Femi Oke

All the films in this year's New York African Film Festival explore the notion of home and homeland. Here are WNYC's festival picks.

The Takeaway is launching a new podcast series with a distinct UK flavor, or as the English would write "flavour."  Chatter from America is an irreverent review of news and life in the United States, co-hosted by three ex-pat Brits. Every week The Economist's Matthew Bishop, Henry Timms from New York's famous 92nd Street Y and The Takeaway's Femi Oke analyze the news with only the occasional mention of cricket.

One of the highlights of this year's fest is the award winning documentary An African Election. The feature length film follows the twists and turns of Ghana’s 2008 general election. ...

Hurricane Irene knocked out public transport from from the Carolinas through New England, and that includes all three of New York’s major airports. A big whack of all commercial flights in the U.S. are routed through New York, as many 12,000 flights have been cancelled. Business was hit as well. Samsung was forced to delay the planned release of it’s newest phone, because it couldn't can get shipments to New York. And on an individual level weddings had to be cancelled, the convention goers got stuck in Vegas for another weekend and then there's those who rode out Irene at JFK.

Hurricane Irene made landfall in New York Sunday morning, downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Philadelphia, and New Jersey particularly hard over the weekend. Last night, the storm reached New England, triggering floods in Vermont. At least 16 deaths have been reported as a result of the storm. This morning, after being grounded through the weekend for Hurricane Irene, airlines at New York City's three major airports are readying their planes and crews for departures.

Since the first rumblings of revolution in Tunisia last year, we’ve been covering the Arab awakenings often. We’ve asked for analysis from political reporters and foreign correspondents, and reported the latest news as it came in. Today, we're examining a different angle to the uprisings: commerce, particularly the growing number of Middle Eastern wine businesses. 

We head back to London for some global reaction to the Royal Wedding, to speak with one of the many international Royal famlies who've just watched Prince William and Princess Catherine tie the knot. Yomi Oke is a member of the Nigerian Royal family, and she happens to also be the mother of our very own Femi Oke!

 

Orchestras everywhere are struggling to stay afloat, but the challenges for the only symphony orchestra in Central Africa were different than those faced by Western musical groups. A new documentary film "Kinshasa Symphony" depicting the genesis and survival of the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra, which was set up during the 1998-2003 Congolese war, is playing this week at the New York African Film Festival. The Takeaway's Special Correspondent Femi Oke talks about the film and brings us details from some of its founders.

Mahen Bonetti, founder of the New York African Film Festival has an annual dilemma. From a program of over 30 films, she has to pick one to be the opening feature. The film has to be so enticing the audience is eager to come back to see more. That's a lot of pressure, but Bonetti is used to it. She's been selecting African films for New Yorkers for the last eighteen years.

The 18th New York African Film Festival kicks off Wednesday with the documentary “Kinshasa Symphony,” a film about the Democratic Republic of Congo’s only symphony orchestra.

"Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam" opens on Friday at the New York Public Library with some of the library’s most rare and beautiful spiritual texts.

Australian jewelery designer Stefano Canturi spent six months working on the smallest client he’s ever had: toymaker Mattel asked him to design a Barbie doll that would be the most expensive in the world.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs travels the world explaining and promoting the Millennium Development Goals. This week, those goals will be among the main topics addressed by world's leaders -- including President Obama -- at the annual U.N. summit. But how much does the average New Yorker know about the the ambitious U.N. project to eradicate poverty by 2015?

Its time for the U.S. soccer team to take the field again. Riding high off their (lucky, by all accounts) tie with England last week, they now enter their match against Slovenia as favorites and a real shot to make it to the Round of 16. 

So the excitement is high for soccer fans around the country. Our own Femi Oke reports live with some die hard boosters as they prepare for today's morning match at Nevada Smith's bar in New York City. Jack Keane, director of football for the bar, has World Cup-proofed the place for the masses expected for the 10:00 a.m. match. 

At Madiba Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, on the first day of the World Cup, the bar was full of enthusiastic fans of the South African team. The fans tell us which teams they're supporting and talk about what connects them to their team. In the video (after the jump), they are singing a song called "Shosholoza" which means "Go Forward"; it's a song that's often sung at soccer games in South Africa. 

Takeaway correspondent Femi Oke spends the morning at the South African restaurant, Madiba, in Brooklyn, New York, where owners and patrons are preparing for the biggest South African World Cup party in the city. Restaurant owner, Mark Hanegan says there are already 120 breakfast reservations from South Africa fans, coming to eat the home-style food and watch the game. Femi checks in with enthusiastic soccer fans at the bar, like Tiffani Knowles, who was the first to arrive at the restaurant this morning.

New York, NY —

The New York African Film Festival opens today, kicking off a two month program of African films and events across the city. Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the festival, has been making selections for the festival since she started it 17 years ago. ...

Mahen Bonetti is the effervescent founder and executive director of the New York African Film Festival. Listen to her conversation with WNYC's Richard Hake.

This week marks the seventh anniversary of the war in Iraq. On March 19, 2003, U.S. forces invaded Iraq and they are still there, making it one of the longest wars in American history. WNYC's Femi Oke met up with two retired marines from New York who both served in ...