This film will screen in-person at BFI Southbank on Thursday 9 December and online on Friday 10 December.
“Maangamizi is more than just a movie. It is a way back to who we still are deep, deep down in our psyches… It is a look at how we’ve been torn at our roots; severed from nourishment at the source… The reconnection to The Way. The way of the ancestors. The way of relating all to all. Then to now. Beginning to future. Human to earth.” – Alice Walker (The Color Purple)
In 2001, a film was released from Tanzania titled Maangamizi: The Ancient One, directed by Martin Mhando, in collaboration with Ron Mulvihill, and written by Queenae Mulvihill. It is a film that explores the breadth of African consciousness and spiritual heritage through the story of three women: a doctor, her patient, and the ancestral spirit who unites them. However, despite being recognized by prestigious international awarding bodies — the film has remained virtually unseen upon the continent, a fate too common for profound pieces of African film history.
Ajabu Ajabu – a collective of audio-visual practitioners operating in or from Tanzania – invites you to question why that is. Following a physical and digital screening of this neglected, recently digitised, work of art, a panel dialogue will explore the multitudinous ways in which exhibition of classical African cinema has become an experienced reserved for audiences outside the continent, urging film practitioners to critique the power imbalance of cinema cultures on global and local levels — and to work towards encouraging not only return, but open and inclusive reinterpretation of works according to their ever-evolving cultural significance.
Online, the film is paired with a short documentary on a video agent in Dar es Salaam who has worked alongside Ajabu Ajabu to extend the reach of Maangamizi and essential works of African cinema into our local communities.
