Welcome to AiM
Dear Friends,
Welcome to our landmark 15th edition of Africa in Motion! Adapting to the extraordinary challenges we have collectively faced this year, we present our festival entirely online. It is a testament to our incredible team that we have been able to sustain our mission to highlight the rich diversity of African filmmaking and storytelling. The artistic expressions we have assembled here are borne out of creatives who make it their impassioned business to interrogate the contours of our dreams, obstacles, joys, hopes and all the territories in between. Film strands this year include an offering of films that examine our ties to the women who bore us, they are the keepers of history sitting astride our lives; an industry focus that showcases distinguished African talent from across the globe; and a programme of thought-provoking films on the diasporic predicament of ‘inbetween-ness’ where losing and reclaiming ground is a recurring dilemma.
In the wake of recent horrors yielded from our reckoning with racial injustice, AiM recognises the lack of Black voices in the arts and creative industries. During this global pandemic, we have continued to pursue avenues where we can elevate artists forging a path for themselves in unique ways, such as our AiM at Home programme this summer that paired archive and contemporary work, and our Notes Unbound series of film criticism that will accompany this year’s festival edition.
As we write our next chapter in the phenomenal history of Africa in Motion, we invite you to join us in imagining a divergent, distinct landscape for African and Black diaspora artists. One where complex notions of tenderness, resilience and expressions of love can be accessible in a broader way than ever before. In all this, let us not forget the importance of being together in person and sharing the glorious silver screen. Support your local independent cinemas with what you can devote, even if from afar, until we can meet again.
Lastly, we have you — our AiM family — which over the years has empowered us to do something extraordinary every autumn. With you, magnificent things can surely happen. I am excited and delighted to call AiM my new home.
Yours,
Liz Chege
AiM Festival Director
It has been an absolute honour working with Liz and the AiM team on bringing this year's incredible edition of Africa in Motion to life. Since moving north of the border, the festival has been a source of visual and spiritual sustenance for me every autumn. We have been on completely new ground putting together a digital edition festival. It has been a sometimes daunting, but continually exhilarating and humbling task and I think the 2020 programme has turned out to be one of the richest and varied yet.
I have no doubt that this year’s edition is going to bring the space for discovery, conversation and connection that Africa in Motion has become known for in Scotland – to a now even wider UK audience. The work featured in the festival is a testament to the limitless boundaries of black, African and diasporic artistic expression. I can’t wait to experience it with you all at home, together.
Carmen
Carmen Thompson
AiM 2020 Festival Co-director
Download the AiM 2020 Festival schedule here (PDF)