The Pan African Film and Arts Festival Starts Today and opens with
NAMIBIA: THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION
Thursday, February 7, 7:00 PM
(2007/US/Narr/161min)
Director: Charles Burnett
Stars Danny Glover, Carl Lumbly,
Joel Haikali, and Obed Emvula


NAMIBIA: THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION depicts the long struggle waged by the people of Namibia for their independence that was ultimately won with the help of Cuban military volunteers fighting in Angola. The 1987 battle of Cuito Cuanavale, in which the South African army was decisively defeated, turned the tide in the liberation struggle for all of Southern Africa. This was one of the key factors that led to Namibian Independence and the election of Sam Nujoma as Namibia 's first President and forced the white supremacist South African government to free President Nelson Mandela and to negotiate with the African National Congress.
Considered one of America's greatest filmmakers, Charles Burnett was first noticed in 1981 when his student film Killer of Sheep, won the Golden Berlin Bear Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. Burnett's award-winning work has been declared a national treasure as one of the first fifty films on the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, it was also selected by the National Society of Film Critics as one of the "100 Essential Films" of all time. Burnett's other films include "Namibia: The Struggle For Liberation," "To Sleep With Anger," "My Brother's Wedding," and "Glass Shield."
The PAFF 16th Annual Opening Night Gala is sponsored in part by the Namibian Film Commission, Pan Afrikan Centre Nambia, Directors Guild of America, and Starr African Rum.

The Pan African Film and Arts Festival's Art Mart is a major juried exhibit of Black fine art and quality crafts featuring the work of over 100 different artists and artisans. The artistic works range in scope from oil paintings, watercolors, sculpture, mixed media, pen and ink drawings, glass painting and carvings to jewelry art and woven apparel. The exhibit will be presented to the public free of charge at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, with fine art on the 1st level, and unique crafts and wearable art on the 2nd level.

The PAFF continues to be the largest Black film festival in America, as well as a world-class art exhibition showcasing work from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the South Pacific and Canada to illustrate the diversity and complexity of people of African descent.