The title of this programme references a painting by artist Wifredo Lam, who is the subject of the first film, a brief report of an exhibition at the Artcurial gallery in Paris. It is followed by Sarah Maldoror’s debut, which lets bodies and the free jazz of the Art Ensemble of Chicago give voice to the resistance of the Angolan people against Portuguese colonialism. An interview with Assia Djebar, about her novel Ombre sultane finds the Algerian author discussing the role of women in the Arab and Muslim world. A group of teenagers attempting to win a competition to see AC Milan rap to music by jazz musician and civil rights icon Archie Shepp. The last film in the programme is dedicated to Haitian artist-composer Toto Bissainthe, and is a fantasy about the origins of cinema and the way Creole cinema is viewed. Wifredo Lam France. 1980. Sarah Maldoror. 4min. Video. With English subtitles Monangambééé Angola-Algeria. 1969. Sarah Maldoror. 17min. Digital 4K (restoration). With English subtitles. Restored in 2024 with the support of Neubauer and the Art Institute of Chicago Assia Djebar France-Algeria. 1987. Sarah Maldoror. 7min. Digital. With English subtitles Scala Milan A.C. France-Italy. 2003. Sarah Maldoror. 17min. Video. With English subtitles L’enfant cinéma France. 1996. Sarah Maldoror. 23min. Video. With English subtitles Screen: NFT2. Screening details: English language subtitles.
