the african film festival presents: flora gomes and sarah maldoror april 30 - may 4, 1999 photo: THE BLUE EYES OF YONTA / UDJU AZUL DI YONTA

Organized by Richard Peña and the African Film Festival, Inc. (Mahen Bonetti, Don Webster, Maureen Slattery, Sharan Sklar and Tunde Giwa). Special thanks to the Embassy of Portugal in Washington and IPACA (the Portuguese Film Institute) in Lisbon. Air Afrique provides transportation, and additional support comes from the Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Chase Manhattan Foundation and Piper Heidsieck. Our continuing exploration and celebration of African filmmaking moves to the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands, nations whose long struggles for independence continue to reverberate in daily life. This program continues at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (718-638-5000) on May 8 and 9. calendar

TREE OF BLOOD / PO DI SANGUI TREE OF BLOOD / PO DI SANGUI THE BLUE EYES OF YONTA / UDJU AZUL DI YONTA DEATH DENIED / MORTU NEGA SAMBIZANGA

TREE OF BLOOD / PO DI SANGUI Flora Gomes,Guinea-Bissau, 1996; 90m In the village of Amanha Lundju, a new tree is planted for every new birth--and the lives of human and tree are believed to be inextricable. But wood has become scarce, and trees are falling left and right. New economics are destroying the spiritual and physical balance of nature. Wise man Calacalado must lead his people into the desert on a quest to find new seed--and restore that balance. Director Gomes closes in on the expressive faces and eyes of his striking cast, and utilizes remarkably fluid camerawork to move this almost biblical parable about the collision of ancient with modern realities. Fri April 30: 2 pm & 6:30 pm Sat May 2: 8:45 pm; Tues May 4: 4 pm THE BLUE EYES OF YONTA / UDJU AZUL DI YONTA Flora Gomes, Guinea-Bissau, 1992; 90m Yonta is a beautiful young woman growing up in the city of Bissau a generation after her nation has gained independence. She develops a secret crush on Vicente, a good friend of her parents and a hero of their country's struggle. Meanwhile, Yonta herself has a secret admirer, a shy young man name Zé who sends her love letters copied from a Scandinavian book (hence, her "beautiful blue eyes"). Gomes' film is a lovely, delicate work about youthful illusions--both personal and national--that powerfully demonstrates the director's talent for eliciting wonderfully nuanced performances from his actors. Fri April 30: 4 pm & 9 pm Sat May 1: 8:45 pm; Tues May 4: 2 pm DEATH DENIED / MORTU NEGA Flora Gomes, Guinea-Bissau, 1988, 85m Four years after Diminga (Bya Gomes) and her lover (Tunu Eugenio Almada) are separated by the struggle for independence from Portugal, Sako returns, wounded in battle. The nation suffers through a terrible drought, famine and more political divisiveness. Diminga and a great crowd pray for rain during a ceremony that celebrates both the dead and the living. Sat May 1: 4 pm; Sun May 2: 6:30 pm Mon May 3: 4 pm & 8:45 pm SAMBIZANGA Sarah Maldoror, France, 1972; 97m Domingo, a nationalist militant, is arrested and tortured by the Portuguese during the 1960s. Meanwhile, his wife is desperately searching for him in the villages and the city prisons. Her journey becomes a powerful metaphor for the sufferings of the Angolan people. A film so powerful that it was shown for the first time in Angola only after independence. Sat May 1: 6:15 pm; Sun May 2: 4 pm; Mon May 3: 2 pm & 6:15 pm