Please contribute!

We need your help to keep NOAFEST alive and well! Help us continue to host free Cinéma Première screenings and performances in a festive, interactive space of dialogue, bringing together a diverse public, united by the desire to enjoy powerful artistic experiences and to engage in meaningful exchange with filmmakers and other spectators. We are also building towards the Mississippi River 9th Ward Film Festival, October 1-3 and October 8-10, 2010, when we will bring together bring together celebrated films and cinematic traditions from around the world, including those of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the U.S. We will screen approximately twenty films over two weekends with filmmakers in attendance. These open air screenings will be held on the banks of the Mississippi River in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.

Feature films by guest filmmakers will be preceded by music and dance performances and by screenings of films of local interest or made by local filmmakers. We will host a photography exhibit in which residents of the 9th Ward share photos on their lives, homes, and neighborhoods before and after Hurricane Katrina, and we will sponsor a colloquium on the theme of communities and renewal. On October 17, 2009, we will host a special event for friends of the Mississippi River 9th Ward Film Festival. We will feature Karmen Geï (2001), the award-winning film of NOAFEST Co-President Joseph Gaï Ramaka.

An adaptation of Bizet’s opera Carmen set in contemporary Senegal, Ramaka’s Karmen Geï has been screened and won awards at festivals around the world, including the Cannes Festival in 2001 and in 2002 at the Pan African Film and Arts Festival (Los Angeles) where it received the Best Feature Award.

The screening will take place on the grounds of the historic Doullut Steamboat Pilot House in the lower 9th Ward and will be preceded by a reception and performances, featuring Kora Konnection, with Morikeba Kouyate, griot, kora master, and electrifying performer; Tim Green, internationally acclaimed jazz musician and master of the tenor saxophone; James Singleton, acoustic bassist and composer extraordinaire; Jeff Klein, passionate, seasoned percussionist and composer; and the outstanding Nkafu African dance troupe featuring Mariama Curry.

Please contribute! A donation to us is tax-exempt. You may use Paypal. Or send a check to: NOAFEST at 2670 Nick Connor Drive, New Orleans, LA 70119 Friends who contribute $30 or more will be invited to the inaugural event on October 17, 2009. Seating is limited to 200 places. Come join us!