The Power of Culture

One of the jewels of the sixth Latin American Film Festival is El último verano de la boyita by the Argentine film director Julia Solomonoff. It is a tender dual portrait of city girl Jorgelina, who spends a summer in the country, and Mario, a boy her age, who is wrestling with a big secret.

After considerable successes in the eighties it appears that the Malinese Afro-pop singer and song writer Salif Keita is returning to his tradition.

Relationships between Kurds and the Turkish authorities continue to be turbulent and this affects the career of the popular singer.

The Colombian architect became world famous with his fourteen-metre bamboo structure for the World Fair in Germany in 2000. He was awarded the Prince Clause Award in September 2009.

Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah experienced her international breakthrough in 2009 with her debut Elegy for Easterly. She doesn't see herself becoming a spokesperson for Africa, though.

With his new cd Television the Senegalese singer wants to connect with the contemporary pop music fan and challenge prejudices about his continent's music.

After a singing career, a talkshow and a stint in politics he nearly had enough, but Chin is still committed to Curaçao.

The South African novelist and academic foresees troubling times ahead in his country. He is an advocateof dealing carefully with  cultural diversity, now that South-Africa is still in a period of transition.

Writer, translator, and campaigner Abe Barreto Soares is determined to put his country's literature on the map, using all available technical supplies. 

Until 2003, works made by Zimbabwean artist Kudzamai 'Kudzi' Chiurai (Harare, 1981) were a-political. Now things have changed.