Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories 2017 – African Immigrant Experience

Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories 2017 – African Immigrant Experience 

Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories features works highlighting the experience of African immigrants showcasing the short film Farewell Meu Amor (Director Ekwa Msangi) and excerpts from the web series #AfriMericans (Creators/Executive Producers Maureen Martin & Berka Ngong).

Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories is a free screening series of work by women filmmakers focusing on the immigrant experience throughout the five boroughs of New York City. This series showcases a themed exhibition of short and feature-length films.

Date: Thursday, May 25th, 2017

Time: 7:30PM

Location: The Astor Room at Kaufman Astoria Studios
Studio A
35-11 35th Avenue (Corner of 36th Street)
Astoria, NY 11106

Directions
From Manhattan: Take the M train to Steinway Street
From Brooklyn or Queens: Take the F train (towards Jamaica -179St) then take the M train to Steinway Street

Screening followed by a Q&A and reception with the filmmakers.

Free Admission. RSVP in advance to reserve seats.

Farewell Meu Amor
Ekwa Msangi (Writer/Director)
2017, 10 mins
Country: Tanzania/USA

On the morning of the long-awaited reunion with his exiled family, a man is faced with the heartbreak of a different type—of parting from his lover.

Ekwa Msangi has written & directed several shorts, most recently award-winning comedy Soko Sonko (The Market King) and her newly released film Farewell Meu Amor. Her suspense-thriller, Taharuki (Suspense) is distributed by Shorts International, Inc. She has also written & directed several drama series for mainstream broadcasters in Kenya and MNET South Africa. Msangi was selected for the 2016 Berlin Talent Campus, is a resident instructor with the African Film Festival, Inc, and is a screenwriting mentor in Mira Nair’s Maisha Film School. Her first web-series All My Friends Are Married launched in April to rave reviews, and she is in development on her first feature documentary about Tanzania’s first president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

AfriMericans
Maureen Martin & Berka Ngong (Creators/Executive Producers)
2017, Excerpts from web series

A group of first generation millennial girlfriends balance pursuing their American dreams in New York City while attempting to retain their traditional African heritage and cultures. Episodes typically depict the stylish friends’ comedic, poignant and romantic adventures and career issues and how their cultural identity influences and plays a role in their assimilation and adaptation to life in the melting pot known as NYC. Think Girlfriends/Living Single meets Friends… with an African twist.

Born in Cameroon, Central Africa, Maureen Martin has had the pleasure of calling three countries home: her native land Africa, Canada and the United States. Her background includes time in the newsroom (CITY-TV/MUCH MUSIC), TV and film production, and marketing and public relations. Martin’s film industry experience includes the Toronto International Film Festival, Gen Art (film festival selection committee) and the TriBeCa film festival. She is co-founder of DivaGalsDaily, a popular Life + Style site for the Multicultural Woman. In 2013 she launched a boutique production company to produce the scripted digital series #AfriMericans. #AfriMericans pays homage to the children of the African diaspora who are pursuing their professional aspirations in the United States and beyond.

Berka Ngong is a producer, director and editor. Having ‘started’ as the special events manager for the Clio Awards, Ngong honed his planning and production skills before transitioning into working with contracts within the Business & Legal Affairs department of Elektra Records. Following 2 years there, Ngong transitioned to MTV Networks where he went from department assistant to on-air program planning manager (long form programming) for TV Land during his 6 year career at Viacom. A 2001 graduate of Brown University in Rhode Island, Ngong can currently be found producing, directing and editing music videos, commercials, promos and other short form content for on-air and/or new media. As a first generation American of West African descent, he is proud to be the co-creator and executive producer (and director) of the upcoming scripted digital series #AfriMericans set for release Fall 2017.