The University of Wisconsin-Madison African Studies Program and the South Madison Branch of Madison Public Library present <b>The Power of Youth in Africa and the Diaspora</b>, a film viewing and discussion series this February and March.

All films will be shown on Saturdays at 1 p.m. at the UW Space Place, 2300 South Park St. (near the South Madison Branch of Madison Public Library), followed by discussion led by a student or faculty member from the UW-Madison.

Film showings are:

<b>Zulu Love Letter </b>
Saturday, February 16
Discussion Leader: Nafeesa Nichols, Ph.D. Student in African Languages and Literature at UW-Madison
<em>South Africa, 2004.</em> Thandi, a journalist who thirteen years earlier witnessed the murder of a young woman activist, struggles with her writer's block, her alienation from her family and her profound rage in a country that seems too eager to forget its past. English and Zulu with English subtitles. 100 minutes.

<b>La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil (The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun)</b>
Saturday, March 1
Discussion leader: Peter Vakunta, Ph.D. Student in French and Italian, UW-Madison
<em>Senegal, 1999.</em> In the final masterpiece of Djibrol Diop Mambety's unfinished trilogy, Sili Laam, a 12 year-old paraplegic girl defies tradition by breaking into the all-boy world of newspaper-selling. In Wolof with English subtitles. 45 minutes.

<b>Kirikou and the Sorceress</b>
Saturday, March 15
Discussion Leader: Toni Pressley-Sanon, Ph.D. student and Outreach Coordinator, UW-Madison African Studies Program
<em>France, 1998.</em> In this feature-length animated tale, Kirikou gives birth to himself in an African village upon which a cruel sorceress, Karaba, has cast a terrible spell. As soon as Kirikou delivers himself from his mother's womb, he decides he wants to rid the village of Karaba's curse and understand her wickedness. Writer and Director, Mark Ocelot. Dubbed in English. 70 minutes. Children are invited to accompany their families to this event and participate in a fun art project afterwards!

<b>Rues cases nègres (Black Shack Alley or Sugar Cane Alley)</b>
Saturday, March 29
Discussion Leader: Toni Pressley-Sanon, Ph.D. student and Outreach Coordinator, UW-Madison African Studies Program
<em>Martinique, France, 1983.</em> Writer-Director, Euzhan Palcy, brings Joseph Zobel's semi-autobiographical novel to the screen. Set in the 1930s in Martinique, the story tells of a young orphaned boy sent to live with his grandmother on one of the island's sugar cane plantations. Copies of Zobel's book are available at the South Madison Branch Library for those who wish to read it before viewing the film. In French with English subtitles. French with English subtitles. 107 min.