Pan African Film Festival facts for kids
The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a special event held every year in Los Angeles, California. It's a non-profit group, which means it works for a good cause, not just to make money.
PAFF's main goal is to help people understand and appreciate the cultures of people from African backgrounds. They do this by showing amazing art and films. Every February, PAFF hosts a big film festival and an arts festival. In 2013, the Los Angeles Times newspaper called it "the largest black film festival" in the United States.
About the Festival
In its early days, the festival was held in West Africa. For example, in February 1985, it took place in Ouagadougou, a city in Burkina Faso. Thomas Sankara, a leader from Burkina Faso, hosted the event.
The first official Pan African Film Festival was organized in 1992. It was started by famous actors Danny Glover and Ja'Net DuBois. Ayuko Babu was the executive director. Danny Glover and actress Whoopi Goldberg helped host this first festival.
The festival showed more than 40 films. These films were made by black directors from four different continents. The Los Angeles Times said these films had themes that everyone could relate to. They also showed specific African themes. These included stories about countries becoming free from colonial rule. They also explored the differences between modern and old traditions. Some films told tales of very talented artists.
Some of the films shown at the first festival included Sarraounia, Heritage Africa, and Lord of the Street.
In 2013, about 30,000 people came to the film festival. The arts festival attracted even more, with around 75,000 visitors. The next year, in 2014, the film festival featured 179 films. These films came from 46 different countries! The movies included long documentaries, short documentaries, and full-length story films. There were also short story films and web series.
See also
- Pan-Africanism
- List of film festivals
