Grassroots Filmmaking and African Cinema

On the occasion of Wakaliga Uganda’s exhibition at the Renaissance Society, join us for an evening discussion featuring Akin Adesokan, Jheanelle Brown, and Alan “Ssali” Hofmanis. Bringing different backgrounds and a depth of knowledge, the three speakers will offer their perspectives on the Kampala-based film collective’s movies and talk about their methods in relation to movements in grassroots filmmaking and African cinema.

Akin Adesokan is a novelist, scholar, and professor at Indiana University. In his multidisciplinary work, Adesokan has explored conceptual patterns in Nollywood and African cinema and the cultural consequences of globalization, among many other subjects.

Jheanelle Brown is a film curator, educator, and writer in Los Angeles, whose curatorial practice creates frameworks to explore the boundlessness of Black life in experimental and non-fiction film and video. She is on faculty at California Institute of the Arts and curates the Film at REDCAT program.

Alan “Ssali” Hofmanis is the co-founder (with filmmaker Isaac Nabwana) of Wakaliwood, the Ugandan action film collective. He is currently working with filmmakers in Afghanistan, Peru, Ghana, Siberia and India to introduce a new wave of international genre cinema. Formerly, he served as Director of Programing for the Lake Placid Film Festival.

This program includes live captioning.