Within the course of just a few years, the Sahel has become a region marked by dangerous connections between fundamentalist religion, terrorism, and politics. Before this socio-political backdrop, the tenth edition of AFRIKAMERA – Current Cinema from Africa presents a selection of current features and documentaries that grapple with the political and social challenges which the Sahel faces.

The festival opens with WÙLU, the feature debut by Franco-Malian director Daouda Coulibaly (Mali/France 2016, 13.11., screening attended by leading actor Ibrahim Koma & 17.11.). 20-year-old Ladji is a minibus driver in the Malian capital of Bamako and works hard to free his sister Aminata from prostitution. When he is denied a promotion, he decides to enter the more lucrative drug business and quickly becomes a big shot in regional drug dealing circles. Yet the price Ladji eventually pays is high.

French filmmaker and scriptwriter Pascale Ferran has made four features and written numerous screenplays, yet seeing a new film of hers in the cinema is a rare treat, as a lot of time usually passes between each individual title appearing. After she completed her studies, it took a full ten years before PETITS ARRANGEMENTS AVEC LES MORTS finally premiered in 1994, which won the prize for best debut film in Cannes. While L'ÂGE DES POSSIBLES (1995), which received an award in Venice, followed just a short time later, ten years were again to pass before the release of her multi-award winning literary adaptation LADY CHATTERLEY. Another eight years later, she made a brilliant return with 2014's BIRD PEOPLE. As her must-see oeuvre as a director and screenwriter is almost completely unknown in Germany with the exception of LADY CHATTERLEY, Arsenal is dedicating a retrospective to Pascale Ferran. It offers audiences the opportunity to follow both strands of her work and also shines a light on the very category of authorship in cinema – by way of her own four films as well as the debut films of her former student colleagues Arnaud Desplechin and Mathieu Amalric together with an animated film, for all of which she worked on the script. We are very happy that Pascale Ferran will be our guest at Arsenal on November 3. & 4.