0 / 256
Women’s Stories from the Global South (& To Whom They Belong)
Institute of Contemporary Arts
Films
19 – 26 October 2022 

A greyscale photo. A woman looks carefully at a ruler as men work on a pile of white rocks in the background
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:

A mother carrying a child on her back, walking towards a road in a green and brown landscape

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.


A woman turns back to look off-camera as she writes in Spanish on a blackboard

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.


A person with shoulder-length hair stares off at two young kids running up a sandy hill

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.


A person stares at the camera with quiet joy in front of bright green plants. She wears a bright orange headpiece

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.


Side profile of a woman with an afro hairstyle, a longing and peaceful expression, against a gradient purple background

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.