Ladima Adiaha Award Shortlist

This documentary project aims to correct the distorted vision that contemporary Italy has of its own Afro-descendant children and hopes to establish a healthier and more constructive space of dialogue regarding ‘identity’ issues in the country and abroad especially in this particular socio-political and historical period of time. What does it mean to grow up in Italy, today, as an afro-descendant child of immigrants? From North to South, Crossing the color line tells their stories, experiences, and points of view. The documentary was thought as a ‘safe space’ where Italian afro-descendants could freely express themselves and rebuild together a first-person narrative: a new Italian youth, with a rich identity, complex and sometimes hesitant, talks about roots, self-acceptance, nationality and dual belonging. Beyond the color line, those testimonies challenge the existing idea of ‘italianity’ and ask to rethink the sense of belonging to a national identity, redefining the traditional geographical and political boundaries, as contemporary Italy now has another face, which also looks like them.

Directed by Sabrina Onana

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/crossingthecolorline2

Sparking transformation, the beautifully observed film, Mother City is a deeply human and often heart-breaking look at the politics of urbanism. The filmmakers follow activists of the Reclaim the City movement over six years as they make Cape Town’s abandoned spaces their home, and use it as a base from which to lobby for the needs of the working class.

Directed by Miki Redelinghuys & Pearlie Joubert

Produced by Kethiwe Ngcobo

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdiCr3t5V98

In Tunisia, a silent HIV epidemic spreads within the country’s repressed queer community, hidden beneath layers of societal stigma and discrimination. The film tells the stories of two individuals who navigate the harsh realities of living in a country where their identities are illegal, and healthcare is inaccessible due to fear and shame. As the virus spreads, so does the isolation, forcing the community to confront not only the epidemic but the deep-rooted prejudice and neglect that fuels it.

Directed by Lina Hamouda, Minyar Mrabti, Yesmine Fersi

4. Rebeuss, Chapter 11

On the night of Tuesday, August 27, 2019,18-year-old Cheikh Ndiaye and 19-year-old Babacar Mané died in Rebeuss Central Prison in Dakar. This film questions the Senegalese prison system. Cheikh and Babacar are dead, but thousands of their fellow citizens continue to serve their sentences in appalling conditions. Rebeuss, Room 11 combines documentary and animation to spark debate and urge authorities to respond to these recurring human rights

Directed by Mame Woury Thioubou

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgiX-RbMie4

Follows a youth girl’s soccer team and the passionate coach who leads them.

Directed by Amina Chady

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgN7Bd3L33Y