LOS ANGELES, CA – The 31st Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), America’s largest Black film festival, today announced the winners of its 2023 edition in categories including Best Feature Narrative, Best First Feature Narrative, Best Feature Documentary, Best First Feature Documentary, Best Short Narrative, and Best Short Documentary. The Festival also announced their Audience Favorite Awards in four categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Short Narrative, and Short Narrative. PAFF’s Programmers’ Awards and Executives’ Awards (formerly Festival Awards) were also announced. All of PAFF’s awards are presented by Stocker Street Creative, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, and FX Networks.
The 32nd PAFF will take place in Los Angeles February 7-19, 2024.
A special virtual encore of select films from this year’s Festival is available through March 31, 2023 on paff.org.
The full list of award winners at the 31st Pan African Film & Arts Festival includes:
JURY AWARDS
Best Feature Narrative
RYE LANE (UK)
Dir. Raine Allen-Miller
Yas and Dom, two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.
Best First Feature Narrative
A SONG FROM THE DARK (Nigeria/UK)
Dir. Ogo Okpue
With striking visuals, suspense-filled scenes and engaging performances, this fantasy-horror offering is not your typical horror film. If anything, it embraces suspense and drama like the great horror classics so there is something in the story for non-horror fans as well. At its heart is a family drama and a cautionary tale with poignant social commentary. Nigerian-born spirit hunter Ashionye, now living in England, has been hired by her former guardian, Isioma, to investigate and expel a malevolent spirit that has been tormenting her family since the mysterious death of her husband. Ashionye reluctantly accepts the job as a way to repay the debt she owes Isioma. But as Ashionye digs deeper into Isioma’s family situation, she finds herself standing against a familiar force that has brought about her own trauma since childhood. This first feature filmmaker creates a confident blend of drama and multilayered subtexts that will leave viewers reaching for repeat viewing and post credit conversations.
Best Feature Documentary
KING OF KINGS: CHASING EDWARD JONES (France/US)
Dir. Harriet Marin Jones
Gangster to some, philanthropist to others, who was the real Edward Jones? One of the most powerful men of the early 20th Century, Edward Jones became one of the wealthiest men in America building a $25 million empire as the brains and brawn behind a Chicago “Policy” syndicate, an illegal numbers game in the 1930s and ’40s that ultimately became the modern-day State Lottery. The “Policy King” went head-to-head with Al Capone’s “Outfit” and the Feds, at the same time as he hobnobbed with celebrated artists including Josephine Baker, Frida Kahlo, and Duke Ellington. Using lively animated sequences and interviews with people who knew Jones, filmmaker Harriet Marin Jones delves deep into her family’s past to tell this remarkable and gripping story of this grandson of enslaved people and son of a preacher; a legendary African American who rose to the heights of financial and political prominence, reclaiming his legacy as a man fighting for respect for himself and his community in a racist society.
Best First Feature Documentary
WADE IN THE WATER: A JOURNEY INTO BLACK SURFING AND AQUATIC CULTURE (US)
Dir. David Mesfin
This documentary reclaims the 1,000-year-old tradition of Black surfing. Braiding historical accounts with modern-day testimonials, the film dismantles the racial barriers of conventional surf culture, delves into the overlooked history of Black surfing’s legacy, and honors its current movement—inspiring the next generation of Black surfers.
Best Short Narrative
TRUE STORY: GOD TELLS BAD JOKES (US)
Dir. Matthew Law
A therapist and his patient find empathy and the center of the storm as they work out the mental issues that plague them both. A very differently told story in that it shows men baring their weaknesses and problems and helping each other.
Best Short Documentary
AMERICAN JUSTICE ON TRIAL: PEOPLE VS. NEWTON (US)
Dir. Andrew Abrahams & Herb Ferrette
A therapist and his patient find empathy and the center of the storm as they work out the mental issues that plague them both. A very differently told story in that it shows men baring their weaknesses and problems and helping each other.
AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARDS
Narrative Feature
FIRST (US)
Dir. Jahmela Yarbrough & Brandon Yarbrough
Filmed in the jazz clubs of New York, Los Angeles, Paris and across Mediterranean Europe on his unexpectedly final tour, HARGROVE shines a bright spotlight on the genius of Roy Hargrove and his enormous contribution to the art of jazz. Key conversations expand beyond Roy’s personal story and enter the terrain of what it means to be an artist in America. HARGROVE dives into the significance of Black music in America while offering a glimpse into the politics of power and race in the music industry. Roy’s narrative reverberates in today’s Black Lives Matter movement with issues of ethics, exploitation, and empathy called into question.
Documentary Feature
HARGROVE (France/Italy/US)
Dir. Eliane Henri
Filmed in the jazz clubs of New York, Los Angeles, Paris and across Mediterranean Europe on his unexpectedly final tour, HARGROVE shines a bright spotlight on the genius of Roy Hargrove and his enormous contribution to the art of jazz. Key conversations expand beyond Roy’s personal story and enter the terrain of what it means to be an artist in America. HARGROVE dives into the significance of Black music in America while offering a glimpse into the politics of power and race in the music industry. Roy’s narrative reverberates in today’s Black Lives Matter movement with issues of ethics, exploitation, and empathy called into question.
Short Narrative
PORT OF A PRINCE (Haiti/US)
Dir. JR Aristide
Tiyo and his best friend Jeff roam the streets of Port-au-Prince doing odd jobs for change. Upon running through the narrow corridors of a poor slum village, they come across a meeting that forever changes their fate. Entangled by the grip of his Big Brother’s gang, Tiyo is now faced with either pledging loyalty or losing the confidence of his grandfather. A decision that binds him to inevitable consequences.
Short Documentary
IFINE (US/Sierra Leone)
Dir. Adisa Septuri & Ebony Gilbert
Women bleach themselves and their children despite great health risks. Set in the Kono district of Sierra Leone, this docu-choreopoem captures the beauty of Blackness through the lens of the youth coming-of-age amid a skin-bleaching epidemic.
PAFF PROGRAMMERS’ AWARDS
Narrative Feature
THE HONEYMOON (S.A.)
Dir. Bianca Isaac
When Kat’s fiancé calls off their wedding the night before the big day, the ambitious but insecure Katya is devastated. Her long-time best friends, Noks and Lu, persuade her to go on her honeymoon to Zanzibar with them. What was meant to be a holiday away from their problems, soon turns to a holiday into their problems – but will their friendship survive a wild time in paradise? A wild, fun chick flick!
Documentary Feature
THE AFRICOLOGIST: THE CHRONICLES OF AFRICA (Cape Verde/Egypt/Ghana/Guinea Bissau/Kenya/Morocco/Senegal/
S.A./Tanzania)
Dir. Valerio Lopes
Africology is an interdisciplinary academic study of the history and culture of African people. This futuristic, highly original documentary swings between two distinct canvases – on the one hand, there is the science-fictional, 3D animated realm of the Africologist, a computer-generated fictional woman; and on the other hand, is the real-world, scientific and factual representation of Africa researched by director Valerio Lopes himself through his travels to sixteen African countries. Together they delve into the true history, science, and technological achievement of Africa. Viewers voyage through space and time discovering Africa’s true past and contributions to humankind. The destination of the journey is an authentic and accurately crafted interpretation of our world constructed from an African point of view.
Short Narrative
RAW MATERIALS (Jamaica)
Dir. Sosiessia Nixon-Kelly
A coming-of-age drama in which an impoverished fashion prodigy living in an abusive and homophobic community with a toxic alcoholic father must thread a thin needle to find his direction and fully embrace his talent and identity.
Short Documentary
TEAM DREAM (US)
Dir. Luchina Fisher
Friends Ann and Madeline are on their journey to the National Senior Games, where they compete in the swim events. Nothing — not age, race or history — will stand in their way.
PAFF EXECUTIVES’ AWARDS
Narrative Feature
DANCING THE TWIST IN BAMAKO (Senegal/Mali/Italy/France/Canada)
Dir. Robert Guédiguian
It’s 1962 and Mali has just gained its independence from France and established a socialist government. The youth of Bamako dance the twist to rock & roll music newly imported from the West and dream of political renewal. In this environment, a passionate and impetuous love affair evolves between two youths, Samba, an idealistic young socialist, and the spirited Lara who is running from an abusive arranged marriage. Through the filter of their affair, viewers witness the many tensions in the society at this little-known moment of social change: socialism and the introduction of communal farming (for village tax purposes) versus the powerful capitalist interests of the traders; women’s rights versus traditional arranged marriages where ‘rape does not exist within marriage’; the authority of the elders versus that of the new order. Uncoupled from Western ideas about the evils of Socialism, the film gives a voice to both sides: both systems are Western imports from a Malian point of view. The story was inspired by the photographs of 1960s Malian photographer Malick Sidibe and is nourished by the enthusiasm and naivety of youth set against the political realities of the time.
Documentary Feature
FANTASTIC NEGRITO: HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND YET (US)
Dir. Yvan Iturriaga & Francisco Nuñez
Beyond the bombastic stage persona of Fantastic Negrito lies a 51-year-old survivor, hustler, and self- described ‘recovering narcissist’ named Xavier Dphrepaulezz. After his improbable midlife transformation from busking bluesman to back-to-back Grammy winner, Xavier is now ready to face his demons. Follow Xavier in his Oakland studio as he creates his newest album, laying bare his extraordinary journey and the many “hallucinations” he has experienced along the way. Following the structure of an album track list and featuring intimate and often hilarious interviews with philosopher- poet Xavier and his brilliant band of collaborators and close friends, the film traces his journey from early isolation as a Black Muslim kid in rural Massachusetts to Bay Area star with a global fanbase. Punctuated with a great soundtrack, this astonishing Madhatter ride transports the viewer through a uniquely mind-bending journey that thoroughly entertains.
Short Narrative
WE WERE MEANT TO (US)
Dir. Tari Wariebi
In a world where Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage, Akil must defy fears, insecurities, and societal barriers while discovering his perfect launch into manhood.
Short Documentary
IFINE (US/Sierra Leone)
Dir. Adisa Septuri & Ebony Gilbert
Women bleach themselves and their children despite great health risks. Set in the Kono district of Sierra Leone, this docu-choreopoem captures the beauty of Blackness through the lens of the youth coming-of-age amid a skin-bleaching epidemic.
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