The 5th Edition of the Accra RealLife Documentary Film Festival opens on Sunday, May 16, and runs through Thursday, May 20, 2010. RealLife was launched on May 20, 2006 as "an annual film festival dedicated to documentary films based on the histories, peoples, heroes, cities and locations of African and diasporic African communities. The event brought together filmmakers, scholars, students and film enthusiasts to one of the greatest historic Pan-African cities in the world - Accra."
That inaugural event was understandably modest, but it was expected that RealLife would grow to become "the continent's major initiative and forum for the production, cataloging and exhibition of documentary film records of African and African-diasporic subjects in global history."
Thanks to the unfailing dedication of its initiators, Lydie Diakhate and
Awam Amkpa, and the institutional support of New York University and other partners, Real Life is moving closer and closer to the realization of that initial dream.

The 2010 Real Life festival is an enticing choice of films for screening.
Beyond the screening, Real Life is also offering an invaluable service
to the film industry in Africa with its increasing emphasis on archival
workshops specially dedicated to the restoration and preservation of
films. This year's workshops are to be led by Mona Jimenez, Kara Van Malssen, and Ishumael Sinyengere. Other valuable aspects of the program include master classes to be given by distinguished guest directors/technicians, among them Julien Samani and Femi Odugbemi. There is also the special treat of the launch and signing of Manthia Diawara's new book: African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics.
Thanks to the new Ag. Rector of the National Film and Television
Institute, Prof. Linus Abraham, and the Dean of Studies, Ms Vicentia
Akwetey, students and faculty of NAFTI are certain to play a significant role in this year's Real Life festival. We hope that this cooperation will grow even stronger.

It is a delight to see that from the 2006 maiden edition, the Accra Real Life Documentary Festival has recorded enthusiastic reception from a wide range of people. The very rich programme being offered this year and from a wider range of film makers across the African global community, suggests that much more significant creative work is being done in the area of documentary films than we are likely to be aware of.
What is needed now is a reliable and credible platform on which African and African-heritage documentaries can come together annually for dialogue and a sharing of visions and techniques. This is what Real Life seeks to offer. And it is just what we must all help to make it become.
The festival team extends its warmest welcome to everyone.