Student Film to Explore "New Face of Africa"

A screening of the new documentary film The Second Independence: A New Face of Africa by Joseph Kaifala '08 is scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Kaifala's film explores the future of Africa. According to Mary-Beth O'Brien, director of the International Affairs Program, which is sponsoring the screening, "The Second Independence is a prediction of the new emergence of African countries to the rank of other states in the international system. This independence will be linked to the first one by the fact that it is expected to come from the efforts of young Africans, who are now acquiring their education and training in the West, and the African Diaspora in general.

"This documentary will focus on the perceptions and efforts of some of these second independent Africans in schools in the United States. It is also an effort to replace some of the widespread afro-pessimism with a renewed hope for the future of Africa. Taking into consideration that Africas problems do not remain on the continent alone: from Marcus Garvey's return to Africa movement, Senghor's negritude, to Steve Biko's Black consciousness and Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights movement, Negroes everywhere have continued to sing the same chorus of struggle against domination, poverty, and underdevelopment."