PANEL: VUTA N’KUVUTE  – FILM AND/AS [TRANSLATED] LITERATURE

with Amil Shivji (director), Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (author), Rama Thiaw (filmmaker). Moderated by Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard (curator)
With the kind support of the German Africa Foundation
free admission

SUN 17 NOV
18:40 SINEMA TRANSTOPIA 

Successful literary adaptations are characterized by a sensitive and responsible approach that seeks to find the appropriate cinematic equivalent of the literary qualities of the original text. The media of literature and film are in a constant state of tension – whether productive and synergetic or competitive. Following the screening of VUTA N’KUVUTE (TUG OF WAR), the film adaptation of the award-winning Swahili novel of 1999 of the same name by Adam Shafi, Amil Shivji, the Tanzanian director of the film, the Kenyan novelist Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and the Senegalese filmmaker Rama Thiaw, will talk with curator Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard. The discussion will revolve around the narration of African history/s, the pitfalls and freedoms of narratives and the possibilities of translation.

AMIL SHIVJI was born in Tanzania and studied Fine Arts at York University in Toronto. His debut feature film T-JUNCTION (2017) opened the Zanzibar International Film Festival and won three awards. His latest production TUG OF WAR won Best Picture at the Mashariki African Film Festival in Rwanda and the Oumarou Ganda Prize at FESPACO 2021. 

NADJA OFUATEY-ALAZARD is a German curator and co-managing director/artistic director of the black empowerment organization Each One Teach One (EOTO).

ADHIAMBO OWUOR is an award-winning Kenyan author of novels, short stories, and essays who also has a passion for film.

RAMA THIAW is a Senegalese filmmaker, artist and poet, who champions a cinema that combines strong messages with social engagement.