The Real Life Documentary Festival,
4th edition | Awards 2010
The Walter Mosley Award 2010
Jury
- Fara Awindor, Filmmaker and Manager at NAFTI (President of the Jury)
- Eleonor Sylla, Director of the Goethe Institut in Accra
- Ed Guerrero, Professor at NYU
The Walter Mosley Award honors the best documentary film from the competitive selection that shares new lights on contemporary theme on Africa and African Diaspora. Thanks to the donation of the recognized American writer Walter Mosley the filmmaker will receive $5,000.
The winner is:
Yemane Demissie (Ethiopy)
TWILIGHT REVELATIONS: Episodes In The Life & Times Of Emperor Haile Selassie
(58 mins, Ethiopia 2009)
Twilight Revelations: Episodes in the Life & Times of Emperor Haile Selassie is documentary film that explores and analyzes watershed events during the reign of the Ethiopian emperor. Using a wealth of archival footage and photographs, the film reexamines the imperial administration through the eyes of numerous individuals who played important roles in the monarchy. The featured witnesses include attorneys, ministers of education, information and planning, a general, a Supreme Court justice, members of the royal family, the Emperor’s favorite pilot, parliamentarians, high-ranking civil servants, and members of the imperial household. The observations and narratives of these individuals shed new light on the personality, leadership style and humanity of the last and final Ethiopian emperor.
The AfroPoP Prize 2010
The AfroPop Prize. The National Black Programming Consortium sponsors the AfroPop award for REAL LIFE Documentary Film Festival. “AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange” is a US based public television show featuring independent documentaries and short films about life art and culture from the contemporary African Diaspora. Hosted by Idris Elba, “AfroPop” is the only series on US Public Television that focuses solely on stories about the African Diaspora. The winner of the AfroPop award will be offered a 3 years contract worth up to $8000.
The winner
for the AfroPop prize is:
Femi Odugbemi (Nigeria)
The award goes to Femi for ‘Bariga Boy’! A solid portrait of a rising artist whose work should be known internationally.”
Leslie Fields-Cruz, Programming Director of NBPC
BARIGA BOY
(26 mins, Nigeria 2010))
The poverty and deprivation of ghetto life is no barrier, rather it is the source of inspiration for the dynamic and politically-charged dance drama of Segun Adefila and the Crown Troupe. From the inner city slums of Bariga in Lagos, Adefila and an unlikely band of street performers create a guerilla theatre of inspiring music and dance drama with themes that parody the sensitive contradictions of the politics and government of Nigeria.
Featuring landmark music and dance performances and incisive commentaries from leading Nigeria culture personalities such as Ahmed Yerima, Francesca Emmanuel, Duro Oni, Tunde Kelani and Jahman Anikulapo,“Bariga Boy” is a gripping experience of how one artiste’s creative consciousness is fired by the urban ghetto experience.
The Joe Ampah Award 2010
Jury
- Femi Odugbemi, filmmaker (President of the Jury)
- Yemane Demissie, filmmaker
- Laurene Addy, editor
The Joe Ampah Award is a $1,000 award in memory of one of our staunchest supporters whose enthusiasm for our success was inspiring. We named this award in his honor for a constituency he hoped we would be able to inspire—students in African film schools.
The winner is:
Camp Healing for its provocative treatment of very sensitive subject, for its capacity to engender change and for its potential to inspire other young filmmakers to recognise the documentary form as a powerful voice for change in the african society.”
Femi Odugbemi, President of the Jury
Camp Healing
by Elizabeth E.K. Coleman
The film is a final year NAFTI documentary that focuses on activities of some Healing Camps, which attempt to treat psychiatric patients. The video tackles the potential conflict entailed in such spiritual healing and discusses the human right implications of their enterprise.
Special mention
A special mention was given to the film ME BRo Mi Ba (My white baby) by Akosua Adoma Owusu, for its outstanding cinematic imagery and visual narrative.”
Femi Odugbemi, President of the Jury
Me Broni Ba (My white baby)
(22 mins, Ghana/US, 2009)
This film is a lyrical portrait of hair salons in Kumasi, Ghana. The tangled legacy of European colonialism in Africa is revealed in images of women practicing hair braiding on discarded white baby dolls from the West. The film uncovers the meaning behind the Akan term of endearment, me broni ba, which means “my white baby.”
