ICA is closed from the 30 May – 3 June inclusive.
19 – 26 October 2022

Araya, dir. Margot Benacerraf, Venezuela 1959, 90 min., Spanish with English subtitles
This compelling season covers 42 years, five countries, and five recently restored or digitised features, each linked to a uniquely challenging story of ownership and distribution. Together, these five features highlight imbalances of power within film cultures, particularly as they are imposed on female storytellers – hindering access to the narratives they create and share.
The season includes Sarah Maldoror’s Sambizanga (Angola 1971), one of the first features shot in Africa by a woman of African descent; Sara Gómez’s De cierta manera (Cuba 1974-77), the first Cuban feature directed by a woman; Margot Benacerraf’s landmark documentary Araya (Venezuela 1959); Farida Benlyazid’s rarely-seen drama A Door to the Sky (Morocco, 1989); and Maangazimi: The Ancient One (Tanzania 2001), adapted from a story by Queenae Taylor Mulvihill.
Part of the ICA 75th Anniversary Season
Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong) is part of Cinema Rediscovered on Tour, a Watershed project in collaboration with Black Cinema Project, Ajabu Ajabu and Hyde Park Picturehouse with support from the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery and MUBI.
Programme:

Wednesday 19 October, 6:40pm
A landmark in African filmmaking inspired by Angola’s fight for independence, Sarah Maldoror’s powerful feature screens here in a newly restored edition.
Saturday 22 October, 4:30pm
A couple struggles to reconcile their dreams and ambitions in post-revolutionary Cuba in Sara Gómez’s newly restored 1974 feature.

Sunday 23 October, 4:30pm
Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes, Margot Benacerraf’s only feature is a potent and beautifully shot portrayal of life on Venezuela’s Araya Peninsula.

Tuesday 25 October, 6:30pm
A Moroccan émigré returns home from France to mourn her father in Farida Benlyazid’s powerful and newly restored 1989 feature.

Wednesday 26 October, 8:40pm
An American doctor forges an unlikely bond with a troubled Tanzanian patient in Martin Mhando and Ron Mulvihill’s acclaimed 2001 feature.
no. 236848.