Africa in Motion (AiM) is an annual African

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

which takes place in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, in late October/early November. The primary aim of the festival is to offer audiences in Scotland the opportunity to view the best of African cinema from across the continent. AiM 2021 will be the 16th edition showcasing

African cinema Cinema of Africa is both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels w ...

, the main hosting venue being Edinburgh's Filmhouse Cinema. The festival was founded in 2006 by Lizelle Bisschoff, a South African researcher based in the UK.

Programme

AiM’s programme includes both contemporary and classic

. Numerous film categories are covered including features, shorts, documentaries,

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

, horror and experimental work. Many of the films screened at AiM have never before been shown in Scotland, and the festival thus provides opportunities for the Scottish audience to view African films. AiM 2008 toured a number of cities across the UK, including

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. Since 2009 the festival has also toured to rural venues in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

and Islands in November following the main festival. AiM hosts a

short-film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

competition showcasing the work of young and emerging African filmmakers, with the winner receiving a cash prize. Film screenings are accompanied by a range of events including panel discussions, symposiums, workshops,

African music Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...

performances, exhibitions,

storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pre ...

sessions and others. Directors invited to the festival have included

Jean-Marie Teno Jean-Marie Teno (born 1954) is a Cameroonian film director and filmmaker, "one of Africa's most prolific filmmakers". Life Teno was born in 1954 in Famleng in Bandjoun. He studied audiovisual communication at the University of Valenciennes and ...

from Cameroon,

Gaston Kaboré Gaston Kaboré (born 1951) is a Burkinabé film director and an important figure in Burkina Faso's film industry. He has won awards for his films ''Wend Kuuni'' and ''Buud Yam''. Biography Kaboré was born in 1951 in Bobo-Dioulasso in Upper Vol ...

from Burkina Faso, and South African Richard Stanley. In 2013, for the first time, the UK’s biggest four African film festivals – Africa in Motion (AiM) in Edinburgh/Glasgow,

Afrika Eye Afrika Eye is a film and arts festival founded in 2005 in Bristol, England. It is described as 'the South West's biggest annual festival of African film, music and arts and is held at venues across Bristol, including Watershed (Bristol), Cube Mic ...

in Bristol, the

Cambridge African Film Festival Cambridge African Film Festival (CAFF)is a film festival for African film in Cambridge. Founded in 2002, the festival is held annually in October or November. It is the longest running African film festival in the United Kingdom.< ...

and Film Africa, London – united to share films and filmmakers in a drive to bring a greater variety of contemporary African cinema to a broader UK audience. The festivals joined forces to tour a quartet of highly rated new feature films from Africa.

References

External links

Africa in Motion
web site
Interview with AiM director Lizelle Bisschoff
Kamera
Review of AiM 2007
Vertigo magazine Film festivals in Edinburgh African film festivals {{UK-festival-stub