by Sherif Awad

Our week in Verona at the 35^th edition of its
African film festival allowed us to discover many beautiful places and
activities that should be experienced by everyone interested in discovering
Africa and its cinema. There is the African Museum that was founded by the Missionari
Comboniani, co-organizer of the festival, and whose building is at the same
area. The museum features a private and permanent collection of African
heritage including rare musical instruments used by African tribes, African
masks and costumes in addition to rear photography dated to more than hundred
years. There was also a contemporary exhibition titled City of 1000 Colors by
Senegalese artist Mohamadou Ndoye Douts who also designed the poster of this 35^th
edition. The Nigrizia Non-Profit Organisation, part of the mission’s
activities, also supports the museum and additionally publishes an African
cultural magazine carrying the name of the organization.

Before finalizing the award given by our jury, we had a
chance of visiting Juliet’s House, a tourist attraction where a bronze statue
of Juliet is standing. The house was owned by the Capello Family, a name not
too far from Capulet, the Juliet’s family. The house is said to inspire
Shakespeare to write the most romantic yet tragic story of all times: Romeo
& Juliet.  

At the closing night, our jury decided to give the Best Long
Film Prize to the Egyptian film Décor, a black and white drama about a
woman caught in the Egyptian films she has been seeing until the line between
her life and her imagination are getting thicker and blurrier. The jury was
impressed by the complexity of the subject and the courage by writer-director
Ahmed Abdallah to show a character in search of a new path in her personal and
professional life. The film also featured high quality production values and
unconventional techniques that added to the strength of the script. A Special
Mention went to the Ethiopian film Difret by writer-director Zeresenay
Mehari for its approach to present a real-life issue about young women across
the African continent and how they are still becoming victims of forced
marriages according to some tribal habits that become barricades in social
development.

In most of the short films selected by the festival and
viewed by our jury, it was noted that children were main characters in each
films. The Best Short Film Kwaku by Ghanaian Anthony Ni was noted for its
freshness and liveliness in treating the story of the eight year-old African
boy Kwaku who is trying to get his old grandmother a wheelchair to help her in
her movement around the house.  A special
mention went also to all the children actors and actresses, the protagonists of
most of the short films of the festival, for their ability to express and to
contend with the professionals who played their parents. They represent a hope
for African cinema in particular and hope for African in general. 

Next to the mission where we stayed during the festival,
also an old palace called Palazzo di Teodorico which was transformed into a
hostel for budget travelers. There, it is said that during the nights the
voices of its old owners. Around the space, every year during the Halloween,
lot of shows and masked celebrations take place. Thank God we did not stay up
there.

On our way back, the Verona Train Station featured a
bookshop featuring a poster of one of the great and classic American stars,
Burt Lancaster holding The Leopard, the novel he started in its film adaptation
back in 1963.