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Still from A MAN AND A WOMAN

A look back at UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME | A MAN AND A WOMAN by Claude Lelouch

Movie makers should pay attention to the elegant storytelling of this 1966 French film, which stars Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant

BY AUSTIN BURBRIDGE. LOS ANGELES (CINEMA MINIMA) — Of course it’s pure pop — but done with deceptively simple, even casual technique, and the kind of light touch that comes from tremendous self-assurance. One is tempted to remark that its images seem to have been plucked from advertising, except that — such was the influence of the film — the advertising of the era may have been inspired by the film, rather than the other way around.

Making love, winning the audience

The real “killer” moment in this picture — which otherwise seems so insubstantial as to be hardly a movie at all, but a daydream of a movie — is the scene in which the man and the woman make love. At the time it was an extraordinary, even audacious moment in a movie. Here’s why.

In the midst of lovemaking, the man senses — from a nearly imperceptible change in the woman’s demeanor — that something is wrong. He stops: She is thinking of her late husband.

This was — and still is — one of the very few moments in cinema wherein a scene of lovemaking advances the story, rather than interrupting it. Most scenes of lovemaking are completely unnecessary, because the significance is merely the fact it occurs at all; not in the details of how it is accomplished.

Sex and the storyteller

It is not a solecism to show a sexual act in a movie, but it does present a serious, technical, narrative problem for movie makers: After a spectacle of sexual congress has completely distracted an audience, the story will have stopped dead in its tracks. How to get a movie started again, after that? That is a trick that requires finesse — and a storyteller’s cunning, of which writer-director Claude Lelouch and screenwriter Pierre Uytterhoeven have an abundance.

Detail and sensitivity

This part of the story shows a level of detail and sensitivity which rarely occurs in cinema inside or outside the bedroom.

Success and Influence

I don’t think American cinema was ever the same after this movie was shown. It was a hit in art-house theaters in the USA; it took two Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Writing, Story, and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen; but what made it not only successful but vastly influential, was that the ABC Television network showed the movie in prime time, to an audience far larger than what it could have gained in theaters — embedding it — and its candid, casual use of intimacy — into popular taste.

And of course, there is that amazing, light, but elegant theme by composer Francis Lai! It makes American pop movie scores seem turgid and overbearing.

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Lola Kenya Screen

6th Lola Kenya Screen Film Festival Ends As Belgium, Madagascar Win Top Prizes

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BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — The sixth edition of the annual Lola Kenya Screen — audiovisual media festival, skill-development mentorship programme and market for children and youth in eastern Africa — has wound up in Nairobi with the best children’s film and best youth films going to Belgium and Madagascar, respectively.

Lola Kenya Screen logo Though all the 11 competitors for the Golden Mboni Award for the best children’s film were well-crafted, creative films, Belgium’s LE MAILLOT DE CRISTIANO | CRISTIANO RONALDO’S SHIRT by Vincent Bruno took away the prize in a tightly contested battle.

Italy and Spain had two entries each in contest that also had three entries from Kenya, and one each from Belgium, Palestine, and USA.

Presented for the third time since its inauguration in 2009, the best youth film prize — the 14-Plus Award — went to Madagascar’s DZAOMALAZA ET LE SAPHIR BLEU|DZAOMALAZA AND THE BLUE STONE by Andriamanisa Radoniaina and Mamihasina Raminosoa; the second and third prizes in the category went to LA PLAYA DE BERLIN|CANNON BEACH by Manuel Calvo and MI OTRA MITAD|MY OTHER HALF by Beatriz Sanchis, both of Spain, in that order.

The full list of the awards announced in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are:

  • Golden Mboni for the best children’s film: LE MAILLOT DE CRISTIANO|CRISTANO RONALDO’S SHIRT, Vincent Bruno, Belgium.
  • Silver Mboni for the second best children’s film: PIZZANGRILLO|LIGHTHEARTED BOY, Marco Gianfreda, Italy.
  • Bronze Mboni for the third best children’s film: VOLTERETA|SOMERSAULT, Alex Morants, Spain.
  • 14-Plus Award for the best youth film: Dzaomalaza et LE SAPHIR BLEU|DZAOMALAZA AND THE BLUE STONE, Mamihasina Raminosoa and Andriamanisa Radoniaina, Madagascar.
  • 14-Plus Award for the second best youth film: LA PLAYA DE BERLIN|CANNON BEACH, Manuel Calvo, Spain.
  • 14-Plus Award for the third best youth film: MI OTRA MITAD|MY OTHER HALF, Beatriz Sanchis, Spain.
  • 14-Plus Award Special Commendation: BIZZAIRE, Martin Ndichu, Kenya.
  • Special Youth Prize: OMBETJA YEHINGA ORGANISATION, Philippe Talavera, Namibia.
  • Best Student Film: JUTRO|TOMORROW, Bartosz Kruhlik, Poland.
  • Most Experimental Film: VOLTERETA|SOMERSAULT, Alex Morante, Spain.
  • Best Documentary: PARADISO, Alessandro Negrini, Northern Ireland.
  • Best Documentary Special Commendation: MBAMBU AND THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON, Lucian and Natasa Muntean, Serbia.
  • Best Animation: GAMBA TRISTA|LOSER LEG, Francesco Filippi, Italy.
  • Best Kenyan Film: ZEBU AND THE PHOTOFISH, Zipporah Nyaruri, Kenya.
  • Best Children’s Rights Film: MUTE, Muayad Alayan, Palestine.
  • 5th Kids for Kids Festival Africa Prizes: MONSTERS OF THE NEW AGE, Brian Saruni, Kenya; VANESSA’S DREAM, Adede Hawi and Daki Mohammed, Kenya; PASSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, Mueni Muthama, Kenya.

Out of the more than 300 films from 102 countries sent to Nairobi for festival consideration, 44 were selected for the Golden Mboni Award for the best children’s film and 14-Plus Award for the best youth film competition.

In all, the selected films were screened in 10 categories: Golden Mboni Award for the best children’s film Competition , 14-Plus Award for the best youth film Competition, Best Student Film Competition, Kids for Kids Festival Africa competition, Best Documentary Film Competition, Films by Children for Children, Eastern Africa Prism, Wold Panorama, Special Focus (Busan International Kids’ Festival productions, and The Documentary Center, George Washington University).

Held August 8-13, 2011 on the theme “Films for Enjoyment, Learning and Participation in the 21st Century,” the 6th Lola Kenya Screen was supported by ComMattersKenya and ArtMatters.Info. It ended in Nairobi, Kenya, on August 13, 2011.

Detailed information on Lola Kenya Screen — including still photos and video clips — is available online:

Le Maillot De Cristiano

Films Made by Children at Lola Kenya Screen Show in South Korea, Australia, Iran, Kenya

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BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — Lola Kenya Screen productions — HAPPY TIMES by Elaine Nesbitt, MANANI OGRES by Samuel Musembi, Joseph Hongo, Marcus Kang’ethe and Norrick Mwangi, and SANTOS THE SURVIVOR by Rupinder Jagdev — have been selected for the Ready Action! competition section of the 6th Busan International Kids’ Film Festival in Busan, South Korea. Seven other Lola Kenya Children’s Screen productions shall show in the Kids For Kids Festival section as part of the global Kids For Kids Festival programme.

Additionally, Lola Kenya Screen’s most successful production — LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS — that has been to the nook and cranny of the four corners of the globe, has been selected for the Jump Cut screening programme of the 2011 Bayside Film Festival that holds August 17-20, 2011 at Palace Brighton Bay, Bay Street, Brighton, Victoria, Australia.

LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS that was made in Kiswahili in 2007 (and reformatted for TV broadcasting with the help of UNESCO in 2010) by Adede Hawi, Samora Oundo and Karama Ogova has played on virtually every continent. When three non-literate friends decide to learn English in an attempt to impress, little do they know they are scooping red hot coals into their lap. The story is simply told from the children’s own perspective. Realised under the guidance of Finnish Maikki Kantola with the support of the Danish Film Institute, LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS was in December 2010 shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogota, Colombia where it was shown to more than 1500 boys and girls. The film has won awards and accolades across the world where it has been screened. It continues to be one of Lola Kenya Screen’s all-time favourites with children in Oceania, South America, North America, South-East Asia and even in the Middle East.

While HAPPY TIMES, MANANI OGRES and LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS are films made by children aged 6-15 years, SANTOS THE SURVIVOR is one of the six short documentaries for children and youth made by practicing filmmakers during a Lola Kenya Screen film production workshop supported by the Jan Vrijman Fund/IDFA. This was one of the many hands-on workshops conducted by Duco Tellegen nd Meike Statema with the aim of sensitising practitioners in the film sector on the need for creating specialised documentary film content for hildren and youth in 2008. Jagdev’s SANTOS THE SURVIVOR has been a favourite on the world film festival circuit. It was part of the Jan Vrijman Fund documentary tour in various film festivals in 2010 after being nominated for best short documentary film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria in 2009.

With more than 32 films produced, Lola Kenya Screen has also been promoting the productions from Kenya through the weekly community screenings that have since October 2011 provided dwellers in Nairobi’s Kibera and Mathare informal settlements with a chance to watch films made by children and youth. Lola Kenya Screen’s productions that address issues such as caring for the environment, exploring and nurturing children’s talent as well as the benefits and threats of technological advancement are part of this initiative.

PASSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, FACEBOK ERA, HOUSE OF TALENT, BROTHER…BROTHER (THE QUIET KATOTO), LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS, THE UNENDING ADVENTURE, and SANTOS THE SURVIVOR have all been shown in the informal settlements to much acclaim from the audience comprising children, youth, and adults.

Lola Kenya Screen is focused on film 365 days a year through weekly skill-development mentorship programmes in schools, school/community mobile cinema, monthly Lola Kenya Screen Film Forum, annual Lola Kenya Screen film festival, and special audiovisual media outreach programmes. The mobile cinema programme covers the breadth and width of the Nairobi metropolitan area, including the Mathare and Kibera informal settlements.

While Lola Kenya Screen is an initiative that explores, identifies, nurtures, and flaunts creative talent among children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen also champions the need to see the Kenya and eastern African film sector mature into a veritable film industry. Consequently, this Nairobi-based initiative that serves children and youth in the Horn, Great Lakes and Southern Africa is a member of the International Centre of Cinema for Children and Young People (CIFEJ) — an organisation founded in 1955 under the auspices of UNESCO and UNICEF to promote excellence in cinema for children and youth. Lola Kenya Screen organises and presents Kids For Kids Festival Africa, besides identifying with various local and international film initiatives.

Since 2006 Lola Kenya Screen has been showcasing the best possible international productions for children and youth in Nairobi every second week of August. During this time of the year selected participants are given a chance to experience filmmaking; cultural journalism; creative writing; film criticism; media literacy; and event planning and presentation through special, learn-as-you-do mentorship initiatives led by local and international experts specialising in issues related to children, youth, film, mass media, culture, and development.

The sixth edition of Lola Kenya screen is scheduled for August 8-13, 2011 in the Nairobi CBD. The hugely popular skill-development mentorship programmes that form the centre piece of the festival will introduce screen-writing and screen acting to participants. The festival that has become a permanent fixture on the calendar of many film lovers will exhibit more than 250 films from 102 countries.

And — yes — you can follow the progress of Lola Kenya Screen online:

- lolakenyascreen.org
- facebook.com/lolakenyascreen
- twitter.com/lolakenyascreen
- youtube.com/lolakenyascreen
- flickr.com/lolakenyascreen

Spurgeon Academy

Lola Kenya Screen Presents Films for Enjoyment, Learning and Participation in the 21st Century

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BY OGOVA ONDEGO. NAIROBI, KENYA (CINEMA MINIMA) — On 2011 July 12, Lola Kenya Screen — audiovisual media festival, skill-development mentorship programme and market for children and youth in eastern Africa — released its film line up for its sixth annual festival to be held 2011 August 8 – 13 in Nairobi on the theme, “Films for Enjoyment, Learning and Participation in the 21st Century.”

Lola Kenya Screen received more than 300 films from 102 countries from which the selection was made following a rigorous viewing selection process by children, youth, mass communication students, journalists, critics and parents. Fewer films shall be programmed than ever before following the introduction of media literacy seminars in 2010 and film discussion at the end of every film in 2011.

The selected films shall be presented in 10 categories, including the 6th Golden Mboni Award for the best children’s film, the 3rd 14-Plus Award for the best youth film, the 5th Kids for Kids Festival Africa, Films by Students, Films by Children for Children, Eastern Africa Prism, World Panorama, and three special focus areas: Documentary, Busan International Kids’ Festival (BIKI, South Korea) and George Washington University’s Documentary Centre (USA) productions. 

All the 10 categories have particularly strong films that will keep the audience busy and discussing them over the entire six-day of the festival that shall be held in both the Nairobi City Centre and the densely populated Eastlands residential neigbourhood.

 Besides film shows, Lola Kenya Screen shall host a two-day roundtable for the independent audiovisual media producers. Motivational speakers drawn from the fledgling audiovisual media sector are also expected to interact with children and youth.  

Since its inception in October 2005, Lola Kenya Screen identified itself as a specialised audiovisual media initiative exclusively designed for children and youth. Consequently, the festival takes the content for children and youth seriously, only selecting the content that is must be creative and demonstrate artistic and technical mastery; The content should speak positively to children and youth of diverse backgrounds and cultures be…sides providing strong role models for both boys and girls; The action of the film should be child/youth-driven and the stories should be culturally authentic, timely, and of universal appeal; the content should be made BY, WITH and FOR children and youth rather than ABOUT children and youth. If it focuses on children and youth, then it will be of appeal to the family as well. This is what guides the children, youth, film practitioners, journalists, critics, teachers and members of the public who constitute the committee that selects films for exhibition at Lola Kenya Screen.

6th Lola Kenya Screen Call for Film Submission

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The Lola Kenya Screen — audiovisual media festival, skill-development mentorship programme and market for children and youth — is calling upon interested participants to submit quality films to the sixth edition of the annual event that will take place 2011 August 8-13 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Lola Kenya Screen, a Nairobi-based charity specialising in issues related to children, youth, mass media, culture and development, accepts all kinds of moving images made by professionals, students, amateurs, youth and children that focus on children, youth and family.

Experimental films, television series, video games and even creatively packaged music videos tackling issues related to children, youth and family and that provide strong role models to children and youth while speaking positively to children of diverse backgrounds are accepted.

Selected films are showcased under various categories with those starring children aged 6-13 years competing for the prestigious Lola Kenya Screen Golden Mboni award for the best children’s film and those featuring children above 14 years competing for the Lola Kenya Screen 14-Plus Prize for the best youth film.

While the Golden Mboni has been awarded since 2006, the 14-Plus award was inaugurated in 2009.

All entries submitted must be suitable for children ages 13 and under, youth aged 14-25 years, or family (25+).

Film entry form with regulations is available online

The deadline for applications is 2011 April 15.

More about Lola Kenya Screen

More information about Lola Kenya Screen,  a global movement that established in October 2005 to explore, identify and nurture talent among children and youth in areas such as journalism, filmmaking, arts appreciation, and organisation and presentation of cultural and creative events, is  available online:

Africa Converges in Nairobi for the 7th Annual Film Awards

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Nairobi will come alive on 2011 February 25 and 26 when leading film practitioners in Africa and the Diaspora converge on the Kenyan metropilis for the 7th edition of the annual Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) Nomination Night and Music Concert.

According to an AMAA Press Statement issued in Lagos on February 2, 2011, the event–-dubbed Nairobi Rocks with Stars–-the Nomination Night will take place on Friday night at the Ole-Sereni Hotel and some of the stars set to attend it include Nollywood greats like Rita Dominic,Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Mike Ezuronye, Chinedu Ikeduze, Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Jim Iyke, and Ini Edo, among others.

Tony Anih, the Administrative Secretary of AMAA, says the two-pronged Nomination Night and Music Concert is aimed at building the brand AMAA and increasing its presence and visibility in the Eastern African region to the extent that participation in the award from the region will double in subsequent years.

The Nairobi event is thus planned as an entry point to eastern Africa that comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, eastern DR Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Southern Sudan.

“Eastern Africa has made very strong showing and presence in AMAA since we started, particularly in the last three editions. Apart from submitting films for the awards filmmakers and allied practitioners from these countries have come to Nigeria to attend the awards,” Anih says.

He explains that it was largely because of the region’s contribution to Africa’s premier film awards that the Secretariat of AMAA “felt it is time to make them have a feel of the award by taking the Nomination Night to them and thereby increasing the AMAA brand’s visibility in that region of Africa. Nairobi is central to East Africa and it is the economic hub of the region. It will be easy for people in East Africa to
come to Nairobi. It will be a great Night.”

Another feature of this year’s Nomination Night is a concert that is scheduled for Saturday, February 26, at Carnivore Grounds in Nairobi’s Lang’ata area. The main performers will be P-Square, J Martins, Edge, Kwela Tebza and Amani.