NYC Happenings: New York African Film Festival Celebrates Its 23rd Year!

Once again, highlighting the continent's best and the brightest, New York African Film Festival will present 25 feature-length films and 27 short films from 26 countries, bringing another thrilling and multifaceted selection of African films from the continent and the Diaspora to New York audiences.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl, this year's festival is presented under the banner of "Modern Days, Ancient Nights: 50 Years of African Filmmaking." This year's selections include Tanna by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler (Opening Night Film), Price of Love by Hermon Hailay (Centerpiece) and closes with Negritude: A Dialogue Between Wole Soyinka and Senghor by Manthia Diawara and a shorts program on New York African Diaspora.

The screenings of the 2016 New York African Film Festival begin on Wednesday, May 4 in the Walter Reade Theater of Film Society of Lincoln Center with the New York premiere of Tanna.

If last year's festival focused on the emerging art scene and youth culture movement across the country, the 23rd edition focuses more on the correlation between activism and art, featuring the documentaries Matha & Niki, the story of the first female hip-hip duo to emerge victorious at the premier international street-dance competition, co-presented by Margaret Meade Film Festival; Intore (The Chosen), which shows how artists helped heal the Rwandan nation after the horrific 1994 genocide; Some Bright Morning: The Art of Melvin Edwards, which explores a half-century of the works of the African-American sculptor and Pan-Africanist; and Purple Rain homage Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in It), the universal story of a musician with a dream -- this time with Tuareg guitar music.

The festival continues throughout May at Maysles Cinema and the Brooklyn Academy of Music's BAMcinématek. Please visit the official festival site for a complete list of films, play dates, times and tickets.

Dustin Chang is a freelance writer. His musings and opininons on cinema and beyond can be found at www.dustinchang.com.