Skip to Content

Search: {{$root.lsaSearchQuery.q}}, Page {{$root.page}}

Women Visualizing Africa Film Series | Documentary: Cuba: An African Odyssey

Tuesday, March 6, 2012
12:00 AM
2435 North Quad 105 South State St.

In this documentary, El-Tahri returns to the unforgotten and untold story of the intense relationship between Cuba and the continent of Africa. This revealing, award-winning documentary adds to our understanding of the Cold War through its least-known context: Africa. From 1961 to 1991, the Dark Continent was a battleground for four different competing interests. From Che Guevara’s efforts in the Congo to the triumphant battle at Cuito Cuanavale, Cuba: An African Odyssey tells the story of those internationalists who won their battles but ultimately lost the War. French w/ English subtitles. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Jihan El-Tahri is a French and Egyptian national. “In 1984, she received her BA in Political Science, and in 1986 her MA in Political Science from the American University in Cairo. She worked as a news correspondent with U.S. News and World Report and Reuters, TV researcher, and associate producer in Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, and Egypt between 1984 to 1990. As a correspondent, El-Tahri covered politics in the Middle East.”
This film series highlights poetic images produced by African women filmmakers. Throughout Africa, women have emerged from the double oppression of patriarchy and colonialism. As producers, directors, actresses, scriptwriters, financiers, promoters, marketers and distributors of film, television, and video, they have become the unsung heroines of the moving image in postcolonial Africa. Unfortunately, these immense contributions by women are underrepresented, both in industry debates and in academic research. There are now many cases in which African women in front of and behind the camera lens have overcome social barriers, yet this is often overlooked. Organizers: Professor Frieda Ekotto (Afroamerican and African Studies and Comparative Literature) and Marie Stoll, PhD Candidate (Romance Languages and Literatures) Free and Open to the Public All of these films will be shown at 2435 North Quad (4-6 pm), 105 South State Street. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow each film.