: http://www.NYADIFF.org or Facets.org

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Thursday, June 15 - FACETS
6pm Opening Night Reception
7pm Ludi + Q&A

Friday, June 16 - FACETS
Spotlight on New African Cinema Program – Complementary desert during intermission
6pm The Africologist
8pm Blind Eye

Saturday, June 17 - FACETS
2pm Yafa, Forgiveness
4pm Angels on Diamond Street

The Magic of the Blues Program – Complementary desert during intermission
6pm Fantastic Negrito: Have You Lost Your Mind?
8:30pm Music Pictures: New Orleans

Sunday, June 18 SISKEL
12noon Spotlight on Mali: Wulu
2pm Spotlight on Mali: Dancing The Twist in Bamako
4:30pm Closing Night – Screening + Panel + reception after the screening
Move When the Spirit Says Move: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton

Diarah N'Daw-Spech
ArtMattan Films
+1 212-864-1760
email us here

ADIFF Chicago 2023