Namibian Premiere: “Imam and I” – A film by Khalid Shamis, Wednesday, 07 November 2012, 18h30, FNCC, Windhoek

On Wednesday, 07 November 2012 at 18h30, AfricAvenir and the FNCC present the film premiere, Imam and I – A film by Khalid Shamis (South Africa, 2011, 80 min). “Imam and I” is the debut feature length documentary by independent South African filmmaker Khalid Shamis. “Imam and I” is a fascinating and detailed personal journey through the life, death and legacy of little known anti-apartheid struggle hero Imam Abdullah Haron. The film is an intricate blend of archive, animation and live action interwoven with recollections and stories of those closest to the Imam.nKhalid, the filmmaker who is also the Imam’s grandson, paints a portrait of the Imam as a family figure through all the myth that surrounded his death and legacy.nImam Abdullah Haron was one of the only voices from the Muslim community of Cape Town to stand up against the injustices of Apartheid during the 50s and 60s. For this he was incarcerated and killed in detention in Cape Town on September the 27th, 1969.nThe filmmaker explores questions of identity, memory, betrayal and sacrifice as well as the role of the Islamic community of the Cape during apartheid’s ‘dark days’.nImam and I intimately reveals the traumatic effects the Imam’s family suffered after his demise. It is a brave attempt of the filmmaker to understand himself, whilst laying testament to a past that, for a long while, had remained forgotten.nImam and I was voted best film overall and won the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Encounters film festival in South Africa.n“The film casts a magical spell on you by pulling you deeper and deeper into the world of the Imam and his family, into the inside of a unique closely knit black community which very little has been written about never mind filmed, a remarkable feat which bears testimony to the determination of the filmmaker, whom has spent the last six years on this project.” Rehad Desai – filmmakernDate: Wednesday, 07. November 2012
Time: 18h30 
Entrance: 10,- N$ 
Venue: FNCCn© Copyright AfricAvenir 2012