It is an institution celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The Amiens International Film Festival, which specializes in so-called “southern” film, a benchmark for African film, was created in 1980. The 2020 edition opened its doors in a context darkened by the Covide epidemic and containment.
In 40 years, the Amiens Festival has helped make great African filmmakers famous in France. This release, from November 13 to 21, should have been a party, but the Covid-19 pandemic demands, everything happens on the internet.
The investment: give voice to young filmmakers
The 28 films in the competition (which includes the Congolese Dieudo Hamadi and Central African Elvis S. Ngaibino) will still be available, according to an editorial line that is true to the spirit of origin, says Annouchka de Andrade, the festival’s artistic director:
“In the 1980s, when this festival was built, there were not many ways to see these films. There have been tributes, retrospective, especially by Souleymane Cissé, Abderrahmane Sissako or Mahamat Saleh Haroun, but it was also an opportunity to discover young filmmakers. That was the initiative: to give a voice to young filmmakers and not just to confirmed filmmakers. “
Waiting for the rooms to reopen
To blow out the festival’s 40 candles, Annouchka de Andrade had designed an ambitious program, rich in retrospect, to celebrate Cheick Doukouré, René Vautier or even Ousmane Sembène. But for these, festival-goers must be patient: the retrospective is actually closed until the halls reopen.
►The winners of the Amiens International Film Festival will be announced on November 21.
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