Inner city London is the backdrop of this un-idealistic exploration into the nature of friendship, identity and the fears within, which create a resistance to achieving our dreams. Through the story of three teenagers – Jamie aka Rage, G and T- in pursuit of a dream- to cut a Hip hop record; we witness the vulnerability of youth in the face of market forces, cultural colonialism and multiculturalism in a real society. Our protagonists’ many faces, an example of the masks we wear, of our inner truths and outer lies, will crumble with self-confrontations that will lead them to triumph in the face of adversity.

Prix Oumarou Ganda, FESPACO 2001

Newton I. Aduaka

With his feature film Ezra, Newton I Aduaka won the Etalon d’or de Yennenga at the 20th edition of FESPACO. Premiering in competition at the Sundance film festival, it was nominated for the Humanitas Prize, screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes and was awarded the United Nation’s prize for Peace and Tolerance, the FIPRESI award and various other awards, including 6 grand jury prizes. Prior to that his multiaward winning indie film debut feature, Rage, was released nation-wide in the UK to critical acclaim and was a recipient of the Carlton television multicultural award, FESPACO’s Oumorou Ganda award, PAFF best first feature award and the OCIC prize. A Ford Foundation grantee, Newton was Filmmaker in Residence at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation’s La Résidence du Festival and writer in residence at The Moulin d’Ande. Commissioned by the Society of French Directors (SRF) and Cannes’ Quinzaine des Réalisateurs he made a short film on the theme, “Cinema and Globalization”. The result was Funeral . His short films, have screened, in various official competitions and won awards at numerous film festivals such as the Mostra de Venise, Oberhausen film festival, Claremont Ferrand Intl. film festival, Uppsala Intl. short film festival Edinburgh International Film Festival… The NGO, Global Dialogue, commissioned Aduaka to direct four short films on AIDS awareness. These films have been translated into numerous African and European languages and are effectively used as educational tools across the world.

Aduaka was invited to speak at TED. His speech is available online at www.ted.com. He was invited by the Berlin film festival as an expert, to speak on drama and aesthetics of Cinema at the Berlinale Talent Campus. At the 60th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Aduaka was invited to hold a Master class.

One Man’s Show, his third feature premiered at Fespaco, winning the Critics’ Prize. The film had its US premier at the Mill Valley Film Festival. In the past few years Aduaka has made forays into experimental cinema and visual art installation pieces, a return to his days as a member of the radical avant-garde cinema in the early 90s at the London Film-Coop. The British newspaper, The Independent, named Aduaka as one of the 50 greatest cultural figures shaping the African continent. Aduaka lives in Paris.

Filmography

1990 : Voices Behind The Wall (CM)
1994 : Carnival of silence (CM)
1997 : On the edge (CM)
1999 : Rage
2004 : Aicha (CM)
2004 : Bon voyage (CM, collection « Scénarios d’Afrique » campagne anti-SIDA.
2004 : L’Expert (CM, collection « Scénarios d’Afrique » campagne anti-SIDA.
2005 : Sale Nègre (collection « Paris la métisse »), CM
2002 : Funeral (CM)
2006 : Ezra, Etalon d’or de Yennenga au FESPACO 2007
2012 : One man’s show, Prix Paulin Vieyra (Critique Africaine / Africiné Magazine) au FESPACO

Awards / Festivals

• Prix Oumarou Ganda (Best First Feature) – FESPACO
• Best Director, Best First Feature – Pan African Film Festival Los Angeles
• Prix Jeunesse – Vue d’Afrique, Montreal
• Grand Prix OCIC – Festival de Amiens!
• Carlton Television Multi-cultural award – United Kingdom
• Nominee Grand Jury Prize – Moscow International Film Festival

Director’s Comment

RAGE is the cinema of now, intense, vivid, real and uncompromising. No special effects, “guns”, gratuitous sex or violence, just simple storytelling from within the powerful vistas of inner emotions outwards. The raw feeling of the inner- city and our protagonists’ London is the backdrop of an un-idealistic exploration into the world of dreams and how they can lead us to self-confrontation at critical points in our lives.

The first draft of RAGE was written in a four days fever, the whole idea being the result of a two-year research in the Hip hop and Jazz Jam Session world. The speed in which the script was written inevitably lends the movie immediacy, energy and intensity. Made independently by award-winning filmmakers writer-director-producer Newton ADUAKA, producer Maria-Elena L’ABBATE and a dedicated and talented crew, RAGE features tour de force performances from three young actors, Fraser Ayres (Intimacy, It Was An Accident, Speak Like a Child), Shaun Parkes (Human Traffic, Lock Stock the TV Series, Mummy 2) and John Pickard (2 Point 4 Children) plus an array of fine supporting cast. An

intense character study, with an energetic and intimate documentary style cinematography by Carlos Arango and a compilation of cutting edge hip hop, jazz, nu beatz and poetry from renowned underground labels drives the film.

Technical Specs

• Year of Production: 2000!
• Duration: 93 minutes
• Original media: 35mm – Color!
• Aspect ratio: 1:1.85!
• Sound: Dolby SR
• Versions: English Dialogue Original & French Subtitled Version

Revue de presse

Critique : Rage – Africine.org

Rage | Movies | The Guardian

Présentation par Isabelle Boni-Claverie et Newton I. Aduaka

En présence d’Abd Al Malik (musicien, écrivain, cinéaste) et Pap NDiaye (historien, directeur du Palais de la Porte Dorée)

→ Débat au Forum des images modéré par Hind Meddeb (cinéaste)