Videos and Other Media
African People

Africa (c2001). Producer: Andrew Jackson

Documentary series in 8 episodes which looks at the continent of Africa, as seen through the eyes of the African people, conveying the diversity and beauty of the land and the compelling personal stories of the people who shape its future. Bonus program (v. 5) follows the project's director, producers, cameramen and researchers as they travel to 16 countries to document the relationship between extraordinary people, wildlife and landscape.

Africa: a new look (16mm reel film, 1981)

... puts aside images of wild animals and festive dances and concentrates on the people of Africa today: teachers and students.

Africa dreaming (1997)

Four short films on love from Namibia, Tunisia, Senegal, and Mozambique.

Africans in America: The Unfolding of Ethnic Identity (2004). Director: Ray LeJeune

Africans who have immigrated from Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Uganda talk about their beliefs, experiences, and living in America.

Afro@Digital (2003). Director: Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda

Looks as the impact of the Internet, cell phones, and other digital technologies and how these technologies are being used in new and creative ways across a broad spectrum of present-day Africa, affecting all aspects of everyday life, including film, music, fashion, political democratization and education.

Amapantsula (1988)

Mapantsula, (Zulu for petty criminal), filmed in Soweto, centers on Panic, a cynical streetwise hoodlum devoted to living township life to the fullest. This film demystifies the day-to-day process by which real people become involved in social change.

Birds of the Wilderness: The Beauty Competition of the Wodaabe People of Niger (2007). Producer: Christopher Roy

"The Wodaabe people of southern Niger, West Africa, hold a beauty competition each fall in which young men paint their faces red and wear costumes of white beads and cloth, with white ostrich feathers in their hats, They are judged based on charm and beauty by the young women of the competing clan. This video includes Wodaabe camp life, the feast before the competition, a young men's initiation, lots of young women, the Ruume dance of welcome, a young man applying his makeup, and lengthy, detailed footage of the Geerewal." - www.createspace.com/2438

Art of the Short Film (c2005). Director: Steve Pavslosky

Inja , a short film presented in Art of the Short Film tells the story of a South African landowner who goes to great extremes to separate a Black boy and his puppy.

The bonds of change (1980)

Filmed in Africa, Latin America and Asia, this video features three visionary alliances: Africa - a partnership to build people's organization and local control; Latin America - an alliance to deliver technical and financial services to NGOs; Asia - a strategic coalition to tackle an urgent environmental problem.

Challenge to Africa (1989)

Africa has the potential for growth limited only by the spirit of its people. The forty-nine nations of Africa must come together to solve their problems. This video contains vignettes of African life and the efforts being undertaken to solve its problems.

City lovers (1982)

Exquisite acting brings to life this tale of interracial love. The protagonist is a middle-aged geologist, exhilarated by South Africa's wondrous landscapes. His lover is a young cashier in a Johannesburg supermarket, impressed by his worldliness and accomplishments. What begins as a casual relationship, develops slowly, shyly and secretly into a tender love affair. However, the fragile intimacy of their bond is destroyed by the forces of opposition.

Colonial Africa: Films from British Central Africa, 1940s-1960s (2001)

Short feature films, comedies and documentary films produced in British Central Africa from the 1940s to 1960. Mary's lucky day: a young black African woman uses Lux toilet soap and marries the man of her dreams. The box: three men repeatedly rop a grocery store using the same scam. New acres: discussed the Native Land Husbandry Act, designed to stop collective nomadism and develop a culture of settled private ownership of specific land for farming and development.

Come back, Africa (1987)

Documentary-style film which tells the story of Zacariah, an African who, after being forced off his land by the government, must then go to work in the gold mines.

The Constant Gardener (2005). Director: Fernando Meirelles

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and all the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, Justin risks his own life and will stop at nothing to expose the truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Coup de Torchon (c2001). Director: Bertrand Tavernier

After Lucien Cordier, the only police officer in a small African village is ridiculed by the local pimp, cheated on by his wife, and suffers his mistresses being beaten, he begins to get rid of the evil ones in his life.

Dakan (1997)

Dakan is the first feature film on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa(Dakan is the first feature film on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa. (In French and Mandikan with English subtitles

Don't hurry back (1996)

An allegory of a Yoruba story of three heavenly travelers who experience life on earth three times, first in body, then in mind, and finally in spirit.

Dreams of the Good Life (2001). Director: Bridget Pickering

In Dreams of the good life, five South African women talk about life, love and how their dreams for the future have changed since they have found out they are HIV positive. The women now examine their relationships with men more openly than ever before.

Fathers (c2000). Directors: Ermias Woldeamlak (The Father), Celine Gilbert, (Surrender) & Amaka Igwe (A Barberís Wisdom)

Each of these three films offers a critical look at the relationships between fathers and their children in contemporary Africa. In the Father, the patriarch in question is ultimately the military dictatorship which terrorized Ethiopia in the '70s and '80s. Surrender shows the traditional face of paternal tyranny, a father controlling his son's life. A Barber's Wisdom shows a modern father who compromises his children in his relentless pursuit of money.

Fruit of fear (1965)

This film documents and contrasts the two societies existing in South Africa today: the black majority and the ruling white minority.

Fulani: Art and Life of a Nomadic People (2007). Producer: Christopher Roy

"The Fulani are a diverse people who live across West Africa from Dakar to Lake Chad. They herd cattle, sheep, goats and camels, and live from the milk from their cows. They create very beautiful art, including hairstyles, dress, mats, architecture, song, music and dance. This video features three Fulani peoples: the Gowabe, Jelgobe, and Wodaabe. The video includes scenes of daily life, interiors and exteriors of their homes, cattle, milking, making butter, weaving mats, and the spectacular dances of the Wodaabe Fulani in Niger, the Geerewal and the Ruume. Young men paint their faces red with clay and butter, and put on beautiful costumes of beads, white cloth, and ostrich feathers. They dance in long lines to show off their sex appeal. The competitions are judged by beautiful young women from the opposite clan, and the winners' names are remembered for years to come"-- www.createspace.com/243089

Gentle winds of change (1961, 16 mm)

This film illustrates the traditions, progress and aspects of social change of the Banyankole, a tribe in Uganda

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1987)

An empty Coke bottle drops from the sky near an African San hunter and is brought into his camp, but after causing much trouble to the group, he tries to return the bottle to the gods who must have dropped it.

Hadza, the food quest of a hunting and gathering tribe of Tanzania (1965)

This is a detailed and systematic description of the way in which an isolated East African tribe obtains food by hunting game animals and by collecting wild fruits, roots and honey of wild bees.

Hotel Rwanda (2004). Director: Terry George

The true story of a five-star-hotel manager who used his wits and words to save more than 1,200 lives during the 1994 Rwandan conflict.

How Sweet it is: The Story of Sugar (2003). Producer: Emily Aronson

Part of a series on the cultural and economic history of foods, looking at how Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadores changed what people ate. This program examines the history of sugar. In the British West Indies sugar plantations needed cheap labor to survive so slaves from West Africa became the answer. Ships sailed from Europe to West Africa with manufactured goods which were then traded for slaves and the slaves were shipped to the West Indies. For centuries no other commodity on the world market wielded as much political influence -- sugar affected almost every aspect of government policy in much the same way as oil does today.

In a time of violence (1994)

A story concerning changing values, violent cultural and political clashes and conflict among black families in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Last grave at Dimbaza (1974, 16 mm)

Shot illegally in the Republic of South Africa, this documentary originally produced in 1974 exposes the oppression of Blacks and other people designated as colored under apartheid rule in South Africa.

Love changes people and people change things (1989)

South Africa is a melting pot of people with many cultures, differences and problems. It is a living example of the triumph of unity over diversity and proof that it is possible for all on this planet to live together in peace

Man made famine (1986)

Many people believe Africa's famine is due to natural causes such as drought, but it is not. It is caused by the neglect of its people.

Mandabi (c2005). Director Ousmane Sembene

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1968, Mandabi is a story about a man who receives a money order and finds that to cash it he must first deal with an intimidating web of bureaucracy. Meanwhile everyone around him begins to make plans for use of the money, turning his traditional world upside down before he has even laid hands on a cent, comically illustrating how complex daily life in Africa can be.

The Masai Today (c2004).

Describes the pastoral life of the Masai tribe in Africa. The program follows the life of a family over the course of seven years as a glimpse into the life of the Masai as they struggle with the challenges of modernity.

N!ai : the story of a !Kung woman (1978)

This historical overview of the daily life of the !Kung, a hunting and gathering tribe in South Africa presents the story of N!ai from her childhood to her mid-thirties.

The new Zimbabwe (1982)

Blacks and whites who once lived in separate societies in colonial Rhodesia now hope to work together in new Zimbabwe. They tell of their aspirations and apprehensions in the early years of independence.

Out of Africa (1986)

The true story of Karen Blixen, a strong-willed woman who, with her philandering husband, runs a coffee plantation in Kenya, circa 1914. To her astonishment she soon discovers herself falling in love with the land, its people and the mysterious white hunter.

People & places of Africa (c1998). Producer: Paolo Pellegrini

"Explores the unique cultures, marvels of nature, indigenous peoples and remote lands of Africa"--Containers

Real Stories from a Free South Africa (2004). Directors: Minky Schlesinger and Khetiwe Ngcobo

Five films showing how the ten years of freedom from apartheid in South Africa have affected the lives of ordinary South Africans since the election of Nelson Mandela in May, 1994. Broadcasting 1, the most widely-watched channel in South Africa, with the support of the National Film and Video Foundation, commissioned fourteen emerging filmmakers to make video portraits of South African society. California Newsreel has chosen five of the fourteen original programs from this experiment in empowering people to tell their own life stories as they are unfolding. Hot wax tells the story of a woman who runs her own beauty salon in Alexandra, serving primarily white clients. Cinderella of the Cape Flats presents the annual Spring Queen Pageant of 2003, for which the women clothing worker participants make their own clothing. Belonging tells the story of a woman born in exile, daughter of political ÈmigrÈs, who struggles to find her own place after she moves to the new South Africa. Umgidi tells of two brothers, their relationship with each other and with their family. One brother wants to accept his roots; the other wants desperately to escape them. Nabantwa Bam' is a case study of the emergence of social classes even within the same South African family, again focusing on two brothers, one who suffers from a debilitating head injury and has been unable to receive the education which would enable him to escape street life, and the other who is the first Black student as his all white school and is now a programmer with a promising career at Microsoft.

Regopstaanís Dream (c2000). Director: Christopher Walker

Part 17 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. Twenty-five years ago, the Bushmen were evicted from the Kalahari by the apartheid government who claimed they were too westernized to cohabit with the wild animals in the National Park. This film which follows the story of Bushmen fighting to live on ancestral lands within the park, includes interviews with Bushmen, park employees, farmers and government officials each providing their own perspectives.

Rêves de Poussière (Dreams of dust) (2006). Director: Laurent Salgues

A Nigerian peasant comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in northeast Burkina Faso, Africa. He quickly finds out the gold rush ended twenty years before and the inhabitants of this wasteland manage to exist simply from force of habit.

Roots (1985)

An adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots, in which he traces his family's history from the mid-18th century when one of his ancestors was captured and sold into slavery. Follows the struggle for freedom that began with the boy's abduction to America and continued throughout the generations that followed. (6 videocassettes)

Sigaalow : town of dust (1983)

This film is about a refugee camp hidden away on the banks of a muddy river in East Africa. Highlights from the daily routine of these displaced Somalian nomads, as well as their farming, education and cultural practices are portrayed.

Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)

This classic action film stars Gregory Peck as a famed adventure writer examining his life while on a safari in the African mountains. It is based on a story by Ernest Hemingway.

The Songhai princess (1990)

Princess Nzinga, the daughter of a 15th century Songhai emperor is kidnapped from the palace by the Wicked Witch of the Mountains, and is rescued after many years and adventures by medical student Imhotep.

Tanzania : education for self reliance (1978)

In this video a team of educators from the Audio Visual Institute visit a village to show how more permanent houses may be built from mud bricks and aluminum roofs. Discussions, learning new building techniques and confronting government bureaucracy follow. In the end the villagers must take the initiative to build the houses and improve their lives themselves.

Tauw (1971)

African filmmaker Ousmane Sembene follows a young member of a new generation of workers in Senegal to depict the uneducated masses that form the raidly increasing population of cities like Dakar. These workers are most affected by the changes taking place in Africa today. Conditions in Senegal typify those of many emerging nations.

Tsotsi (2005). Director: Gavin Hood

A young man running with a criminal gang on the streets of Johannesburg, Tsotsi - a nickname meaning thug - is immersed in a world of violence that seems to leave him unaffected, until he discovers an infant in the backseat of a car he has stolen.

Yeelen = Brightness (c2002). Director: Souleymane Ciss

Film adaptation of one of the great oral epics of West African folklore and of the Bambara people. Set in the 13th century, time of the powerful Mali Empire, the story tells of young Nianankoro, destined to destroy a corrupt older society, the secret Komo cult, with it his father, and, finally, himself. The flash of light which ends the film ushers in a new, purified world order and captures the Bambara belief in time as circular, not linear--always returning to that initial brightness which created the world.