New York Forum of Amazigh Film (9th Edition)
Memory aND Resilience
aPRIL 18-19 2024
The annual New York Forum of Amazigh Film (NYFAF) is a showcase of feature, documentary, and short films about the Amazigh or “Berber” people of North Africa and in the diaspora. NYFAF’s mission is to create a space where filmmakers, artists, and scholars, whose work focuses on indigenous Amazigh identity and culture, can gather yearly to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with a diverse audience and foster dialogue across local, transnational, and global spaces
Sponsored by The College Association, Academic Affairs, and the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, and generously supported by Columbia University’s Middle East Institute.
Join us on for a screaning of three short films followed Q&A with Guest Speaker Izza Genini and Professor Madeleine Dobie as part of the 9th Edition of the New York Forum of Amazigh Film.
Date: Friday April 19 2024
Time: 10 am- 12 pm
Location: 612 Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, NY
About the Films:
The Song of Sin | Khalid Maddour, Morocco, 2022, 14 min
Two poets and musicians from the Rif plateau, heirs of an ancestral art, play out much more than a love story. An entire history of people.
Aita | Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 1988, 27 min
Led by cheikhate, nomadic musicians, the aïta converts cries into melodies, songs into calls, embodying love and hope through anguish, remembrance, and transcendence. At the Moulay Abdallah Moussem, near Casablanca’s southern outskirts, Moroccan diva Fatna Bent El Hocine and her ensemble Oulad Aguida warmly welcome countless passionate riders and dedicated aïta enthusiasts.
The Citron, Fruit of Splendor | Izza Genini, France/Morocco, 1998, 30 min
Deep in the valley of the Moroccan Anti Atlas, the fruit of the citron tree is cultivated by Amazigh farmers, following the rules of perfection demanded by the Divine Law of the Hebrews
About the Guest Speaker:
Born in Casablanca in 1942, Izza Génini left her native Morocco in 1960 to follow her parents to France. She studied literature and foreign languages at the Sorbonne and at the School of Oriental Languages before taking charge from 1966 to 1970 of the external relations of the festivals of Tours and Annecy. In 1973, Izza created the SOGEAV company for the distribution of films in French-speaking Africa, the distribution of African films abroad and the production of films such as El Hal and Trances.
Check out the FULL NYFAF programme below:
Recommended scholarship
Izza Génini: The Performance of Heritage in Moroccan Music
Amazigh Film and NYFAF.