Maona Art presents Stone Town: Disco Afrika

CLUB 18+81 min

Curated by Tatenda Jamera of Maona Art, this film draws audiences homeward through the soulful gaze of African heritage — a tapestry of culture, memory, and stories woven into one shared narrative.

Madagascar, nowadays. Kwame, 20, struggles to make a living in the clandestine sapphire mines. An unexpected event takes him back to his hometown. As he reunites with his mother and old friends, he finds himself confronted with the rampant corruption plaguing his country. He will have to choose between easy money and loyalty, between individualism and political awakening.

Stone Town, a city in Zanzibar, is home to a unique tradition where on Fridays, a small group of elderly men, seven or eight in number gather in a dilapidated auditorium filled with cobwebs and broken chairs. Sitting beneath the open sky, where the roof collapsed long ago, they watch the flickering images of old films projected onto a wall. This takes place at the Majestic, one of Africa’s earliest cinemas, an art deco treasure from the 1920s that has since faded from its former glory. It is this very spirit that we seek to revive through the Stone Town strand by showcasing African cinema on the big screen.