This year's Film Africa festival starts this Thursday and carries on for 10 days of 70 African films, 35 leading filmmakers offering Q&As, free professional workshops, and 9 African music nights. I'm really excited for this rare (and intense given the short timespan) opportunity to see so many African films that I may otherwise never have heard of. Asilia has been working with the festival team once again, to produce the print and digital communications materials so I've been looking at the great selection of films for a while now, trying to shorten my must-see list (hard!). One thing I've noticed is the number of films this year that in some way deal with sex.
Boddhi Satva, Central African Republic-born DJ/Producer has made some special music with his recent release, Ancestral Soul Interpretations Part 1. A collection of songs reworked with his distinct Ancestral Soul sound, it features artists including Bjork, Drake, Erykah Badu, Frank Ocean, Gyptian, Jill Scott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Radiohead, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder and Usher!
As you may know, I LOVE house music with soul and this description of Boddhi's sound is quite close to explaining why: "a generous and extravagant music that tells real life stories as well as makes people give their whole self up to limitless and code-stripped styles of dance – ritualistic, erotic, ecstatic, jubilant."
Listen to and download Ancestral Soul Interpretationshere or here and download it for free on Boddhi's site. You can also download Boddhi's single Nankoumanjan featuring Malian singer Mangala Camara here – video below (videos here for those reading via RSS):
Purchase Boddhi Satva's latest album Invocation on iTunes or Amazon.
This Saturday is the last day to check out Happening to Be, an exhibition showcasing the work of 5 distinguished alumni of University of the Arts London. Who happen to be black.
I'm so happy to bring you this beautiful music from Vusa Mkhaya today. The founding member of award-winning vocal trio Insingizi last month released his first international solo release, Vocalism. A celebration of his favourite instrument, Vusa says, "Voices are, for me, the best and the first instrument. When I think of music I think voice."
All sorts of homecomings
Fusing elements of Zimbabwean and European tradition, the album at some point draws upon yodelling and Hungarian folk music and Vusa collaborates in part with local musicians in Bulawayo, where his career began.
"In Zimbabwe we have a saying, 'a child belongs to everyone in the village'. This is how I felt working on Vocalism in Bulawayo. When friends came in and contributed some ideas, they did not see the album as Vusa's ‘child’, but as theirs too. My success is their success and my struggle is their struggle."
"Bulawayo has all these great voices which have not been heard outside the city. I hope that the people that sing on the album will now be heard beyond the city of Bulawayo and Zimbabwe. I am really happy doing this here, and I will always [come back to] Bulawayo because this is the city that I love the most; I’ve been to so many cities around the world and, no offense to the other great cities that I’ve been to, but Bulawayo ‘does it’ for me, and I’m happy that, finally, we’ve come home."
Listen/watch to what he's talking about (click here if reading via RSS):
Yesterday I had the honour of celebrating the first every International Day of the Girl with hundreds of amazing women and girls at London's Southbank Centre. I was one of a group of around 180 mentors including physicists, authors, fashion designers, airline pilots, radio presenters, Team GB olympians, entrepreneurs, reverends, activists, bloggers and more – a very diverse and interesting group of women! We mentored 11-18 year olds while on the London Eye. Elsewhere in the world, nations showed their solidarity with girls by turning their landmarks pink (including the pyramids in Egypt).
Because I am a Girl
The event was related to the Women of the World (WOW) festival which you'll have read me go on about earlier this year. It was driven by charity Plan UK who are campaigning for the education of girls to be a top development priority (you can find out more about Because I am a Girl and sign their petition).
For the occassion, I thought I'd share some other girl-dedicated initiatives:
The Girl Effect
The Girl Effect is a MOVEMENT. It's about about ending poverty. And it's about doing so by investing in girls: "The Girl Effect is about girls. And boys. And moms and dads and villages and towns and countries"
Here's a girl (a woman actually) I know who's on a mission to inspire girls and young women in Kenya that they can pursue their dream careers with confidence. Afri-girl aims to open girls up to the opportunities available to them by sharing the stories of those who have gone for it already.
I had a few interesting discussions yesterday, about feminism, activism and an observed apathy towards pushing for change. It's been the theme of my week actually. We get frustrated about things and sometimes we ignore the things we wish were different, sometimes we just complain but, why don't we get up and DO? Why don't we act on creating the change we want? I've been reflecting about how I can be more active in the interest of the things that I stand for.
Oftentimes the desire to support African design – and production in general – is there but, the products aren't always very accessible. In this "Buy African" series, I'll be highlighting various outlets to help you turn your intentions into action.
The South is Blooming shares the creative talent of contemporary makers in southern Africa with the world. The online boutique showcases an eclectic range of craft and design including fashion accessories, books, music, toys and more.
We're well in to Black History Month in the UK now. If you follow Afri-love on Facebook or Google+, you'll have already seen some of related links and event notices from me. Here are some more that have caught my eye …
With rhythmic movements and a focus on breath, Afrikan yoga is noted as a system of healing and transformational self-development with its origins rooted in ancient Egypt. Its emphasis is on movement, dance, and the awareness of muscles and internal organs.
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