A Russian-African documentary film was presented during the BRICS Summit
Daria da Conceição’s documentary « BLACK TO USSR » became the first Russian project to take part in the cultural programme of the BRICS International Summit, which took place from 22 to 24 August in South Africa. With the support of Synergy University, the screening was held for the first time on the African continent.
The documentary film project shot in Mozambique and South Africa is a sincere dialogue between the cultures of Russia and Africa. The protagonists are prominent political figures educated in the USSR and Russia: doctors, engineers, and military men. The film is full of picturesque landscapes of Africa, scenes from everyday life of local people, colourful musical and dance elements, sketches of festive and everyday moments of such a distant and exotic world.
Among the main characters: a close friend of Nelson Mandela – Gabriel Mosimo Tokyo Sexwale (one of the leaders of the struggle against apartheid, who shared a prison cell with N. Mandela, later – Prime Minister, FIFA trustee, philanthropist). Another hero of the film, Prince Siphiwe Dhlomo, was also present at the film’s special screening. Also present in the audience were the Prince of Eswatini – HE Muzi Dlamini (Nelson Mandela’s son-in-law) and summit delegates including Maria Manuella Lucas – Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Mozambique to South Africa and representatives of the High Commission of the Republic of Mozambique to South Africa, Siyabonga C. Cwele – Ambassador of South Africa to the PRC.
Maka Malefani, one of the leaders of a large investment project involving a film cluster with multi-functional film production facilities in South Africa, was also a special guest at the screening: « The film is very vibrant and relevant. I hope we will collaborate with the film team in the future, as our cultures have many complementary points that need to be brought together in global cultural projects! Thank you to Daria da Conceicao for the invitation! ».
Producer Thandi Davids also attended the screening, having known about this project since the film premiered at the 44th Moscow International Film Festival, where she was a member of the jury:
« I am delighted to collaborate with your project and extend an invitation to South African film festivals. »
Maria Zakharova, Director of the Department of Information and Press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Official Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, who participated in the filming and visited South Africa as part of the BRICS summit, described the significance of this project:
« The successful experience of creating the documentary « BLACK TO USSR » and its solemn screening as part of the cultural program of the BRICS leaders’ meeting in South Africa in August this year once again clearly demonstrated the mutually beneficial nature of Russia’s cooperation with African countries, based on the rich historical experience of our relations. The countries of the continent still warmly recall Moscow’s assistance in the course of decolonization and the construction of states independent from Western dictates.
Now our cooperation is developing in a new century, at a new level and in new areas, such as the film industry. I am sure that the filming of « BLACK TO USSR » is not the last such endeavor, and a great future awaits such projects in the future. »
The film was presented by the author of the project Daria da Conceicao and Anastasia Tarasyuk – representative of Synergy University, the official partner of the project. The film director Daria da Conceiçao noted that it was very important for the project that the largest Russian international corporation Synergy University became a partner, as the sphere of their interests is one of the main themes of the film – education of African specialists in Russia and cooperation in this field. Separately, the director thanked Vadim Lobov, President of Synergy Corporation, for his interest in the project.
Also present at the screening were Vyacheslav Lozhkovoy, cinematographer of the project, Marina Cherepanova, executive producer, and Victor di Gouveia, line producer, special representative of the BRICS alliance in South Africa.
Earlier, the Russian premiere of the short film took place at the Moscow International Film Festival, where representatives of the embassies of Mozambique, Somalia, Bahrain, Grenada, and others were present. The project received numerous awards at various festivals.
Photos from the screening:
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/3XZH0e6jt8C0hg
Film scenes:
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/e2oNf_IyWFP_Lw
