Cambridge is playing host to its 8th African Film Festival this week.

The annual festival, which will run until Sunday November 8th, aims to provide a platform for African filmmakers and “shatter stereotypes of an Africa dominated by disease, famine, and violence”.

The festival features such films as Princesa de Africa, best documentary at this year’s Tarifa African Film Festival, and the UK première of Fahrenheit 2010, which explores the 2010 World Cup and its effect on South African communities.

Screenings have attracted audiences from both universities, as well as Cambridge locals and fans from nearby cities such as Norwich and London. Founded in 2002 by a small group of Cambridge graduate students, it will show over 20 African films in 11 days. Festival director Lindiwe Dovey said CAFF’s role was to “challenge negative and essentialising media portrayals of the continent” by bringing diverse images of African people and cultures to UK audiences.

“Our focus this year on films which deal with Africans’ perspectives on love and sex, and the vitality of sport cultures in Africa, are particularly challenging of stereotypes,” she said.

The festival has also welcomed renowned speakers such as Mark Ashurst, director of the Africa Research Institute, and many of the showings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the film’s directors.

More information on the event can be found at www.facebook.com/cambridgeafricanfilmfestival