The African Diaspora International Film Festival Returns To Washington D.C. With A Powerful Line-Up of Films this August

Featuring 14 films from 14 countries, ADIFF DC 2025 offers a unique blend of award-winning dramas, eye-opening documentaries, and timeless classics.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, July 2, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) - in collaboration with the Africa World Now Project and the GWU Africana Studies Program - is proud to announce the 18th annual film festival in Washington D.C., taking place from Friday, August 1, to Sunday, August 3, 2025 in person at George Washington University's (GWU) University Student Center (800 21st Street NW).

Featuring 14 films from 14 countries, the 2025 ADIFF DC edition offers a unique blend of award-winning dramas, eye-opening documentaries, and timeless classics. The festival is highlighting Black music, anti-colonial resistance, and women's stories this year.

ADIFF DC Opening Night film is "Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa," a provocative and beautifully crafted documentary that examines the lingering effects of apartheid through a unique personal lens. The film was honored with the Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color award at ADIFF NY 2024 and also won Best South African Documentary Film at the 2024 Durban International Film Festival. The festival concludes with the DC Premiere of "Rhythm of Dammam," the first narrative ever to spotlight the African Diaspora in India. Directors for both the Opening and Closing night films will be present for post-screening Q&A sessions.

Special Presentation: “Megnot”
Set in Ethiopia and exploring themes of identity, love, and self-determination, "Megnot" offers a powerful story that resonates deeply with the Ethiopian diaspora—one of the largest and most vibrant African communities in Washington, D.C. A post-screening Q&A will feature producer Surafel Daniel Beshah and writer Naomi Mohammed Said, offering a rare opportunity for local audiences to connect with a culturally rich and emotionally grounded work that speaks directly to their lived experiences.

Black Music Program: A Celebration of Sound and Identity
This year's Black Music Program is a festival highlight, featuring powerful stories that center on the cultural and political significance of Black American music. Titles include:
• "St. Louis Blues" (1958) – A classic musical starring Nat King Cole and Eartha Kitt.
• "Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me" – A moving portrait of the soul legend whose voice shaped a generation.
• "The Disappearance of Miss Scott" – Chronicles Hazel Scott's meteoric rise as a jazz talent and Hollywood star before being blacklisted during the Red Scare.

Cinema of Resistance: Confronting Colonialism and Its Aftermath
ADIFF DC 2025 brings together a timely and international collection of films that interrogate the history of colonialism and celebrate resistance:
• "Selling a Colonial War" (Netherlands/Indonesia) – A bold and uncompromising look at how media and propaganda masked Dutch war crimes during the decolonization of Indonesia.
• "Walter Rodney: What They Don't Want You to Know" (UK) – A compelling documentary about the Guyanese historian and revolutionary whose ideas still challenge global power structures.
• "Sugar Island" (Dominican Republic/Spain, Venice 2024) – Set in the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic, this lyrical film explores the legacy of colonial exploitation through the story of a Dominican-Haitian teen confronting labor, identity, and survival.

Women-Centered Stories: Resilience, Resistance, and Rebirth
ADIFF DC 2025 features a powerful slate of films that explore women's voices and experiences across the African diaspora. In addition to "Sugar Island", the program includes:
• "Village Keeper" (Canada, TIFF 2024) – An award-winning, deeply emotional portrait of Black motherhood, grief, and healing in Toronto's Afro-Canadian community.
• "Brides" (United Kingdom, Sundance 2025) – Two Muslim teens in Britain are lured by extremist ideology in a powerful coming-of-age story that explores identity, othering, and belonging in modern Europe.
• "The Last Meal" (Haiti/Canada, 2024) – A poignant tale of reconciliation, exploring the power of food, cultural memory, and confronting the past to heal fractured family bonds within the Haitian experience.

Other notable films include:
• "The Man Died": Based on "The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka" by Nigerian literary giant and 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, recounting his harrowing experience during the Nigerian Civil War.
• "Amal": Featuring Lubna Azabal, this film portrays a teacher in Brussels committed to giving her students a broader understanding of life and humanity.

For a full schedule and to order advance tickets online, please visit NYADIFF.org.

ADIFF DC FILM SERIES FACT SHEET
• WHAT: ADIFF DC
• WHEN: August 1 to 3, 2025
• WHERE: GWU University Student Center, 800 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
• TICKETS:
o Regular Screenings: $13; Students/Seniors: $11
o Opening/Closing nights: $35/$20
o Special Presentation: $20
o All Access Festival Pass: $120; Day Passes: $45/$50/$55
• FILMS: 14 films from 14 countries: Belgium, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ethiopia, the United States, Guyana, India, the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Haiti, Canada, and Nigeria.

• WEBSITES: NYADIFF.org
• SPONSORS: ArtMattan Productions, AfricaWorld Now Project, GWU Africana Studies Program
• MEDIA SPONSOR: WPFW

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
• 12:00 PM | "Amal"
• 2:00 PM | "Brides"
• 4:00 PM | "Village Keeper"
OPENING NIGHT FILM:
• 5:00 PM | Catered VIP Reception
• 6:00 PM | "Legacy" + Q&A

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2 BLACK MUSIC PROGRAM
• 10:00 AM | "St. Louis Blues"
• 12:00 PM | "Mrs. Scott"
• 2:00 PM | "Teddy Pendergrass"
• 4:00 PM | "The Man Died"
• 6:15 PM | "Megnot" + Q&A

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
• 10:00 AM | "Selling a Colonial War"
• 12:00 PM | "Walter Rodney"
• 2:00 PM | "Sugar Island"
• 4:00 PM | "The Last Meal"
CLOSING NIGHT
• 5:30 PM | Catered VIP Reception
• 6:30 PM | "Rhythm of Dammam" + Q&A

ABOUT THE AFRICAN DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Established in 1993, the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) is a Harlem-based, minority-led non-profit international film festival. Its mission is to present, interpret, and educate about films that explore the human experience of people of color worldwide. ADIFF aims to inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice. The festival expands traditional views and perceptions of the Black experience by showcasing award-winning, socially relevant documentary and fiction films about people of color, from Peru to Zimbabwe, and from the USA to Belgium and New Zealand to Jamaica. www.nyadiff.org

ABOUT AFRICA WORLD NOW PROJECT Africa World Now Project is an educational multimedia platform that connects and reconnects Africa with its known and forgotten parts.

Contact: Nina Hay African Diaspora International Film Festival Cell: 1-347-233-1053 Info@NYADFF.org

Diarah N'Daw-Spech
ArtMattan Films / ADIFF
+1 212-864-1760
email us here

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