Panel: Vuta N’kuvute

With Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Rama Thiaw, Amil Shivji

Successful literary adaptations are characterized by a sensitive and responsible approach that seeks to achieve an appropriate cinematic equivalent of the literary qualities of the original text. The media of literature and film are in a constant state of tension – whether productive and synergetic or competitive. Following the screening of Vuta N'kuvute (Tug of War), the 1999 film adaptation of the award-winning Swahili novel of the same name by Adam Shafi, Amil Shivji, the Tanzanian director of the film, the Kenyan novelist Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and the Senegalese filmmaker Rama Thiaw, will talk to curator Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard. They will discuss the narration of African history/s, the pitfalls and freedoms of narratives and the possibilities of translation. (A)

With the kind support of the Deutschen Afrika Stiftung

Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard is a German curator and co-managing/artistic director of the black empowerment organization Each One Teach One (EOTO).

Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is an award-winning Kenyan writer of novels, short stories and essays who also has a passion for film.

Rama Thiaw is a Senegalese filmmaker, artist, poet and activist who advocates for a cinema that combines strong messages with social engagement.