Selma director Ava DuVernay is bringing new cinema to our shores. This month, her distribution company, ARRAY, is releasing the South African coming-of-age drama Ayanda in theaters in Los Angeles and New York.
Ayanda—starring newcomer Fulu Moguvhani—tells the story of a young woman who is willing to do anything to keep her father’s legacy alive. Ayanda goes on a journey of self-discovery as she copes with the death of her dad while working at the car repair shop he once owned. With members of her community helping her along the way, instances of some love and humor and a few trials and tribulations, Ayanda is able to grow in her own identity while doing all she can to honor the memory of her beloved father.
The film is set to debut in theaters in New York and Los Angeles this Friday, November 13. Additional screenings will be held in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Screenings of the ARRAY production will also be seen at the 2015 Vancouver International Film Festival, BFL London, and the Africa in Motion Film Festival.
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Director Sara Blecher says that her hope for the film is to “showcase a successful, young woman who manages to navigate her way through the grease and garages that define a man’s world.”
ARRAY focuses on the presentation and promotion of films by women and filmmakers of color.
New York screenings will be held at the Imagenation Cinema Foundation’s Raw Space in Harlem.