The Black Europe Film Festival (BEFF), a celebration of cinema by Black European filmmakers, opens Thursday afternoon at the Main Cinema with a free screening of Afro-Caribbean short films accompanied by a Q&A with the directors.
Until Feb. 2, BEFF will host a plethora of screenings at the Main Cinema, Capri Theater and Cedar Cultural Center. Each screening will be accompanied by Q&A sessions with the makers of each film.
You can view the festival’s schedule and purchase tickets online here.
Founded by Afro-Italian filmmaker Fred Kuwornu and University of Minnesota Italian professor Lorenzo Fabbri, the festival is the first of its kind in Minneapolis. They said their goal was to bring the often-overlooked films of Black European filmmakers to American audiences.
“We want to use cinema to represent the rich tapestry that is the Black experience in Europe,” Fabbri said.
Fabbri and Kuwornu said organizers tried to select films from all over Europe, not just from countries like Italy and France, which dominate the European film industry. Films from Austria, Sweden and the French overseas department of Guadeloupe will be shown during the festival.
The festival’s outreach director and Eden Prairie High School teacher, Iman Mohamoud said she was excited to work on the festival because it provides a venue for foreign Black filmmakers to showcase their work in America. She said people are often unaware of the high-quality films produced in Europe and Africa.
“This festival is aimed to try and get as much African representation as possible,” Mohamoud said. “It’s especially important that the people that are telling these stories are people from those communities.”
Mohamoud said organizers made sure to include a variety of features, documentaries and shorts to showcase the artistic and thematic diversity among filmmakers. She said although each film is unquestionably unique, they all deal with deep themes and will spark profound conversations among audience members.
Many of the films have never been screened in Minneapolis or the U.S.
Kuwornu hopes the Q&A sessions will allow filmmakers to connect with American audiences and industry professionals.
Being able to hear African languages and see African films on the silver screen is a very exciting experience because of how rarely African cultures are seen in mainstream media, Mohamoud said. She took her students to a screening of Somali films at another film festival, and the experience inspired her work for BEFF.
Kuwornu, who has made several films exploring different aspects of Black history and culture, said he has always wanted to organize a festival dedicated to the works of Black European filmmakers like himself.
“I just didn’t think it would be in the United States, much less Minneapolis,” he said.
Now having taught a course at the University with Fabbri and relocating to New York, Kuwornu said Minneapolis is a great place to hold the inaugural edition of BEFF because of the city’s efforts to promote Black initiatives, its large African population and its film-loving audiences.
“What better way to kick off Black History month than attending a film festival like this and connecting with filmmakers that have traveled all the way here to have discussions?” Mohamoud said.
