11.5.2024, 7 pm
»AI: African Intelligence«
a Film by Manthia Diawara
Manthia Diawara’s essay film, AI: African Intelligence, explores the contact zones between African rituals of possession among traditional fishing villages of the Atlantic coast of Senegal and the emergence of new technology frontiers known as Artificial Intelligence. Considering the confluence of tradition and modernity, Diawara questions how we could move from disembodied machines towards a more humane and spiritual control of algorithms. Could Africa be the context of emergence of such improbable algorithms?
About Manthia Diawara
Manthia Diawara was born in Mali, West Africa. He is a distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and Film at New York University.
Manthia Diawara is a prolific writer and filmmaker. His essays on art, cinema and politics have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, LA Times, Libération, Mediapart, October and Artforum. He is the author of two acclaimed memoirs: In Search of Africa (Harvard University Press, 2000) and We Won’t Budge: An African in the World (Basic Books, 2008). He has published several books on African and African American cinema.
Diawara’s notable films include: Angela Davis: A World of Greater Freedom (2023), AI: African Intelligence (2022), A Letter from Yene (2022), An Opera of the World (2017), Negritude: A Dialogue between Soyinka and Senghor (2016), Édouard Glissant, One World in Relation (2010), Maison Tropicale (2008) and Rouch in Reverse (1995). His films have been presented at festivals, biennials and a wide range of exhibition venues, including the Berlin International Film Festival, Bienal de São Paulo, Biennale de Dakar, Biennale de Lubumbashi, Centre Pompidou, documenta, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Lumiar Cité, Museu de Serralves, HKW-Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Manifesta, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Pan-African Film & TV Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), Serpentine Galleries and Sharjah Biennial.
2022, Portugal, 110 min
Production: Jürgen Bock, Lumiar Cité/Maumaus
Camera: James Newitt
Sound: Bernardo Theriaga
Editing: Mohamed Al Mubarak
With Mère-Bi (Marymata Seck), Diyé Dia, Raoul Frese, Makhou Lebougui, Jean-Paul Colleyn,
Mamadou Diouf, Hadja Dramé, Marieme Seck, Oulimata Ndoye, Awa Diop, Mame Yaame,
Marieme Diallo.
Screening & Pasta – Entrance: 8,- EUR (The event is fully booked)
Please reserve via: reservation@m-bassy.org
The exhibition is funded by the Claussen-Simon-Stiftung, Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS and ifa – Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Culture and Media, Hamburg.