African Film Festival
Short Films
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The Foreigner
Directed by Zola Maseko.
With Bafana Maquta, Zwilibanzi Moyo, Stanford Nkosi.
South Africa, 1997, 35mm, color, 17 min.
Zulu with English subtitles.
Koffi has arrived in town. Turned away by the neighborhood residents, he befriends a homeless child. Their friendship grows amidst the hustle and bustle of street activity, despite the hostility and aggression directed at the foreigner.
Isidore, an African living in Paris, is worried because his fiancée, his "parcel post," has just arrived from Abidjan. He reveals to his best friend, Martin, his heart-wrenching dilemma: while he loves Esperance, he doesn’t know how to tell her that he is HIV positive.
A young Chinese woman returns home at the end of the day to find her boyfriend, Lulu, a young African student, awaiting her. Set against the backdrop of Beijing, the film explores the cultural differences between the two lovers, which provoke conflict, misunderstanding, and the voyeuristic interest of others.
When an Angolan stowaway lands in Lisbon, he learns that the Europe of his dreams may not be the paradise he had imagined. Forced constantly to evade a persistent police officer, he begins to long for his homeland. His adventures lead him to realize that for an African, Europe provides no escape from hardship.