Sudan And Spain Together For The Creation Of The First Image For The FCAT

By TheNigerianVoice-TNV

A Spanish Production Company Captures The Process Of Creation Of The FCAT Poster Made By The Sudanese Painter Dar Al Naim Mubarak Carmona

Cordoba, 4th October 2013. The Sudanese-Spanish artist Dar Al Naim Mubarak Carmona has featured the first image of the tenth anniversary of the African Film Festival of Cordoba, contributing with her painting to the creation of the poster.

The 10th African Film Festival of Cordoba will start in a week with over 66 screenings, filmmakers and producers invited for round tables, conferences and the FCAT Espacio Profesional, as well as an exhibition that has travelled from Malaga to Gorée Island and now, to Cordoba, and a wide range of parallel activities. From the 11th to the 19th of October, Cordoba will travel to our neighbouring continent, and even to the Middle East, through the screen.

The artist Dar Al Naim Mubarak, originally from Khartoum (Sudan), but with a multicultural professional and personal career, has been the one responsible for the creation of the image of the poster of the festival, filmed by Julio Castaño, from Yunaki Films, and whose Director of Photography has been the graphic designer of the FCAT, José Wela.

'I see Africa as a unit, as a very smart figure that one can recognise very easily', this plastic artist highlights, while pointing out the nuances of her statement. 'We, as Africans, are a very big community, and thus, very different, in fact, we are all different'.

During the process of creation of the poster, Dar Al Naiam never lost sight of audiences, and decided to represent this diversity through a design which is rich in details, sizes and shapes, all of them surrounded by a corporal unit that could be seen as 'Mama Africa'.

However, it is difficult to determine whether this shape corresponds to a female or a male body. The artist seems to be hence incorporating man in the process of emancipation of women. This is not just a common feature in films made by female eyes, but also, by men directors such the Senegalese Ousmane Sembène or Cheick Oumar Sissoko.

In fact, the painter herself has not described the figure as a man or woman so far. Instead she refers to it as a 'unique and static figure, with patterns and details that induce some movement'.

For Yunaki Films, it has been a daunting challenge to represent the level of detail and the laborious method of Dar Al Naim's work. Yet this challenge has been successfully met, since the video, enriched by Rasha's music - a Sudanese artist coming from a numerous family of artists and intellectuals - manages to portrays the environment of creation of the artist, and anticipates the spirit of the festival, where the boundaries between Córdoba, Africa and the Arab World melt, reminding us of a very rich and multicultural historic legacy.

Dar Al Naim, who studied in Oxford and has exhibited in that city, as well as in London and Khartoum, among others, has postponed her trip back to Khartoum in order to be with us during the festival. The opening ceremony will enjoy her participation, where she will present the awards to the winners of the children's painting competition based on the painting that she designed for the FCAT poster.