Experimentations 4: Repossessing the Spirit of Myths in Africa Through Cinema: Yeelen
Yeelen
Los Angeles Filmforum and the Autry Museum of the American West present
Experimentations: Imag(in)ing Knowledge in Film, Program 4
Repossessing the Spirit of Myths in Africa Through Cinema: Yeelen
Friday October 4, 2024, 7:00pm
At the Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027
NOT THE CHANGE IN LOCATION, DAY, AND TIME
On Zoom: Filmmaker/curator Daniel Muchina and curators Wangechi Ngugi
This program examines the technical capacity of filmmaking to encode and organize new myths for the expansiveness of modern African people. Pairing legendary Malian film Yeelen (Souleymane Cissé, 1987) with contemporary Kenyan film Smoke Jumpers (Daniel Muchina, 2023), this program illuminates the intricate relationship between the structured systems of knowledge prevalent in ancient African societies and the creation of visual narrative forms as vehicles for disseminating this wisdom. It investigates how the fusion of visual art and scientific methodology finds expression through cinema, evolving into a ceremonial conduit.
Curated by Wangechi Ngugi and Daniel Muchina
Tickets: $15 general, $10 student/seniors, free for Filmforum and Autry Museum members, at
Daniel Muchina is a film & video artist working and living in Nairobi, Kenya. He's the co-founder and director at Monsoons Studio, an independently registered and licensed film production company. Muchina is currently the artistic director, researcher and writer for Art & Science Films Afrika (ASFA) a program designed to investigate ritual practices in prehistoric Africa, and the role art plays as a vestige of the knowledge informing these rituals. Using film and video art, the program seeks to build a bridge to link indigenous systems of knowledge embodied in African mythologies with modern Africa.
Wangechi Ngugi is an award-winning film producer and curator based in Nairobi, Kenya. With a deep passion for cinematic storytelling, she collaborates with filmmakers and artists to create impactful and resonant narratives. Wangechi is also the co-founder of Monsoons Creative Studio, a leading film production company in Kenya.
For more information: www.lafilmforum.org
Smoke Jumpers
Smoke Jumpers
By Daniel Muchina, Kenya, 2023, digital, color, sound, 4:15
A mythical portrayal of a priestess attempting to cross the threshold between mortal and immortal worlds in search of resources for her ailing world. In this liminal space, she meets a group of deified figures known only as Smoke Jumpers; custodians of ancestral knowledge who trade her the secrets of their fire rituals but warn her against their practical use.
Yeelen
Yeelen
By Souleymane Cissé, Mali, 1987, 35mm transferred to digital, color, sound, 105 minutes
In this epic drama drawing on Bambara culture, which echoes mythic legends in an invented tale, a hero undergoes ordeals that allow him to renovate a decaying society. A young man must penetrate the secrets of the Komo cult (a real caste of specialist knowledge among the Bambara), whose members have abused their spiritual powers. Niamankoro suffers his father's wrath as he travels throughout the Bambara empire and Dogon and Peul societies.