Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, United States, that states its goal is to promote "cultural understanding among peoples of African descent" through exhibiting art and film. It hosts a

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

and an

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

in Los Angeles in February of each year. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' in 2013 called the film festival "the largest black film festival" in the United States.

Background

The festival was founded in 1992 by actors

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

Ja'net Dubois Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5 – February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois (), was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood ...

, and executive director Ayuko Babu. Babu had no ties to Hollywood and was working as a financial consultant before he contributed to finding the film festival. Glover and actress

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

co-hosted the festival in 1992. One of the main goals was to expose others to African films because many of the films were not being screened and going unnoticed. Babu states, "A showcase festival, maybe two of them. First, try one in Hollywood. That would get the attention of the movie crowd and would stimulate international interest. Then, try Washington that would draw in the political community." Another goal was to connect other African people to each other because there is so much diversity amongst African people. It featured over by Black directors from four continents. The ''

'' said the films had universal themes as well as African themes: "the overthrow of colonial governments, the clash between modern values and traditional values, and tales of gifted artists". Films at the first festival included ''

Sarraounia Sarraounia Mangou was a chief/priestess of the animist Azna subgroup of the Hausa, who fought French colonial troops of the Voulet–Chanoine Mission at the Battle of Lougou (in present-day Niger) in 1899. Biography ''Sarraounia'' means '' ...

'', ''Heritage Africa'', and ''Lord of the Street''. In 2013, the film festival attracted approximately , and the arts festival attracted around 75,000. In 2014, the film festival featured from . The films included feature-length documentaries, short documentaries, narrative feature films, narrative short films, and web series.

Films

Tsotsi (2005)

Directed by

Gavin Hood Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963) is a South African filmmaker, and actor, best known for writing and directing '' Tsotsi'' (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He also directed the films '' X-Men Origins: Wolver ...

, the film shows what life is like in South Africa as a youth. The themes revolved around violence, redemption, and humanity.

Dry (2014)

Directed by

Stephanie Okereke Stephanie Okereke Linus (born as Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke; 2 October 1982) is a Nigerian actress, film director and model. She has received several awards and nominations for her work as an actress, including the 2003 Reel Award for Best Actr ...

, which is about child marriage and is inspired by a true story. Okereke first learned about child marriage going on in Nigeria when she attended college. She wanted to bring this issue to the media to bring awareness. It got so much attention that Gambia's government banned child marriage.

Notable directors and actors

Joseph Gaï Ramaka Joseph Gaï Ramaka (Jo(e) Gaï Ramaka/Joseph Gaye Ramaka, born 9 November 1952 in Saint Louis, Senegal) is a Senegalese film director, screen writer and film producer. Biography Gaï Ramaka studied visual anthropology at the Paris School for Adv ...

Omari Hardwick Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James St. Patrick / Ghost, the protagonist of Starz's ''Power'' and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's ''Army of the Dead'' (2021). He is also kn ...

Nicole Beharie Nicole Beharie is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in films such as the drama '' American Violet'' (2008), the psychological drama ''Shame'' (2011), the biographical sports drama '' 42'' (2013), and the independent d ...

References

External links

* African-American film festivals African Americans in California Film festivals in Los Angeles

Film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

Film festivals established in 1992 Pan-Africanism in the Caribbean {{US-film-festival-stub