INTERNATIONAL DISAPORA ARTS FESTIVAL
OCTOBER 11-27, 2008

The Filmmakers

Newton Aduaka

Born in Ogidi, Eastern Nigeria, in 1966, Newton Aduaka moved to Lagos in 1970 after the Biafran War, and then to England in 1985. Following a diploma course in video arts and post-production, he studied film history, art and technique at the London International Film School , graduating in 1990. He wrote and published short stories while working as a sound mixer on a wide range of productions. As a director, his short films include Carnival of Silence (1994), Voices Behind the Wall (1990) and On The Edge (1997), which won him three prestigious awards and numerous special mentions. His debut feature Rage (2000) was released to huge critical acclaim, becoming the first independent film by a black filmmaker to gain a national release in Britain . It was also very successful in international film festivals, winning many prizes including Best Director at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles . Since then he has directed commercials and a further short film, Funeral (2002), commissioned for the Cannes Film Festival alongside similarly-themed work from internationally renowned directors such as Walter Salles, Arturo Ripstein and Amos Gitai.

Moussa Sene Absa

Moussa Sene Absa is an artist, writer, musician and film director. He made his debut as an actor, then moved to directing with the production of his own stage play, La Légende de Ruba . In cinema, he wrote the screenplay for Les Enfants de Dieu , which received an award at the Francophone Film Festival. His directorial debut, the short film Le Prix du Mensonge , earned him the Silver Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival in 1988. His film Tableau Ferraille won the award for best photography at FESPACO 1997. His next work, Madame Brouette won the Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival 2003. He has also produced 400 episodes of a popular daily situation comedy, Gorgorlu , for Senegalese television. His talent as a painter is also well established and his work has been exhibited in Senegal , Europe and North America .

Charles Burnett

Lauded as one of America 's most gifted filmmakers, Charles Burnett has just completed his largest film ever, Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation . While earning his MFA in filmmaking at UCLA, Burnett made the now classic Killer of Sheep , and on that basis he was awarded the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the "genius grant") with others to follow from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the J. P. Getty Foundation. He is also the winner of the American Film Institute's Maya Deren Award and Howard University 's Paul Robeson Award for achievement in cinema. To Sleep with Anger won the 1991 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay for Burnett and Best Actor for Danny Glover, and the Library of Congress has entered it along with Killer of Sheep in the National Film Registry. Among his numerous films since then, Burnett has written and directed Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property , a splendidly mind-boggling work about history as interpretation, and also Warming by the Devil's Fire , a sensual, quasi-autobiographical tale of an L.A. boy getting religion and the blues in the same visit back home to Mississippi.

Ed Santiago

Ed Santiago is a filmmaker who has worked on more than 30 films. His credis as an editor are extensive and include Namibia : The Struggle for Liberation and Warming By the Devil's Fire an episode of The Blues, the 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese , which was dedicated to the history of blues music.

Frances-Anne Solomon

Frances-Anne Solomon is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and producer. Born in England of Trinidadian parents, she was raised and educated in Trinidad , lived and worked in the UK for several years, and has been based in Toronto , Canada since 1999. She trained in Theatre Arts at the University of Toronto , and the Lecoq School of Mime in Paris before moving to Great Britain where she built a successful professional career with the BBC as a Producer, Director and Writer. Since her return to Toronto in 1999. She is the artistic director and president of the two companies she founded, Leda Serene Films , her film and television production vehicle, and Caribbean Tales , a not for profit multimedia company producing educational resources based on Caribbean-heritage storytelling, including audio books, documentaries, websites, and an annual Caribbean-themed film festival. From 1989 to 1998 she was also a radio, film and television drama producer for the BBC in England .

Sade Turnipseed

Sade Turnipseed is Director of Education and Community Outreach at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Centre, Mississippi . She is executive producer of FESPACO 2005, a documentary film focusing on the Paul Robeson Award Initiative, which organised filmmakers from the United States , Canada and the Caribbean on a journey to FESPACO, in Burkina Faso , West Africa . They were competing for the Paul Robeson Award for the most outstanding film from the African Diaspora. Ms. Turnipseed has served as executive producer of educational and literary concept developments for film, television, radio, live stage events and festivals. She received notable acclaim as Programming Director for PCTV Network television in Oakland , CA , and the San Francisco-based Public Broadcast Services (PBS) affiliate KQED-TV.

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