Accra, Netherlands Film Week Starts

A film week dubbed The Link: Ghana and the Black Soul of the Netherlands begins today at the National Theatre as part of the celebration of 300 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. It aims to create awareness of the Black presence in Dutch cinema.

Briefing the press on the week, which will end on March 2nd 2002, the Co-curator of The Link, Mr. Felix de Rooy, said 30 films and video productions from Ghana, Netherlands, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles will be shown.

He said the programme includes movies, documentaries and television productions that highlight the cultural bond linking the four countries.

Mr. Rooy said, "I want to show Ghanaians that there is a deep link between Ghana and the Netherlands through the African cultures of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles."

He said the legacy of African presence is manifest in the music, the language and the dance. "I want to raise the Ghanaians awareness of Curacao, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. I want to tell them, we're talking here about your family across the ocean. We share a similar history and a similar identity."

All the films will be shown free of charge during the week and will be English spoken or subtitled. A special programme for children starts at 2.00pm while the evening programmes begin at 7.00pm. There would also be special screening of some of the films on Mobile cinemas in Nima, Bukom and Teshie park.

Screening today is Almacita di Desolato by Felix de Rooy. It is based on slave tales from the island of Curacao. This is a magical story about the battle between good and evil. The priestess Solem, from the village Desolato, is seduced by the devil Alma Sola. With her young companion Lucio and her baby girl Almacita, they go in search of the spirit world to bring Almacita back to her ancestors.

Crossroads of People, Crossroads of Trade and Heritage Africa, written and directed by Ghana's Kwah Ansah would also be featured during the film week.

The Link is an initiative of the 300 Years: Ghana and the Netherlands Project Team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague and the National Theatre in Ghana. The film programme has been compiled by filmmakers Kwah Ansah, Felix de Rooy and organised by Korkor Amarteifio of the National Theatre and Mariet Bakker of Interakt.

L'art Pour L'art

The Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes in collaboration with the National Museum presents an exhibition of the German Graphic Designer Pierre Mendell and his studio Mendell & Oberer, Munich. His works are almost exclusively advertisements for cultural events and cultural institutions, such as museums, theatres and operas. The title of the exhibition is "L'art pour l'art", a French phrase originally meaning art for art's sake. But Mendell is playing with this phrase, because he is doing his art for the customer's sake, and his customers mainly represent arts or artists.

A good graphic design has to catch the eye of people passing by immediately. The message has to be understood within a very short time, there is no place for any unnecessary information. A good graphic design has to be somehow symbolic; it has to be able to communicate its subject without misunderstandings. But it also has to be beautiful; it should have an aesthetic value. All that means that graphic designers are facing a lot of difficulties at the same time, not to mention the customer himself, who has to be convinced and who wants to get the product of the designer on a certain date.

Pierre Mendell is not only facing all these problems, but seems to feel comfortable with them. He manages to bring all information, verbal and visual, to an essence, mostly in a way of beautiful simplicity. That's the reason why most of his customers have collaborated with him over a period of long time.

The selection of more than 60 posters will be exhibited from today, February 21 to Wednesday, March 6 at the National Museum Accra. Admission is free.