Blood Diamond

Set against the backdrop of the Sierra Leone Civil War, BLOOD DIAMOND is the story of a fisherman who discovers a rare pink diamond and forms an unlikely alliance with an arms smuggler to retrieve it while also trying to rescue his kidnapped son from rebel forces. The film exposes the brutal reality of the blood diamond trade and its devastating impact on the people of Africa. The screening will be accompanied by Ugandan film storyteller VJ Junior. Film storytelling is a concept that refers to a media practice characterized by oral artists, also called V-jays, engaged in a scene-by-scene commentary of mainly foreign language films. Their artistic flair and imagination regarding the stories of the films makes this process much more than mere translation, and the practitioners much more than translators. This is a rare occasion to witness this fascinating storytelling style.

Text by Matthias Krings on film storytelling in Africa

VJ Junior was born Matovu Marysmarts in 1984. He is a Ugandan VJ and filmmaker who began his career in 2009, gaining prominence through his work with New Vision Group interpreting TV soap operas. Passionate about the Ugandan film industry, he co-founded AFPUL (Association of Film Practitioners Uganda Limited).

Petna Ndaliko Katondolo was born in Goma, DR Congo, and is a filmmaker, educator, and ancestral ecologist. His multi-genre artistic works are acclaimed for their decolonial Afrofuturist style, which engages historical content to address contemporary sociopolitical and cultural issues. In 2000, he co-founded the educational center Yolé!Africa and in 2005, he founded the Ishango Encounter (formerly known as Salaam Kivu International Film Festival). Ndaliko Katondolo teaches and consults regularly for international organizations, addressing social and political inequity among marginalized groups through culture and art.