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16th Annual Family Day Celebration

Event

Details

Free

Sun, Oct 1, 2023

12:00 pm to 6:15 pm

Nolan Park, Governors Island
New York, NY 10004

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Join the Trust for Governors Island and AFF for our 16th annual Family Day Celebration! Fun-seeking individuals of all ages are invited for an enchanting day of free activities including storytelling, double-dutch, dance and drum workshops led by world-renowned instructors, arts and crafts, and a selection of short films, all celebrating Africa and the diaspora.

Click here for the Governors Island Ferry schedule.

Rain date: October 1

Schedule

12:00pm to 3:00pm
Needle Arts Workshop
with Michelle Bishop & Harlem Needle Arts

1:00pm to 5:00pm
Selected Short Films
with the MoCADA House

1:30pm to 4:00pm
Storytelling & Double Dutch
with Malika Lee Whitney

2:00pm to 3:15pm
Afro-Brazilian Dance Class
with Quenia Ribeiro & Grupo Ribeiro

3:30pm to 4:45pm
Senegalese Sabar Dance Class
with Babacar M’baye & Sing Sing Rhythm

5:00pm to 6:15pm
Guinean Dance Class
with Maguette Camara & Les Merveilles de Guinea

12:00pm to 6:00pm
Multi-Ethnic Fusion Cuisine
with Fauzia’s Heavenly Delights

About our Summer Series

During this annual series, AFF presents free programs throughout NYC, in public venues and city parks, including screenings of African cinema and family-friendly events such as the annual Family Day Celebration on Governors Island. Learn More

Videos

Films

Egúngún / Masquerade

Olive Nwosu / Nigeria and UK / 2021 / 14mins

Salewa must return home for her mother’s funeral, to Lagos, a place where she once had to hide herself. At the funeral, she runs into an important person from her past, and is forced to go in search of her own peace.

Precious Hair & Beauty

John Ogunmuyiwa / UK / 2021 / 11mins

John Ogunmuyiwa’s vibrant short is an ode to the mundanity and madness of the high street, told through the window of an African hair salon in London.

Frieda

Tisa Chigaga / USA / 2022 / 8mins

An older undocumented migrant is summarily dismissed from her housekeeping position. Cast into desperate uncertainty, she roams the city in despair.

Mma Moeketsi

Reabetswe Moeti / South Africa / 2018 / 25mins

Based on true events, this film recounts a 2012 massacre in which a group of South African mine workers went on a wage-increase strike, leading to a national tragedy in which 34 miners were brutally killed by the police.

Intelligent / Botlhale

Reabetswe Moeti / South Africa / 2022 / 35mins

Botlhale, who’s mentally ill, makes new friends and finds love when he’s institutionalized. The comrades plan an escape to Chicken Heart, a fast-food joint, where they’ll live out their fantasies of being high-society people. But their outing collides with the shutting down of their home, forcing the friends to confront tragedy and death head-on.

Wooly Hair

Monet Morgan / UK / 2019 / 10mins

Wooly Hair is a thought-provoking dramatic short film that shows us a glimpse into the world of afro hair and micro-aggressions.

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