Videos by Title: "W", "X", "Y", and "Z"

Wa’n Wina = Sincerely yours (2001). Director: Dumisani Phakathi

Filmmaker Dumisani Phakathi returns to his old neighborhood in Phiri, Soweto and engages with friends to discuss relationships, sex, love, and AIDS. They talk intimately about the realities of the street and choices they have been forced to make. Reveals the gaps between everyday life and the AIDS campaigns that often talk past the very people they are supposed to address.

The Wars for Water: The Nile (2007). Producer: Richard Malbequi

"Potential conflicts are brewing between the nations that share the Nile River Basin. The days of the Nile only nourishing Egypt's great demand for water might be rapidly coming to an end. Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda are geographically located in the larger Nile basin and control the sources of the river. In recent years they have been demanding a greater share of the Nile's precious resource...All 13 countries with access will have to come to agreements on how to share the Nile"—Container

West African Dance (2004). Producers: Abdoulaye Camara, & Nikola Clay

Abdoulaye Camara teaches 5 West African choreographies: Yolé, Kuku, Tiriba, Mandiani, and Telefone.

West African djembe drumming (1991)

Paulo Mattioli discusses instrumentation, technique and the seven principal rhythm patterns of West African drumming. Includes rhythm building exercises and play along segments.

West African instruments (1978)

Philip Faini, professor of music, and other musicians demonstrate the sounds of various West African percussion instruments, the original versions of such instruments as claves, castanets, maracas, gourd rattles, double gongs, tambourines, and talking drums.

West African popular music a Third Eye Production for RM Arts and Channel Four. (1984)

Focuses on the Africa's popular music industry that has grown rapidly over the past two decades and has produced its own distinct styles of Pop music.

West Africa, the fabric of reform (1999)

Documentary covering the economic reform occurring, with the help of the IMF, in the West African countries of CÙte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, and Mali.

What do we know about Africa? (1995)

Discusses commonly held western stereotypes about Africa and then presents accurate information on African culture and geography.

When the harvest is over (1989)

Kenya is an agricultural country, but once the harvest is over and they store their grain much of it becomes infested with bugs. With improved storage methods the people of Kenya are now able to save more of their grain.

Why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears (1976)

An adaptation of the book of the same title by Verna Aardema, with pictures by Leo and Diane Dillon, which retells a West African tale which explains why the mosquito, responsible for the death of Mother Owl's baby, buzzes in people's ears looking for forgiveness. For primary grades.

Wind of Change: The End of Colonialism in Africa (c2002). Director: Peter Du Cane

Discusses nationalism in black Africa through the experiences of the Gold Coast, French Guinea, and the Belgian Congo, the first colonies to gain independence after World War II. Also considers the effects on Africa of the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union.

Wonders of the African World, (1999) Director: Nick Godwin.

(Taken from distributor info) Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. embarks on a personal journey of discovery, exploring the forgotten history and full cultural richness of an Africa that has barely been glimpsed by the outside world.

Wooden Camera (2003). Director: Ntshanheni Wa Luruli

"From South Africa comes a compelling story of fate and friendship as two boys make a simple choice that alters their lives forever....this richly multilayered story offers an insightful look into the challenges facing post-Apartheid South Africa while telling an enchanting tale of a sweet artistic soul finding his true self."—Container

The World at War: The Definitive History of the Second World War (c2001). Producers: David Elstein, et al.

An historical collection in words and film of World War II, including the region of northern Africa.

The World Bank: the great experiment (1984)

Focuses on Uganda's attempt to escape its spiral of poverty and the World Bank's efforts to prove that it is the international agency best placed to create a new beginning for Uganda.

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.

You Africa, Youssou N'Dour and Etoile: the African tour (1994)

Documentary of the 1994 tour of nine West African nations by legendary Senegalese performing artist, Youssou N'Dour and his band and back-up dancers, Super Etoile.

Zajota and the boogie spirit (1989)

This video incorporates African rhythms and dance in recapitulating the saga of Black people from their African origins to their present life in America.

Zulu (c2003). Director: Cy Endfield

Original motion picture released in 1963. Zulu is set in Africa in 1879 only hours after the battle of Isandhlwana. A small group of British soldiers stood their ground at a farm house against an onslaught of wave after wave of Zulus.