Cascade Festival of African Films

SAVE THE DATE: 🎥 We're thrilled to support Ko-Falen Cultural Center Summer Film Fundraiser featuring a captivating documentary on Mali's music legend, Boubacar Traore (Kar-Kar) in "I'll Sing for You".

🗓 Event Screening Cinema 21 on JULY 24th. Doors open at 6pm, film starts at 7pm followed by a Q&A session. Suggested donation of $10-$25; No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

🎶 In this film by Jacques Sarasin, experience the beauty of Mali's musical journey as Kar-Kar reminisces and performs alongside renowned Malian musicians.🌍
Let's come together to celebrate culture and support a great cause!
🇲🇱 🎼

Let's wrap-up our festival together Saturday March 2nd at 7pm, with our Women Filmmaker Week screening of BANEL & ADAMA directed by Ramata-Toulaye Sy.
Enjoy our in-person Marketplace before the film screening at PCC Moriarty Auditorium and Afrobeat sounds closing out the festival!

Join us this tomorrow afternoon for part of our festival wrap up matinee at 2pm with
"Lionheart" -Looking to prove her worth, Adaeze steps up to the challenge when health issues force her father, Chief Ernest Obiagu, to take a step back; directed by Genevieve Nnaji.

Enjoy our in-person Marketplace before today's film screening at PCC Moriarty Auditorium!

Wrapping up our last Friday of our festival, March 1 at 7pm PCC Moriarty, catch the multi-award winner film on the screen "Mother of all Lies" directed by Asmae El Moudir. Esmae El Moudir highly innovative documentary retelling of the Bread Riots in 1981.

7pm Thursday Feb. 29 documentary screening at PCC Moriarty, "Transactions" directed by Rumbi Katedza. Journey in this story with Zimbabwean migrates through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy.

All the Colors of the World are Between Black and White screening 7pm Feb 24 at
PCC Moriarty.

Directed by Babatunde Apalowo, Bambino is a delivery driver in Lagos and when he meets the charismatic Bawa, the two immediately hit it off. Given how terribly dangerous it is to come out in Nigeria where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by 14 years of imprisonment, Bambino is understandably fearful of admitting to himself and to his photographer friend Bawa that he is gay. The film compassionately explores Bambi’s anguished inner journey to come to terms with his identity.

🎥 Join us for Family Film Day on Feb 24 at our Saturday matinee at 2pm! Curated especially for youth ages 7-19.

"Hawa", directed by Maimouna Doucoure. A young girl lives alone with her terminally ill grandmother. When she learns that Michelle Obama is visiting Paris, Hawa has the crazy idea of being adopted by this personality, whom she admires more than anything..."

In Portugese, Mandarin, and English with English subtitles, Our Lady of the Chinese Shop directed by Ery Clave, screen Friday Feb. 23 at 7pm, PCC Moriarty!

A surreal, richly allegorical urban tale about how a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary creates unexpected changes to the lives of the people who encounter it on the street of Luanda. The film captures the dreams and paradoxes of the characters as their lives play out in a city full of resentment and greed, but also friendship and imagination.

Thursday Feb. 22, 7pm documentary at PCC Moriarty, "Sisterhood" directed by Mohamed Sessy Kamara. Films from Sierra Leone by Sierra Leonean directors are rare, and this one by Sesy M. Kamara is cause for celebration. The film is part of Generation Africa, a documentary project centering on youth and migration.

7pm Saturday Feb. 17 screening at PCC Moriarty, "Mwabi/ Can You See Us?" directed by Kenny Mumba. Rejected by his father at birth, a boy with albinism navigates a childhood of bullying, tragedy and cautious hope in this coming-of-age drama. Based on the life of popular musician John Chiti, this uplifting film reminds us that strength to overcome resides within each of us.

We kick it off Saturday Feb.17 matinee at 2pm with our short film series.

Starting with: "For Them That Prey "directed by Mmakgosi Anita Tau
"Night Stop" directed by Khadar Ayderus Ahmed
"Luanda Blue" directed by Gegé M´bakudi
"Mistida" directed by Falcão Nhaga
"The Last Ranger" directed by Cindy Lee

Link in bio for more festival information!

7pm Thursday Feb. 15 documentary screening at PCC Moriarty, "Tamaaden" directed by Seydou Cissé.

“Traveler” shows us two worlds: that of a number of West African immigrants who are making a living in Spain, and that of Bakary in Mali, who is preparing for a new attempt.

Link in bio for more festival information.

If you missed our opening event, then here is your chance again to continue celebrating with us. 🎥 We return to Hollywood Theatre Friday Feb. 16 at 6:30pm with a local performer and present our Centerpiece screening of "Sira" directed by Apolline Traoré. Doors open at 6pm.

After a brutal attack, a young nomad named Sira refuses to surrender to her fate without a fight and instead takes a stand against Islamist terror. A feminist counterpoint to current reporting from the Sahel region. Winner of the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, this stunning film is Apolline Traoré's latest masterpiece. (Contains sexual violence)

Free and open to the public!

As this year's instrumental guiding for the festival's visual theme festival, we'd love to give a BIG warm shout out to this year's 34th festival 🖥 poster designer Jacob Mauk.

Jacob is currently a graphic design student at Portland Community College. As a artist and designer from Portland, Oregon, he loves the outdoors often rock climb and hikes around the Pacific Northwest.

Link in bio for more festival information!

Saturday, Feb 10 at 7pm PCC Moriarty, catch this feature film debut on the screen "Omen" directed by multidisciplinary artist Baloji.

Link in bio for more festival information.

Join us Saturday Feb.10 at PCC Moriarty for matinee rom-com screening at 2pm of "Married to Work" directed by Philippe Bresson. To save their real estate agency, an ambitious businesswoman and her entitled boss must convince an investor that they are married -despite hating each other.

Link in bio for more festival information.

🎬 We're excited to welcome our visiting filmmaker Mmakgosi Anita Tau, to this year's festival. We invite you to joins us for discussions with the director at the Tomorrow Theater (3530 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202) Sunday Feb.11 at 6pm (free reserved seating) and Saturday, Feb.17 2pm at PCC Moriarty Auditorium.

All free and open to the public!

Mmakgosi Anita Tau is a writer and award-winning filmmaker from Botswana based in the USA and founder of Mmakgosi Live, a project that uses poetry, art, film, dance, and theater to de-stigmatize mental illness and inspire artists to connect. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film from Syracuse University. Tau works in both fiction film and documentary and has made films in Botswana, Ethiopia, the US, and Zambia. She uses cinema to make films that uncover the Motswana woman in mainstream media and protest human rights violations and societal injustices.

For all the live performing arts lovers, join us at PCC Sylvania Performing Arts Center (PAC) Theater Feb 9th for the screening of Elesin Oba, The King's Horseman, directed by Biyi Bandele.

This is a cinematic adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s acclaimed anti-colonial stage play, Death and the King’s Horseman. Inspired by true life events in the Oyo Empire in the 1940s, Elesin Oba, the king’s chief horseman, prepares to die in order to fulfill his lifelong debt of ritual su***de to accompany the dead Alaafin to the realm of the ancestors.

Beloved Director Biyi Bandele (1967-2022) puts ancient customs on trial in an this film about the ever increasingly post-modern and Western world.

In partnership with PAM CUT, join us at this special Sunday Feb. 11, 6pm screening at the Tomorrow Theater (3530 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202) of "Mambar Pierrette" directed by Rosine Mbakam. Habiba Addo will be sharing a performance piece as a window to Ancient and Contemporary African artistry and culture. And our visiting filmmaker Mmakgosi Anita Tau will engage in a discussion following the film.

Event is FREE, but requires a reserved ticket.

7pm Thursday Feb. 8 documentary screening at PCC Moriarty, "The Last Shelter"
directed by Ousmane Samassekou. The House of Migrants lies in the peaceful city of Gao—a quiet way station for passersby with their eyes set on Europe in hopes of finding opportunity and safety. This film is an emotional portrait of this town and the generous peo .

Link in bio for more festival information.

The festival opening weekend continues with the award winning Best Documentary prize at the Cannes Film Festival, .

Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, "Four Daughters" is part-feature and part-documentary, this unique film is about a Tunisian woman named Olfa and her four daughters, two of whom are drawn to Syria. The efforts to find her daughters is retold by Olfa and her two younger daughters, Eya and Tayssin, along with the reenactment of scenes with actors playing the roles of the two older daughters and sometimes of Olfa herself. An intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission, and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.

Saturday, February 3rd, 7:00 pm, PCC Cascade
Link in bio for more info!

Don’t miss out on this year’s design, great African and Black-owned vendors, and other local business in the Portland metro area at our festival MARKETPLACE!

We kick it off our festival matinee's at PCC Cascade Moriarty Auditorium
every Saturday at 2pm. First film screening up to watch is "Catching Feelings".

The multi-talented South African director Kagiso Lediga ga wrote, directed, and acts in this hillariously irreverant romantic comedy. The story follows an urban young academic and his beautiful wife. Their lives get turned upside down when a celebrated and scandalous older writer moves into their Johannesburg home with them.
In English with English subtitles.

Kicking off our 34th festival in celebration of Black History Month, DJ SOLO will be bringing in African beats at opening night this Friday Feb. 2 at the Hollywood Theatre. Doors open at 6:00pm.
is Ghanaian, who relocated to Oregon in his early 20's. Simply playing house parties was the springboard to his career as a DJ. You can catch DJ Solo here in the Portland Metro, the Pacific NW and beyond, providing the best in entertainment of African grooves.

In celebration of Black History Month, we are kicking off the 34th annual Cascade Festival of African Films at the Hollywood Theatre, this Friday Feb. 2 at 6:30pm! Doors open at 6:00pm.

Kicking off the month long festival is a fashion show, keynote by Portland Community College president Dr. Bennings and 🎥 the first ever Oscar nominated film from Sudan, "Goodbye Julia" directed by Mohamed Kordofani and executive produce by Lupita Nyong'o.

Don’t miss this wonderful cinematic experience! 🎬✨This event is FREE and open to the public!!!

Visit our website www.africanfilmfestival.org to watch the trail and get other details about this FREE festival!

This FRIDAY begins our 5 week long 34th annual Cascade Festival of African Films! We are hosting FREE in-person and an online curated list of films to screen at this year's festival, Feb 2-March 2 2024! Visit africanfilmfestival.org/2024 to see festival events and showtimes.

🎥This year's poster was designed by PCC student Jacob Mauk.

Catch us in conversation with host S.W. Conser on Words And Picture is morning airing from 11:30 to noon PT at 90.7fm in Portland or worldwide. We talk about festival highlights and more.

Listen here: https://kboo.fm/media/119819-cascade-festival-african-films-and-nyback-show

Join us January 19 – 21, with Boom Arts bringing you a South African performance of “The Black Circus of the Republic of Bantu” to Portland, following its run at the Under Radar Festival in New York. This immersive, interactive solo performance was created by 2023 Bessie Award-winning South African artist Albert Ibokwe Khoza, in collaboration with African Entertainers.

We are honored to support this performance at the Ellyn Bye Studio -The Armory Portland Center Stage with Boom Arts, and would love your support by coming out to be moved, leave transformed from this amazing work.

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community members can purchase sliding scale tickets.

Visit https://shorturl.at/dyGMS for more details and tickets!

Here is an incredible African event happening in Portland! Our friends One Big Family Oregon are hosting an evening of celebration, food, and friends. Hope to see you there!