Namibia Premier: Africa Shafted

AfricAvenir celebrates World Refugee Day with Africa Shafted

WINDHOEK-AfricAvenir Windhoek and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) will be celebrating World Refugee Day with the Namibian film premiere of Africa Shafted: Under one roof by South African Director Ingrid Martens and that will feature music by the late Jackson Kaujeua. Each year, on June 20, the United Nations celebrates World Refugee Day, a day to recognide the contributions of refugees in their communities. The screening of Africa Shafted: Under one roof honours the courage, the strength, and determination of women, men, and children, who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. A film constructed entirely of elevator conversations, this simple and uncompromising idea provides a beautiful clarity of form. All the filming takes place in one of eight lifts that travel 54 floors every day and provide a platform for people from all walks of life to engage with the camera and tell their story. The film purports to look at xenophobia through situating itself in the intense and somewhat claustrophobic surrounding of the tower lifts, which link the 54 stories, housing nationalities from all across Africa. In these lifts, the film encounters residents and their feelings toward one another.