Colorado Welcomes African Filmmakers
By Owen Swallow
In the last few days of August, Colorado’s film scene welcomed the Colorado Diasporic Film Festival for its second year.
The festival is aimed at raising cross-cultural dialogue and elevating filmmakers from across the globe, bringing together American and African filmmakers and storytellers. The initiative has been spearheaded by Ousmane Ndoye, a Senegalese-born filmmaker and director of Askkanwii Film Making Hub Incubator, a Colorado-based non-profit.
The festival was held at several locations, but primarily at the Sie Film Center.
Films showcased included both international and local artists, including Yeshimebet Belaneh, an Ethiopian-born small-business owner and filmmaker who has produced several documentaries about the vibrant immigrant community in Aurora.
On August 30, Ndoye held a panel between Colorado filmmakers and filmmakers from various African countries, including Senegal, Togo, the Ivory Coast, and Tanzania, to name a few. The Colorado Film and Video Association participated in the roundtable.
“Thank you for joining us here in Colorado. It’s delightful to have everyone here,” said Noah Smith, the President of the CFVA. ”I have deep love for Colorado, the filmmaking that’s done here, and the people who make films here. It’s such a joy to have people from around the world join us here in the spirit, art, and industry of films.”
Attendees discussed the rising profile of the various film scenes in Africa, like Nollywood (Nigerian filmmaking) and Tanzania’s “Swahiliwood”. American and African filmmakers alike were interested in elevating voices from around the world and how they could support international filmmakers domestically.
“Understand that it truly means a lot to have folks from all corners of the globe travel here and show your films here and engage with us,” Smith continued. “We want to be part of an international community of filmmaking, art, and creativity. It’s incredibly important to us to continue that mission of engaging with everyone from around the world to see the amazing films, the amazing art that is produced throughout the world. We think we can create deeper connections than just those that are available to us, and we are able through such an incredible format as film. Film is a great unifier and empathy generator in our modern world and an incredibly powerful tool. We love to see all these stories being shown here.”
Skyler McKelvey from the Colorado Office of Film, Television, and Media attended the panel as well.
McKelvey said that he’s been with the Colorado Film Office for almost a year now and that opportunities like the Diasporic Film Fest were a great opportunity to connect local artists with storytellers from across the world and highlight the diversity of Colorado’s film scene.
This is Ndoye’s second year of running the Colorado Diasporic Film Festival, and this year, the event partnered with Downtown Aurora Visual Arts, the Sie Film Festival, and the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado.