PAFF

As the film industry recovered from the surprises from the Academy Awards and started preparing trips to the European film market in Berlin, I took some time out to cover the 28th edition of the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF). Taking place in Black History Month, PAFF is the largest black film festival in the United States. It’s also one of the largest film festivals in Los Angeles, and it’s situated just under 7 miles south of Hollywood in Baldwin Hills. If you’re looking for a wide range of black films from around the world, this is the festival you need to attend.

Whilst it doesn’t have the star status of Cannes, Venice, or Toronto, the Pan African Film Festival did have an incredibly wide range of African and Afro-Latin films in its 225 film schedule. This is exactly why PAFF had been on my calendar for the last few months. Where else can you see films from so many African and Caribbean countries without hopping on a plane?

Anyway, let’s get into it. You’ve probably read some of the reviews posted on the PAFF page, but what was the festival actually like?

The Audiences

Whilst the audience at SBIFF was old and white, I didn’t notice more than a handful of old white viewers throughout the entire 12 day schedule at PAFF. The audience at PAFF was mostly Black. I guess this isn’t surprising given that this is the largest Black film festival in the United States happening in one of the oldest Black communities in Los Angeles. However, it was disappointing to see a lack of support for Black films from the rest of Los Angeles. Especially as these films are almost always overlooked in favor of big Hollywood releases and European art-house films every year.

It was also nice not being the youngest person in the audience for every screening. The majority of the audience was middle aged, but there were a few young faces in almost all of the screenings; either young kids brought by their parents or college students. That being said, the percentage of viewers under 25 was much lower than what I’ve seen at the BFI London Film Festival. To bring it up again, the BFI’s program for offering discounted tickets to anyone under 25 just before the screenings start, would be a great way to fill empty seats whilst boosting a younger audience.

The City

The Pan African Film Festival takes place in Los Angeles, but, if you’ve visited Los Angeles before, you’ll know that it’s a place made up of many small cities. Instead of spreading out from a center like London, Berlin, and Toronto (other big cities with big film festivals) Los Angeles doesn’t have a definitive center. As a result, there isn’t a focus to the city or a center that you can walk from sight to sight on a sightseeing tour. So whilst the Pan African Film Festival takes place in Los Angeles, it’s more helpful to say that it takes place in Baldwin Hills, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles.

Specifically, PAFF takes place at the Cinemark by the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall. It’s a perfect location for a film festival in Los Angeles because: there’s a lot of free parking, there’s a lot of cheap food options in the mall food court, and it’s easy to drive to (yes Los Angeles is a car city). You can also get there on public transport by taking the train to the Expo/Crenshaw metro stop and walking south along Crenshaw. It’s only a 15 minute walk. Although as mentioned, this is Los Angeles, so you’ll probably be the only person walking.

One of the best things about the mall, besides the cheap food options, is the art festival that takes place as part of the film festival. It features a lot of stalls selling African art, clothes, and beauty products. Perfect if you’re looking for a souvenir.

The Experience

Unlike the mess of lines that plague other film festivals, PAFF was pretty well managed. This was probably because it took place in one of Cinemark’s most popular theaters in the country. It has the capacity to accommodate over 3,000 people in it’s 16-18 screens (where all the screenings took place). Plus, buying tickets was a breeze thanks to the ticket selling screens and many box office assistants. PAFF was convenient and stress free; buying tickets, queuing, and getting to your screening was easy.

The proportion of talent attendance was also probably higher than any other festival I’ve attended. Approximately 50% of the screenings were complemented by Q&A’s featuring key talent from the films. This was an even more impressive figure given that most of these artists had traveled from Africa with their first U.S. visas.

The Films

Last, but not least, how were the movies?

Firstly, the selection at PAFF was impressively diverse even though if focused solely on black films. It featured 225 films from 52 countries in 26 languages. To put that into perspective, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival had films from 50 countries, 2 countries behind PAFF. That being said, the quality of the films was pretty erratic. There were a handful of gems from first time filmmakers (see below) which was a welcome surprise, but also a handful of films that appeared to still be in the developmental stage or stuck in clichés.

The feature Films

As mentioned, the feature film selection at PAFF was very hit or miss, which I guess is to be expected from countries without established film industries. I was lucky enough to see 14 feature films during my time at the festival. Here’s how they stacked up. Click the links to read the full reviews.

  1. The Mercy of the Jungle
  2. Tenere
  3. Right Near the Beach
  4. Verde
  5. Black Mexicans
  6. Kings of Mulberry Street
  7. Redemption
  8. Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret
  9. Bigman Wahala
  10. Desrances
  11. Subira
  12. Gonarezhou: The Movie
  13. Kijiji Changu
  14. Ekoua

PAFF’s Best: 1

With a great look, an easy to follow but intelligent story, and two great characters, The Mercy of the Jungle was the best film I saw at PAFF. It was a faultless all rounder that I hope gets a U.S. release in the not too distant future.

The Runner Up: 2

In second place was Tenere a feature documentary from a first time filmmaker. The incredible footage of the migrant journey across the desert on a Mad Max-esque truck is what makes this documentary so awesome.

The Art-House Gems: 3-5

Following up the top two, Right Near the Beach, Verde, and Black Mexicans were three great art-house films that should be welcome at film festivals worldwide. I’m particularly excited to see what the debut filmmakers behind the first two do next.

Popular Films Done Well: 6-10

Kings of Mulberry Street and Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret were two entertaining coming of age stories that all audiences should be able to appreciate. Redemption and Desrances were two thrillers set in bad times – the former an ex-con struggling with a corrupt system and the latter set in a post-revolution post-apocalyptic Cote d’Ivoire. Lastly, Bigman Wahala was the best mainstream comedy that I saw at PAFF, sparked by the rapport between the two main characters.

The Not So Good: 11-14

Subira was the best of the rest, but it was let down by an un-empowering and cheesy story-line. Gonarezhou: The Movie, Ekoua, and Kijiji Changu all suffered from a lack of production quality and the lack of a well thought out script.

The Short Films

In contrast to the feature films at PAFF, the short films from the Pan African and Films in Paradise short series were consistently good. Here’s our rankings for what we saw:

  1. The Blue Cape
  2. She Paradise
  3. My Father Belize
  4. Flight
  5. Handful of Dates
  6. Jamaica y Tamarindo
  7. Songs for My Right Side
  8. Mama Africa
  9. The Deliverer
  10. Dolly

Conclusion

If you live in Los Angeles, you need to add PAFF to your film festival calendar. It’s schedule of African and Black film is unparalleled in the United States. The programmers also obviously made an effort to seek out films from debut filmmakers. Their risks paid off, as there were a bunch of gems that I wouldn’t have had the chance to see otherwise. So put in some effort and come to PAFF in 2021.

PAFF 2022

Whilst we weren’t able to catch any films in-person at the 30th edition of the Pan African Film Festival, the virtual screenings were almost enough to compensate. Like previous years, the international film slate at PAFF 2022 featured films from countries that other festivals in the U.S. rarely represent. Inspired by Burkina Faso and Africa’s world leading FESPACO film festival, PAFF is the best place to see films from the African diaspora in the U.S. So if you’re looking for films from sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Black directors around the world, you need to add the Pan African Film Festival to your list.

The International Films at PAFF 2022

As per previous years, we focused our coverage on the International films screening at PAFF. The Pan African Film Festival typically offers one of the most diverse film festival slates in the U.S., and this year was no different. 55 countries were featured along with 18 languages, including Papiamento, Swahili, Wolof, and Yoruba. The festival also does it part to foster new talent from around the world with 61 of the feature films coming from first time directors. The only improvement we’d love to see in future editions is equal gender parity in the director’s screened, especially within the international categories. Whilst 40% of the films featured were directed by women, it felt like this was boosted by the U.S. and short films.

Quality-wise, most of the films we saw this year beat the worst films from the 2019 and 2020 editions. Here’s how they ranked.


1. Bantu Mama (Dominican Republic)

Bantu Mama was the most polished movie we saw at this year’s edition. It has art-house production quality, memorable acting and characters, and it tells its story incredibly efficiently (clocking at just 77 minutes long). Plus the soundtrack was on point – sonically representing the meshing cultures in a tribute to their shared African heritage.

Read the full review here.


2. Tug of War (Tanzania)

Like Bantu Mama, Tug of War‘s high production quality and art-house film language has helped it to screen at a few international film festivals already. It sets an anti-colonial romance within the picturesque island of Zanzibar and gives it a lot of Wong Kar-Wai style. World Cinema fans will find plenty to appreciate here.

Read the full review here.


3. The Crossing (Burkina Faso)

We loved the relaxed pacing of The Crossing. There’s rarely a moment where it feels preachy or designed to provoke. Instead, the light comedy and hang-out vibes turn the often traumatic topic of Africa to Europe immigration into an easy and humorous watch.

Read the full review here.


Africa & I
4. Africa & I (Morocco, South Africa)

Africa & I is the perfect viewing experience for anyone who wants (or wanted) to travel across the African continent. Othmane Zolati’s journey from Morocco to South Africa is unique and inspirational even if the narrative structure is fairly unoriginal. He shows you how to travel on a budget whilst deconstructing the tourist misconceptions of Africa.


Doutor Gama
5. Doutor Gama (Brazil)

Like Bantu Mama, Doutor Gama features another great soundtrack, this time courtesy of Tigana Santana. His voice gives a melancholy calmness to Dr. Gama’s traumatic life. Whilst the biopic is good, it feels a bit short. It jumps from slavery to an established civil rights lawyer in just a flash, when it could have done with covering more of his life in between.


6. Ayinla (Nigeria)

Ayinla‘s plot is a bit undercooked; hitting beats in Ayinla Omowura’s life without piecing them together. However, the music makes up for it, even if the lyrics aren’t always subtitled. For anyone into Nigerian music, or biopic style movies on making it in the music industry, Ayinla is worth a watch. It’s a decent tribute to both Ayinla Omowura and Abeokuta, the colorful city that both the director and the music star share.

Read the full review here.


7. Zepon (Martinique)

If you’re looking for a well made film from Martinique that gives a sample of Martinican culture, watch Zepon. Whilst it falls into some tired World Cinema tropes, there are some brilliant moments in the film that are supported by light humor that carries the film from start to finish.

Read the full review here.


8. Tales of the Accidental City (Kenya)

The Zoom call format of Tales of the Accidental City is a bit limiting, and already feels dated as quarantine restrictions have largely disappeared. However, if you’re simply looking for a quick Kenyan comedy, this film is worth a watch. It playfully makes fun of a few stereotypes of the city, giving the audience a few laughs and a small understanding of Nairobi society.

Read the full review here.


With No Land
9. With No Land (Ethiopia, Israel)

Israeli history is complicated, as any documentary on its formation and relationship with Palestine and the West can confirm. However, With No Land focuses on an overlooked prejudice – the rejection of the Black Ethiopian Jews into the Israel state despite the Israeli Citizenship Law that grants every Jew in the world the unrestricted right to become an Israeli citizen. However, whilst the topic is interesting and eye-opening, the abundance of talking heads interviewees makes it very dry.


10. Hairareb (Namibia)

Whilst there are some nice shots of the rural/desert landscape, Hairareb failed to live up to the blurb. It’s not about the drought that brought the two main characters together, and it’s not about the newlyweds past lives, or living in rural Namibia. All of the narrative development is sacrificed for the sake of creating domestic melodrama, leaving the film feeling pretty hollow.

Read the full review here.


Juwaa
11. Juwaa (Belgium)

Juwaa is a well produced movie from the African diaspora. However, it’s incredibly bleak. It hits all the genre tropes of misery porn, starting with a traumatic childhood event which destroys the characters later happiness. Whilst there is some sort of resolution at the end, it’s not enough to make up for the depressing time spent watching the rest of the movie.


Visit the Pan African Film Festival 2022 page for all our full reviews from the 30th edition of the festival. Reviews from past editions of PAFF can also be found here: 2020, 2021.