Winter Film Awards International Film Festival Spotlights Indie Films From Africa

Winter Film Awards Is New York City. Like the city itself, the organization showcases the eclectic diversity and excitement of the independent arts world. The 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 14-23 2019, and includes awesome film screenings, cool discussion panels, career-building professional development workshops and super-fun parties at venues throughout NYC. The event concludes on February 23rd with a glittering awards ceremony and hot red carpet gala at NYC's premier nightclub.

The Fest celebrates the outstanding work of emerging filmmakers in all genres from around the world, with an emphasis on highlighting underrepresented and marginalized artists. For the 2019 Festival, WFA proudly presents 89 films from 32 countries, half directed by women and 53% by or about people of color.

Winter Film Awards is honored to screen an incredible collection of six films from Africa, including Tunisia, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Morocco, Kenya and Mozambique in the 2019 Festival program!

All screenings take place at CINEMA VILLAGE, 22 East 12th Street, New York NY 10003
For tickets, visit https://wfa2019.eventcombo.com/

Burkinabe Bounty: Agroecology in Burkina Faso, directed by Iara Lee (Documentary / 37 mins / Burkina Faso / NYC Premiere). Screening Monday Feb 18, Block 11: 12:00pm - 2:30pm. Burkinabè Bounty chronicles agricultural resistance and the fight for food sovereignty in Burkina Faso-a small, landlocked country in West Africa. Showcasing activist farmers, students, artists, and leaders in the local Slow Food movement, the film looks at how the Burkinabè people are reclaiming their land and defending their traditions against the encroachment of corporate agriculture. From women gaining economic independence by selling 'dolo' beer, to youth marching in the streets against companies like Monsanto, to hip-hop musicians reviving the revolutionary spirit of Thomas Sankara, Burkinabè Bounty shows the creative tactics people are using to take back control of their food, seeds, and future.

Dachra, directed by Abdelhamid Bouchnak (Horror / 114 mins / Tunisia / NYC Premiere). Screening Monday Feb 18, Horror Block 14: 8:30pm -10:45pm. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Tunisia, Dachra revolves around female journalism student Yasmin and two male classmates who set out on a university assignment to solve the cold case of Mongia, a woman found mutilated 25 years ago and now imprisoned in an asylum, suspected of witchcraft. As they pursue their investigation, the three friends stumble into the archaic and ominous world of Dachra, an isolated countryside compound filled with goats, silent women, mysterious drying meat and steaming pots, which is home to a cult. When the cult's jovial but menacing leader invites them to stay overnight, Yasmin is drawn into Dachra's dark secrets and a desperate attempt to escape alive.

Is This Real?, directed by Stefano Cassini (Animated / 5 mins / Kenya / NYC Premiere). Screening Thursday Feb 21, Block 18: 7:45pm-11:15pm. Set in a vast desert landscape, we follow a solitary creature's journey trying to find form and meaning in a big and lonely world.

Little Fiel, directed by Irina Patkanian (Documentary / 16 mins / United States / ). Screening Saturday Feb 16, Block 3: 1:00pm - 3:30pm. Artist Fiel dos Santos grew up during the 16 year civil war in his home country of Mozambique. The only one of his family to never have shot a gun, today he makes art out of guns to commemorate the lives lost. Little Fiel is a stop motion animation/documentary that is loosely based on his life storys. Fiel created eight figures representing his father, mother, five brothers and sister from dismantled civil war guns. Three New York artists turned them into puppets and created immersive stop-motion animation, inspired by Fiel's memories.

Monsters, directed by Aksel Rifman (Feature / 96 mins / Morocco / World Premiere). Screening Sunday Feb 17, Block 10: 9:15pm -12:00am. Monsters is a psychological thriller shot in Morocco about three masked men, The Boss, The Brute and The Loser, who invade a rich family in their home in broad daylight to steal their money. But nothing is what it appears.

Wonderlus, directed by Johan Cronje (Feature / 115 mins / South Africa / NYC Premiere). Screening Saturday Feb 16, Block 3: 1:00pm - 3:30pm. A wedding goes awry and the morning after, friends and foes need to piece together the puzzle of the night before. In search of answers, a groom needs to pursue the love of his life, a bride has to untangle herself from the past and a waitress tries to escape the present.

Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. This program is funded, in part, by a grant from the NYC & Company Foundation. Winter Film Awards is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Winter Film Awards is proudly one of the Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

Festival Founder George Isaacs says "Emerging filmmakers are so often ignored in favor of big budget generic action films, and filmmakers with limited budgets and lack of connections can be easily overlooked. Diverse, exciting low budget films are created all over the world; it is critical for local film festivals to showcase them. WFA's location in the center of the action provides our filmmakers with a dazzling chance to begin their careers in the film industry."

For more information about Winter Film Awards events and sponsors, visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com.
For more information about the Winter Film Awards judging process, visit our FAQ.
For more information about last year's Festival, including Press Information, visit our 2019 Festival page.