Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival Showcases Films and Dialogue

Now in its 12th year, the Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival is presented by the Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation and Afram South Inc., two nonprofit organizations that support education and public health initiatives in Ghana and West Alabama.

It is co-sponsored by The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, The UA African Students Association, and the Tuscaloosa Sister Cities International.

Thaddeus P. Ulzen, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at UA, said the film festival was inspired by the fact that "knowledge of the African film industry, which is internationally vibrant, was lacking in Tuscaloosa. We include in our definition of Africa the sixth region, which is the African Diaspora."

The annual festival will be held on Saturday, February 22, from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the UA Student Center in Tuscaloosa. It will showcase films from Africa and the African Diaspora and be followed by a panel discussion on the topics raised by the films.

The event will include a viewing of two feature films and four short films created by young filmmakers from Ghana, West Africa.

2025 Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival

The films are selected from "award-winning movies from various African Film Festivals in the US and elsewhere," said Ulze. In addition, the festival will "showcase films by up-and-coming young filmmakers from Africa."

 Film Des" riptions from the Press Release

The first feature film, Wall Street Boy, is about the journey of a young boy, a math genius from Kenya, Africa, who develops a successful stock market algorithm that draws the unwanted attention of dangerous financial businessmen and local police.

Mother Suriname, the second feature film, is a documentary about the history of the Afro-Surinamese people as told through one woman’s life. The Surinamese are part of the African Diaspora, which is the dispersion of people of African descent to other parts of the world. Film director Tessa Leuwsha tells the story of her grandmother, a washerwoman born in 1905 in Suriname, South America, to a white mother and black father. Despised as a half-caste (a person of mixed race), she was denied an education and quickly learned about colonial relations and exploitation. Suriname was a Dutch colony from 1667 until it gained its independence in 1975.

The four short films are:

• Akpanda, about a man who seeks the hand of a princess in marriage. His pursuit forces him into the role of a Royal ensign, a position of historical dangers and challenges.
• Bagyina follows the emotional journey of a couple haunted by the tragedy of losing their first child. As they navigate the uncertainty of a second pregnancy, the film captures their struggle balancing their emotions of hope and fear.
• Kologo is a traditional string instrument of the Goony people of northern Ghana. This film provides an intimate look at the instrument in the Goony community. The film also explores the instrument's spiritual and musical significance through the life of King Ayisoba, a Ghanaian musician known for his playing of the Kologo.
• Legacy focuses on the generational knowledge and power of African science, exploring both the mystical and scientific elements passed down within families.

These films add "to the cultural tapestry of the Tuscaloosa area and informs the broader community of issues represented in African and black film," said Ulze.

Ticket Information

The press release said that "tickets are" $10 for general admission and $5 for students and are available online at Eventbrite. For more information, contact eamufoundation@gmail.com."