January 31, 2018
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Set in Minneapolis, Minn., home to the
largest Somali immigrant community in the
U.S., the film ‘A Stray’ follows a 19-year-old
Somali refugee named Adan who is kicked
out of his house by his mother for failing to
live up to her expectations.
The worldview of many Americans
is shaped in large part by what they see
on the evening news – but the news can
be an imperfect lens that provides an
incomplete picture of peoples, events,
and cultures. And too often, where the
nations of Africa are concerned, the
picture is even less complete.
In Portland, though, there is a rem-
edy – the Cascade Festival of African
Films. Now in its 28th year, the fes-
tival sponsored by Portland Commu-
nity College offers audiences the rare
and edifying opportunity to see Africa
through the lenses of its own people.
As always, the festival is free and open
to the public.
A slate of 25 new films are sched-
uled for screening from across the Af-
rican continent. The longest-running
African film festival in the United
States draws in excess of 4,000 attend-
ees each year, and has become a fixture
of Portland’s cultural calendar.
African Films
Festival celebrates Black History Month
Kalushi: The Story of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu is an important anti-apart-
heid film told wholly from the black perspective based on a 19-year-old
street hawker whose life is upended when the Soweto Student Uprising
erupted in 1976.
This year’s festival opens with back-
to-back screenings of “’76” (Nigeria,
2016), with visiting Nigerian director
Izu Ojukwu in attendance.
“’76” is a political thriller and love
story – inspired by true events – set
against the backdrop of an attempted
1976 military coup.. Each screening
will be followed by a Q&A with the di-
rector, and to cap off the opening night
in style, a ‘70s-style Afrobeat dance
party will follow the second screening
of “’76,” starting at 11:30 p.m.
Most screenings take place during
the month of February at PCC Cas-
cade’s Moriarty Auditorium, 735 N.
Killingsworth St. Each Saturday, a
popular “Saturday Social Hour,” starts
at 5 p.m., and features live music, food
and an African marketplace.
Seventeen nations from across
the African continent are represent-
C ontinued on P age 16