Florence Ayisi

Florence Ayisi was born in Kumba in Cameroon in 1962 (although 1964 is also cited[1]). She is an academic and filmmaker. Her film Sisters in Law won more than 27 awards (including the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005[2] and a Peabody Award[3])[4][5] and was short-listed for an Academy Award nomination in 2006. She won the UK Film Council Breakthrough Brits Award for Film Talent in 2008.[4][6] Since 2000 she has taught film at the University of South Wales.[7][8]

Ayisi founded the production company Iris Films in 2005. In 2007 she was recognised with a meeting with the Queen for her work's link with Commonwealth countries.[6]

Qualifications
  • Certificate in Higher Education (Cert Ed) (1997) – School of Education, University of Sunderland, U.K.
  • MA in Film Production (1992) Northern School of Film and Television, Leeds Metropolitan University, U.K.
  • MA in Theatre and Media Production (1989) – University of Hull, U.K[6]
  • Diploma in Television Production and Journalism (1987), Television Training Centre, Fulham Studios, London
  • BA in English (1986) - Faculty of Modern Letters and Social Sciences – University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, Central Africa[4]

Filmography
  • Zanzibar Soccer Dreams (Florence Ayisi & Catalin Brylla, 2016, 64 mins) -
  • Transforming Lives: PNDP and Rural Development in Cameroon (2014, 35 mins)
  • Handing Down Time – Cameroon (2012, 55 mins)
  • Cameroonian Women in Motion (2012, 10 mins)
  • Art of this Place: Women Artists in Cameroon (2011, 40 mins)[4]
  • Zanzibar Soccer Queens (2007/2008, 87 & 52 mins)[4][9]
  • Our World in Zanzibar (2007, 35 mins)[4]
  • My Mother: Isange (2005, 7 minutes)[4][10]
  • Sisters in Law (2005) (Florence Ayisi & Kim Longinotto, 2005, 104 mins)
  • Reflections (2003)[10]

Reception

Marsha Meskimmon and Dorothy C. Rowe write that "Ayisi's nuanced portraits of the lives of contemporary African women reject simplistic stereotypes and suggest that gender politics in a global world may not divide easily along the lines of nation-states, 'East' and 'West', or 'developed' and ‘developing'."[11] In a 2012 article Olivier Jean TchOuaffé said "Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi, in their film Sister-in-Law, stand out for the originality with which they portray the figure of the judge within a post-colonial context of insecurity, as they highlight two strong women as the faces of security and judicial stability" p196.[12] Another review describes the film as "a well-crafted, focused film that really says something about a small, manageable aspect of another culture and the people who shape it."[13] A review in Black Camera describes Sisters in law as "a film that universalises experience without co-opting it."[14]

gollark: What? You can't *do* that. It's against the law.
gollark: > it's not an OFFENSE to have some socialist ideals* it is
gollark: Does New Zealand not have those?
gollark: > wtf is a maths licenseA license permitting you to do mathematical inquiry, we have them in the UK.
gollark: > you tried to orbital laser me for socialismSocialism *is* an offense worthy of lasing, you know.

References
  1. "Biography of Florence Ayisi". African Success. 3 June 2008. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 19 Feb 2017.
  2. "Cannes award for courtroom film". BBC News. 24 May 2005. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  3. "Winner 2007 Independent Lens: Sisters in Law". Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  4. "Florence Ayisi". Women Make Movies. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  5. "Hollywood embraces Britain's black film talent". The Independent. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. "Honourees 2008". UK Film Council. 2012-02-23. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  7. "University of South Wales - Florence Ayisil". Retrieved 19 Feb 2017.
  8. White, Patricia (2006-01-01). "Cinema Solidarity: The Documentary Practice of Kim Longinotto". Cinema Journal. 46 (1): 120–128. doi:10.1353/cj.2007.0008. JSTOR 4137156.
  9. Mayer, Sophie (2015-10-22). Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857729941.
  10. "Independent Lens . SISTERS IN LAW . The Filmmakers | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  11. Meskimmon, Marsha; Rowe, Dorothy C. (2012). "Editorial". Women, the Arts and Globalization. Manchester University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780719096716.
  12. Tchouaffé, Olivier Jean (2012). "Women in Film in Cameroon: Thérèse Sita-Bella, Florence Ayisi, Oswalde Lewat and Josephine Ndagnou". Journal of African Cinemas. 4 (2): 191–206. doi:10.1386/jac.4.2.191_1.
  13. Malkowski, Jennifer (2007-06-01). "Reel Paradise / Sisters in Law". Film Quarterly. 60 (4): 30–34. doi:10.1525/fq.2007.60.4.30. ISSN 0015-1386.
  14. Maher, Jennifer; Moorman, Marissa (Spring 2008). "A Black Camera Movie Review: Sisters in Law by Florence Ayisi; Kim Longinotto". Black Camera. 22/23: 120–122. JSTOR 27761711.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.