Abderrahmane Sissako attends the Closing Ceremony during the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival on December 07, 2024 in Marrakech, Morocco.
OkayAfrica will be co-presenting a post-screening Q&A with acclaimed filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako at this year’s New York African Fill Festival (NYAFF). The session will take place after the New York Premiere of Sissako’s latest feature film, Black Tea, which was nominated for the Golden Bear award at last year’s Berlin Film Festival.
Black Tea tenderly unfolds the experiences of Aya (Nina Mélo), a young woman who ditches getting married on her wedding day and leaves Cȏte d’Ivoire for the “Chocolate City” of Guangzhou, China. Cai (Chang Han) hires Aya to work in a tea boutique, and the friendship between the two warms into romance as he initiates Aya into the tea ceremony.
Over the film’s near-two-hour runtime, Chinese culture and ancient art meet African diaspora, as the two main characters intertwine in poetic ways, facing their pasts and letting go of their burdens to give their feelings a wholesome chance.
Black Tea is another remarkable addition to Sissako’s filmography; the Malian Mauritanian director has been celebrated as one of the most distinct auteurs in African cinema, with notable films like La Vie Sur Terre (1998) and Bamako (2006). Considered his opus, his 2014 film Timbuktu is an enveloping portrayal of a community’s resistance to religious extremism and a deft criticism of the hypocrisy of jihadists.
A poster for the Q&A session with 'Black Tea' director Abderrahmane Sissako, co-presented by OkayAfrica.
Photo by New York African Film Festival
At the Q&A session, Sissako will discuss the distinct elements of Black Tea and the unique traits that have made him an acclaimed filmmaker. Also at this year’s NYAFF, Sissako will be one of four African filmmakers discussing the creative shifts and enduring themes shaping African cinema during a panel discussion co-hosted by OkayAfrica.
You can get tickets to the Q&A session on May 8 here.