UBC is bringing to Vancouver an African film festival rare in size and scope. The New Wave in African Cinema series will screen 10 feature films and 10 shorts November 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 at the Cinematheque.

“When you see these films together, they really express the weight of the shift that’s happening and you start noticing the trends that are happening across the continent,” said Julie MacArthur, program director and curator for the festival. “We have South Africa, Rwanda, Guinea-Bissau, Egypt, Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia—we’re really going right across the continent.”

Five directors are flying in to attend the screenings of their films and participate in a directors’ roundtable that’s open to the public. That discussion is scheduled for November 4 at UBC’s Liu Institute for Global Issues and will focus on themes of gender, urbanization, diasporic identities, xenophobia, and social repair.

“This is fairly unique in Vancouver, to be able to bring not only these films but also these directors over for these Q & As,” MacArthur said.

The festival opens November 1 with Today, an award-winning drama that tells the energetic story of an immigrant’s return home to Senegal. It stars American hip-hop star Saul Williams and was directed by Alain Gomis, one of the directors who will be in attendance for the film’s screening. More information is available at thecinematheque.ca/.