The Cascade Festival of African Films at Portland Community College is celebrating its 20th year by bringing acclaimed Ethiopian film director Haile Gerima to Portland.
Gerima's film, "Teza," will open the festival at the Hollywood Theatre on Friday, Feb. 5. The film chronicles the return of an African intellectual to his country of birth during a repressive Marxist regime.
His will be one of more than 20 African feature films and documentaries shown at the festival, which runs from Feb. 5 through March 6 at the Cascade Campus's Moriarty Auditorium (705 N. Killingsworth St.), McMenamins Kennedy School Theatre (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.) and the Hollywood Theatre (4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd.). The Cascade Festival of African Films is free and open to the public. It features a wide range of films and special matinee days and feature nights. They include StudentFest Matinee on Feb. 18, Family Film Day on Feb. 20 and ends with Womens Filmmakers Week.
The Cascade Festival of African Films was founded in 1991 by four Portland Community College faculty. Approximately 400 people attended the first annual Cascade Festival of African Films. Today, more than 5,000 people attend the festival annually. Since its inception, the festival has been offered to the public free of charge and organized and run entirely by volunteers.
