Benefit for BAMAKO CHIC: WOMEN CLOTH DYERS OF MALIThursday, March 18, 2010, 7:30pm - 10:00pmThe Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CAJoin us to Celebrate and Benefit a New Film on Self-Empowered African Women! Scenes from Bamako ChicMalian musical performance by Mamadou and Vanessa Sidibeplus Reception with Malian food!BAMAKO CHIC: WOMEN CLOTH DYERS OF MALI, a one hour film in production (Directors: Maureen Gosling and Maxine Downs), tells the untold story of self-empowered African women who turned their artistic creativity and resourcefulness into a force for alleviating their own poverty and fueled the hand-dyed cloth industry to become a lucrative business for women in Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world. Through the personal stories of five characters, the film explores the triumph of women’s creativity in the context of poverty, disease and corruption.All proceeds will go towards the production of Bamako Chic, a project of the San Francisco Film Society, a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information about the films of Maureen Gosling, please visit www.maureengosling.com