South African independent filmmaker Aryan Kaganof will present and discuss his selected films, most of which have never been seen in the United States. He will be joined in discussion by Richard Peña, Professor of Professional Practice in Film at School of the Arts at Columbia; Hlonipha Mokoena, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Columbia; Sean Jacobs; Assistant Professor of International Affairs at The New School; and Anna Grimshaw, professor of Anthropology at Emory University.

The screenings, will include the U.S. premiere of An Inconsolable Memory, Kaganof’s 2013 documentary on The Eoan Group Book Project, a Stellenbosch University initiative to collect the forgotten history of a group of “coloured” performers from Cape Town’s District Six who performed Italian opera to mixed audiences during and after apartheid, and the world premiere of Night is Coming: A Threnody for the Victims of Marikana, an examination of  past and current South African culture through the lens of the 2012 strikes in the Rustenburg area of Marikana, which resulted in the deaths of 48 people, most of whom were striking miners in the single most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960.

Other featured films include the U.S. premiere of Guerilla Blues and Holy Ghosts, a compelling portrait of Gylan Kain, one of the founders of “The Last Poets”, the Harlem spoken-word group established in 1968 which is said to be a precursor to Hip Hop; and the U.S. premiere of The Uprising of Hangberg, Kaganof and Dylan Valley’s dynamic documentary of the struggles of the marginalized communities of the Hout Bay suburb of Cape Town when police tried to forcibly remove them from their homes.  Also featured will be Nice to Meet You, Please Don’t Rape Me, Kaganof’s 1994 musical satire of the newly post-apartheid South Africa.

Featured screenings begin at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, March 11. On Wednesday, March 12, a panel discussion on Kaganof’s work will take place at 4:30 pm. Additional screenings of films by Aryan Kaganof will run from 12:00 pm on March 11.

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