CHIWETEL EJIOFOR AND THANDIE NEWTON AT THE PREMIERE OF "2012"!

2012-The End of the World


The Beautiful Thandie Newton at the Premiere

Love her lipstick, it suits her nicely

Kenyan American actor, Edi Gathegi at the premiere

Chiwetel & Danny Glover

Chiwetel E. looking dapper and chic in his little suit
Wish I could be in the US on November 13th to experience this film at the movie theater, ain't nothing like going to the movies the night of a premiere , experiencing a new flick with strangers...(ok I stop ..I miss NY today)

So Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor play the roles of the first daughter and a scientist/advisor to the president in the disaster movie 2012.

The movie is centered around the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar which concides with globab disaster. Other great actors such as John Cusak, Amanda Peets, Danny Glover play characters trying to escape this global cataclysm.

You can see the trailer, HERE

Here's the official movie website:

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/2012/

Djaa our African movie stars are doing their thang:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

MISS AURELIE KONATE IN THE MUSICAL "TISMEE"!

Aurelie, Felix & Khalil

Tismee in urban french language means mixed, I'm sure Aurelie could relate to one of the lead roles she's playing in the show since she is half French and half Guinean.

This talented actress and singer plays along the side of Felix Sabal Leco and Khalil Maoune in this show. It's

about that eternal question of dual identity , the marriage between the western world and mama Africa. Aurelie plays the role of a young woman who returns to her father's african homecountry where she encounters discrimination, rejection, confusion. During that journey she encounters the 2 characters played by Felix and Khalil who help her find some of the answers she's been looking for regarding her identity.

For those of you living in France rush, rush the play ends its run on November 21st at Theatre la Reine Blanche.
In other news Aurelie is hard at work on a new album, will keep you posted:)

Here a few useful links:

http://www.reineblanche.com/ (the theater where it's playing)

http://www.aurelie-konate.com/ (Aurelie's official site)

www.myspace.com/tismeeofficiel (the show's official page)

Watch a clip of the show , HERE

Here's Mama Africa by the cast of Tismee , HERE

I have to add that after watching the clip and hearing the music , I def' wish I could see the show..so go go go my Fabulafricanas in France

Djaa les gos de Guinee sont dedans :)

Eyee Wayee:)

CONGRATULATIONS TO NOVELIST MARIE NDIAYE FOR BEING THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO WIN THE PRESTIGIOUS GONCOURT AWARD!

Go girl!

Marie Ndiaye, novelist and playwright is the first black woman in french history to ever win the Goncourt award. This woman who published her first book at age 17 years old is used to receiving accolades and being celebrated for her work but as she puts it best ,winning the Goncourt award this year is the ultimate recognition for her 25+ years of career. Marie resides in Berlin with her husband and her three children; she left France after Sarkozi became president, she explains that she didn't want to live under his presidential authority.

Marie Ndiaye is also the second woman playwright whose work "Papa doit manger" was played by the Comedie Francaise.

The book she's being recognized for is called "Trois Femmes Puissantes" it's the story of three women dealing with the consequences of immigration in their own personal lives.

If you were curious about his work , here's a list of homework you can start on:

-Trois Femmes Puissantes (Prix Goncourt 2009)

-Quand au riche avenir (her first novel)

-La Sorciere

-Mon Coeur a l'etroit

Here's an interview of Marie Ndiaye (in French of course )

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xackaw_entretien-marie-ndiaye_news

Djaa my Senegalese sistas sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

BANTU SWIMWEAR BY ETHIOPIAN/AMERICANA/GERMAN SISTA YODIT EKLUND!

Bantu

Bantu

Bantu


If just like me you've never heard of Bantu Swimwear, let's educate ourselves shall well?!!

Bantu Swimwear is founded by Yodit Eklund an americana/ethiopiana environmental studies graduate from UC Berkley who wanted to help develop the economy of Africa by providing work to our people and by manifacturing from mama afrika.

This young woman who's had the chance to live in Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan Egypt ultimate goal would be notonly to provide swimwear, surfwear but also skin care products ..

you can find the line at Fred Segal Barney's, Oak ect...

I like it :)

Here's their webbie:( love the music on the webbie by the way)

http://www.bantuwax.com/

Djaa my Ethiopian sistas sont trop dedans:)

Eyee Wayee:)

IN MY GENES BY FILM DIRECTOR, KENYAN FABULAFRICANA DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR LUPITA NYONG'O!

The main character, Agnes



Pamela & James

CK & Delphine -twin sisters

The Mutua Sisters


Gorgeous, talented, proud African, ambitious, human, generous, hard worker, intelligent are some of the words that could describe Lupita Nyong'o the 26 years old documentary director. The Yale student and winner of the 2008 5 College Festival wanted to shed light on the stigma attached to albanism.

She followed the lives of 8 Kenyan albinos among them, a teenager, a man married to a non albinos mother fearing that his child would have to face discrimation...The documentary was presented at the New York Film Festival this year where it was well received.

TLupita at 26 years old has done so many interesting things, she was part of the production team of the MTV Awards/Africa, as well as she directed videos, worked with the production teams for the Namesake directed by Mira Nair, learned the art of capoera, took acting classes..

I don't know if she's done with her studies at Yale yet but looking forward to hearing more about her in the near future, Lupita Nyong'o..remenber her name:)

Her website:

http://www.inmygenes.co.ke/

Here's the trailer HERE

Djaa my Kenyan sistas sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

"LETTER TO MY FABULAFRICANA MAMA" BY AWA DIOP!

Aight ladies , the current mamas, the future young mamas, to all you proud mama's girls, I wanted to celebrate motherhood, wanted to celebrate our mothers, the daughter-maman bond, so I'm adding this feature called "letter to my fabulafricana mama", where I'm asking young mothers to share what it means for them to have children through a letter to their mothers .
The beautiful Awa Diop,a young wife , young professional and businesswoman, mother of one and my friend was kind enough to share with us and her own mama what motherhood means to her, diarama Awa:)

Dear Mummy,

I hope that you are doing well and that everybody at home is doing good as well. As you know, I gave birth to a beautiful boy on September 22nd 2007. Can you imagine, it's already been two years?! Time files, doesn't it? These 2 years went so fast that I never really had a chance to think about motherhood and what it truly means. Living abroad is such a daily challenge. No time, or as they say in some places of the world :" time is money". From the moment you wake up to the moment to you go to sleep there is very little room for "preciousness". The days are paced by "obligations" you must stick to. Well today, I would like to lenghten my minute of preciousness; I would like to take the time to talk to you through these lines.

Little munchkin is my child. I carried him for exactly seven months. Needless to say that I almost missed out on his life. He is a premature baby born 2 months in advance. Even though a future mother is said to be prepared for that, I wasn't. The day I gave birth to him, the nurse put him on my chest , and my reaction was: "I can't ". Yes I could not look at this baby. I felt so guilty and ashamed that I was not able to keep him in my womb for the entire 9 months. The pain that I felt at that moment was greater to anything I ever felt before. The whole scene may have lasted a few seconds but to me it's an ongoing clip in my mind... After that , they took him away from me. I saw him leaving the room I was staying in, in an incubator for babies. The next time I saw him, was 2 days later in the neonatal care of a specialized hospital. He stayed there for 43 days. Motherhood has taught me one thing: there is a thin line between incommensurable sense of happiness and total loss.

Today baby boy is 2 years old. He is definetly part of the terrible 2's I've heard about! When I yell him after he's done something "bad", he looks at me and tells me " mommy no!"That puts a smile on my face, I love him so much! I wish I could spend every minute of the day with him.

How did you mother do it to carry and raise 5 children? The day I left your side to go study abroad , I knew you were special because I missed you so much. But today you are even more special to me because I now know what taking care a child entails. You raised 5 children on your own while pursuing a blemishless career for 35 straight years. Glory to the Allmighty , your values are flawless. Unlike many of us who claim perfection, you are as close to perfection as anyone can get. You are all around dignified in every way. These days, people tend to say that they" made themselves", I say you "made me".

Everyday I strive to as close as possible to who you are.

Your daughter always

Eve Jolie..

Thank you miss Awa for such a beautiful testimonial, God bless you, your mama and your little munchkin and his father:)

THE COMORIAN ESPIEGLE SINGER & FORMER MODEL, IMANY NADIA MLADJAO!

This is one of my fav' pics that I took of former Ford model and reconverted folk/pop/blues/pop singer miss Imany Nadia Mladjao. She performed last weekend in Dakar my hometown, I wasn't quite sure what expect, I didn't know if I was going to "vibe" to her music but my girl Maimouna and I loved it. In this pic, I tried to show her feminite, the little girl in her, she was wearing little ballerina shoes and was dancing around..quite cute...

You've probably seen many pictures of this beautiful girl in Essence magazine among other publications in which she has appeared ect..She has a beautiful rauque timbre de voix that matches the beautiful music played by her musicians. In between songs she was talking to us her public, many of us didn't know her music but were all charmed by her natural atitude, the cool and raw lyrics about failed love, about being different from the one that we love ect, about throwing the wrong man out of our lives..

"CAN YOU HELP ME, SOMEONE HELP ME BREATHE"

She invited on stage a few drummers as well as noted musician Habib Faye, mind you they had never practiced before the show, but it turned out great, senegalese rythm and her folk sound was a beautiful mix..

This girl just can't seem to take bad pictures, every time I tried to take pictures of her she was like "bam bam" shmizing as Tyra Banks would say all the way..beautiful beautiful and talented young woman.

"SLOW DOWN TAKE YOUR TIME IT WILL BE AIGHT"

Imany is still working on her first album and is signed with Thinkzik..

I caught myself wanting to hear more and more, she set a beautiful atmosphere, even though we were at the cultural center of Dakar it felt like we were in a small cafe somewhere listening to some beautiful soothing music teinted with Imany's truth.

Some of her musical heroes are India Arie, Diane Krall, Sting, Tracy Chapman, Etta James....

In person she reminded me an espiegle comorian Billy Holiday, her music was really hers, it was original, it didn't sound like your regular R&B joint no it sounded like Imany Mladjao.

Her webbie is: www.myspace.com/imanyeasy

For those of you living in Paris, she'll perform on December 15th at New Morning (10PM) Here's a video clip, right HERE

Djaa my Comorian sistas sont dedans:) Eyeee Wayee:)

WHAT HAS TUNISIANA/ALGERIAN ACTRESS MISS HAFSIA HERZI BEEN UP TO LATELY?

Le Roi de l'Evasion

Hafsia at the premiere of "Le Concert" last week

Hafsia at the launch of the watches collection by John Galliano

Haven't checked in a little while on the 2009 Berlin shooting award winner the pretty pinup size Hafsia Herzi . The algerian/tunisiana young'un is def' doing her thing in the French cinematographic world. Her latest movie "le roi de l'evasion"came out this past july, by the way this movie sounds "hella funny"..it's an impossible love stroy between a 43 years old repressed homosexual man and a difficult teenager....I would have thought that the movie would have been really "dark" but after seeing the trailer and reading the reviews..I had a smile on my face and I knew that I wanted to see it..:)

Hafsia has plenty of projects set to come out sometimes between the end of this year and 2010. Among them, I the movie she did with tunisian movie director Raja Amari called "Les Anonymes"..will keep you posted:)

In the meatime here is the trailer for "l'evasion du roi"HERE

Djaa my Tunisian/Algerian sistas sont dedans:)
Eyee Wayee:)

HERMAN MFUANANI , THE CONGOLESE CROWN JEWELS MAN!

W & w Joiaillerie

W & w Joaillerie

W & w Joiallerie

W& w Joaillerie

From Wechi Wecha "classy street wear" as he prefers to describe it to high end jewelry house next to the likes of Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, and so many more powerful fashion and jewelry houses....

This 34 years old congolese young entrepeneur is the type of brotha who believes in the stars and live with them , for example after he quit school he worked as a pizza delivery boy, and also delivered fabric to different locations in Paris . It' s around that time that he designed his first shirt with the words "wechi wecha" which means in his native dialect: the good and the bad. It caught the attention of strangers ans friends who wanted to be "wechi wecha" out as well..thus started his first clothing venture. Herman had a vision , he had the perfect example in the line FUBU, he wanted celebs and everyday people to wear his line. As any good african he knew how to sell himself to others(you know how our brothas are) he partnered with some people in the industry which allowed him to sell his products all over france.

The clothing "thing "being crossed out of his list, Herman turned towards the high end jewelry sector, he took classes at one of the most prestigious schools to learn as much as he could, gained the respect of some his peers within the industry and opened his shop "W&w Joaillerie on Place Vendome.. What I also liked about his success story is that he never forgot his african roots, he founded a collective of talented artisans using and producing beautiful african jewelry, part of those profits

So yes Herman Mfuanani got a bit of that ego Beyonce was telling us about, but hey he worked hard to get to this point...respect and much success to him:)

You can see part of his collection here:

http://www.myspace.com/wwjoaillerie

Djaa les gars du Congo sont trop fort:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

"MAMA ZAMBIA", MAUREEN LILANDA!

La go a la forme dee!

What can I say? Another beautiful voice I'm discovering and sharing with you all.
If you like folk african music with a lot of soul , Maureen is your girl. This zambian woman mixes tradional rythm, reggae, soul,pop, def' tunes I would listen to on my ipod. Maureen has 20+years of experience on both local and international scene. This mother of four is also a four time recepient of the NAC award for best zambian female artist is well know in her native zambia where she's fondly called "mama zambia". She just released her latest album called "Soul Masala", a project on which she worked with both zambian and european musicians.
Check her out , she's def' interesting:
Maureen's video
Here's her webbie:

www.myspace.com/maureenzammo

Djaa my Zambian sistas sont dedans:)
Eyee Wayeee:)

CERAMICS BY MELANIE BRUMENT!

Courtesy of Melanie Brument
Courtesy of Melanie Brument

Courtesy of Melanie Brument

Courtesy of Melanie Brument

Courtesy of Melanie Brument

Courtesy of Melanie Brument

Courtesy of Melanie Brument

In love with french ceramic line "Petit a Petit" by Melanie Brument...I love the colors she uses, the millions of little dots painted on ceramics or kitchen textile...nice stuff:)

I 've been featuring a lot of kitchenware lately it seems lol..but anywhoo I hope that you fabulafricanas appreciate a nice set of china, or a pretty plate, a pretty nappe ..food appreciation also comes with great presentation I believe

Here's her webbie:

http://melaniebrument.canalblog.com/

LOVING THE JAZZY SOUND OF TITILAYO ADEDOKUN!

Titilayo Adedokun in the italian theatrical adaptation of Aida

Love the 50's essence

She almost was crowned miss America in 1994 (second runner up), she was Miss Ohio in 1993, she sings broadway tunes, she performs operas, she sings jazz..she..she..she. .what can't this young nigerian american woman do?

I was browsing through her website listening to her, and I I loved her sound, her music was just soothing and relaxing.

It transported into my imagination, I was just "chilling"imagining myself an early evening at a nice lounge sitting at the back and listening to her...I guess that's what good music does to u..:)

Titilayo latest album is called "A child again", this is her fourth album.

Apart from her solo effort and the other albums she worked on with other collaborators, she's also done theatrical adaptation of Aida in Italy, has performed for big broadway numbers such as "Porgie & Bess", "La Boheme" around Europe and the USA.

Def' a fabulafricana:)

http://titilayoadedokun.com/

Djaa my Nigerian sistas sont dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

FACE....FACE YOURSELF!

How would I feel waking up and not seeing my little fulani/senegalese/malian nose, not seeing my crooked rabbit teeth, not feeling my round cheeks okay they are more than round lol ...man I think I would be devasted..

I'm ashamed to sound so superficial but I think it would feel like a cyclone had just destroyed my little life..why am I talking like this?

I was just reading an article in the French Marie Claire Magazine about the life of Isabelle Dinoir couple years after her face transplant surgery..man I was reading it heart broken, crying, and just saaaad..thinking about how it must have felt after her dog chewed part of her face while she was unconscious after taking sleeping pills

Matter of fact how do u even start to feel?ahhh...I guess that's when you find out that what really matters is your soul , the core of your being .

I am taking an interesting class aimed to young creative entrepeneurs sponsored by the British Council and one of the professor shared something that spoke volumes to me yesterday.

He told us to ask ourselves a series of questions:

Who are you really, what are your values? not your ideal values, but the person that you truly are when you go to bed at night. He also illustrated this powerful lesson by saying that if you were a thief, when you go to bed at night you know it, if you have a good soul when you go to bed you also know it.

So maybe Isabelle or whoever is going through a major or minor face or body transformation is not just that body, just those eyes, just that nose , those features we learn to live with.

And maybe..yes just that ..maybe ....maybe she became more beautiful after this incident maybe Allah for me , God for you if you are more comfortable, gave her chance to enhance 1 million times more her beauty by becoming hopeful, patient , by finding joy in the smallest things...maybe the miss universe that we are looking for each year is in Isabelle Dinoir, face redone or not...yep afterall after sharing this with you guys maybe I'm finding a bit of warrior spirit Aline Sitoe in me afterall....

Actually reading this piece made me appreciate this human shell I've been given ten times more, realize that tomorrow is not guaranteed that I better take care of, love every single feature I'm given and remenber that it's just lent to me for an unknown length of time ..

Thank you God, real talk:)

Yaye