Branwen Okpako's documentary about President Obama's Kenyan born half-sister will be shown April 5.
Branwen Okpako, director of "The Education of Auma Obama" Branwen Kiemute Okpako, the Nigerian-born director of "The Education of Auma Obama," a documentary centered on the Kenyan-born, half-sister of President Barack Obama, will be present for a free screening of the film on April 5 at 1 p.m. at Amherst Cinema.
Auma Obama The two women became friends as students in Germany, during the 1990s. Okpako was in Kenya, with Auma Obama when she watched her half-brother win the presidency. The film focuses on that moment in telling the family's story.
Prof. Barton Byg, of the film studies and German and Scandinavian studies departments at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, will introduce Okpako.
The award-winning filmmaker studied political science in England, and directing at the German Film and Television Academy. Her films include "Dirt for Dinner," "The Pilot and the Passenger" and "Valley of the Innocent."
Auma Barack, who studied in Germany on scholarship and earned doctorate in German literature from the University of Bayreuth, is the daughter of the late Barack Obama Sr., who was an economist in Kenya, and his first wife Kezia. She and her half brother met two years after their father died in a car accident n 1982.
The president wrote about his half-sister in "Dreams From My Father." She has also written her own memoir "And Then Life Happens."
Auma Barack, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, started her own foundation to empower young people, particularly girls.
Tickets for the free screening are only available at the Amherst Cinema box office, 23 Amity St.
Related:
http://amherstcinema.org/films-and-events/education-auma-obama
http://www.filmkantine.de/obama/