AFRIFF Dispatch 6: The Short Films Were Not On The List

Day 6 of AFRIFF highlighted the unpredictability of the festival, showcasing surprise films like Melon Street and Descendants of Fallen Heroes.

On the final day of AFRIFF, the air of festival disorganization lingered. If anything, there seemed to be more confusion about which films were meant to be screened and those that were not. For a while, all the screens were blank, and people kept moving from one room to another to see if any films were showing. When I finally settled to watch Tentigo, we were informed that it would no longer be shown due to reasons beyond AFRIFF’s control. Instead, they screened two films that weren’t originally on the list: Melon Street and Descendants of Fallen Heroes.

Melon Street is an animated short film by Adeoye Adetunji that explores the connection between road rage and ego. In a seemingly impossible manner, Adetunji illustrates how self-worth and identity can manifest in unexpected areas, such as driving. This film provided a unique visual and thematic experience for me, as someone who has witnessed her fair share of road rage. It would be particularly relatable to people living in a city like Lagos, where the story depicted in Melon Street is a daily occurrence.

Descendants of Fallen Heroes is a documentary about the Kenyan town of Nyeri and the current reality of the youth living there. The film specifically addresses the pervasive issue of suicide, especially among young men. The story opens with a poem recited by the narrator, setting the tone for the psychological despair explored throughout the film. It takes the viewer back to the roots of generational trauma, tracing it to colonialism. With insights from various town residents, the resonating thought for me as a Nigerian was how easy it is to forget the profound similarities in the lasting impact of colonialism across many African countries. These patterns are evident, and I was somewhat disappointed that the director or any of the filmmakers were not present for a Q&A. I would have loved to ask them a few questions about the film and its impact.

The budding sense of Pan-Africanism was further amplified when I watched Robert Peters’ Skeleton Coast. Although I missed part of the film due to unclear timing, the story follows a group of African scientists who, in search of a rare gem called Blunamite, arrive at Skeleton Coast on the Namibian coastline. When one of them dies, they become uncertain whether they are being targeted or if the island itself is rejecting them. From what I was able to watch, and based on comments from the film’s producers, Panashe Daringo and Rogers Ofime, Skeleton Coast was an ambitious attempt at Pan-African storytelling. It was a notable effort to put Namibia on the global filmmaking map. This sentiment was echoed by Tunja Daringo, who played the lead role of Samantha. The cast included Nigerian actors Damilola Adegbite and Ini-Dima Okojie, as well as other African actors such as Mawuli Gavor, Cindy Mahlangu, and Thapelo Mokoena.

After the screening, producer Rogers Ofime mentioned that this was the film’s first screening and admitted he had concerns about bringing it to Nigeria, unsure if the audience would connect with it. Ironically, he had to limit the number of questions from the audience, proving that the Nigerian audience connected with the film more than expected.

For the next hour, I waited for the festival’s closing film, Out of Breath, which was set to screen at 8 p.m. While waiting, there was cultural singing and dancing to entertain the audience.

Out of Breath did not start screening at the originally scheduled time. Instead, the festival showed UK-based Nigerian artist Skepta’s short film Tribal Mark. The film tells the story of a boy who moves to London with his mother and grows up in the suburbs. Like many similar stories, Tribal Mark serves as a cautionary tale about the consequences of falling in with the wrong crowd. However, beyond the surface message, the film’s deeper meaning remains unclear to me. The relevance of the title Tribal Mark was also puzzling, aside from the main character having tribal marks on his face.

The closing film did not begin screening until almost 10 p.m., by which time people had already started leaving. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it. However, I look forward to watching it when it is released to the mainstream.