Documentaries
LOOKING FOR LIFE (CHERCHER LA VIE)
DIRECTED BY CLAUDETTE COULANGES
HAITI AND GERMANY / 1999 / CREOLE AND FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 60 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Looking for Life introduces the viewer to two women, Anne-Rose and Rosemene, who each one has their own particular way of battling through life. The former makes lunches in a factory yard in Port-au-Prince and sells her meals to the factory workers; the latter is employed in the same factory as a production worker making pullovers and T-shirts. Every day she buys her midday meal on credit from Anne-Rose. Through the connection between these two women the film shows part of their daily work and the constant battle for survival that they lead together with other women in Haiti. Going beyond this, however the film demonstrates the extent to which the importation of North American goods has brought about the collapse of Haitian regional production and ruined Haiti's economy. The connection between the two topics of the film reveals the significant role that Haitian women of today play in an economy that has been bled dry.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Claudette Coulanges
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GENRES
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MAMA AFRICA: MIRIAM MAKEBA
DIRECTED BY MIKA KAURISMÄKI
SOUTH AFRICA AND GERMANY / 2011 / ENGLISH / 90 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba focuses on the life and influence of the South African singer and civil rights activist, Miriam Makeba. The film's segment concerning her time in the USA is particularly significant, as it showcases her impact on the Civil Rights Movement and her artistic collaborations in the country.
During her time in the United States, Makeba's music and activism became deeply intertwined with the African-American experience. Her marriage to Stokely Carmichael, a prominent figure in the Black Panther Party, marked a crucial period where her artistry and advocacy for African rights gained prominence, but also led to controversy and eventual exile from the USA. The documentary explores how Makeba used her voice not only to enchant American audiences with her music but also to raise awareness about the struggles against apartheid in South Africa, making her a vital cultural and political link between Africa and the African-American community.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Mika Kaurismäki
Starring: Hugh Masekela
Starring: Angélique Kidjo
Starring: Harry Belafonte
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GENRES
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BONUS FILM
ACES
DIRECTED BY NTANDAZO "DIDI" GCINGCA
SOUTH AFRICA / 1999 / ENGLISH / 17 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Aces is the story of a young man who fights against the battering of his mother by his drunken father. The situation escalates until Ace desperately stabs his father to death, and is sent to jail for a period of 15 years. Nine years later he is out on parole. He kills again within a day's time of his release.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Ntandazo "Didi" Gcingca
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GENRE
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SARA GOMEZ: AN AFRO-CUBAN FILMMAKER
DIRECTED BY ALESSANDRA MULLER
CUBA AND SWITZERLAND / 2005 / SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 76 MIN
SYNOPSIS
Sara Gomez, An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker is a rich, multilayered documentary about Afro-Cuban director Sarah Gomez. Born in 1943, she studied literature, piano, and Afro-Cuban ethnography before becoming the first female Cuban filmmaker. A woman of great intelligence, independence and generosity, she was a revolutionary filmmaker with intersecting concerns about the Afro-Cuban community and the value of its cultural traditions, women's issues, and the treatment of the marginalized sectors of society. Through archival footage of her works and interviews with her children and husband Germinal Hernandez, cast members of her best-know film De cierta manera,as well as colleagues and friends, we get closer to a filmmaker who invented new landscapes and brought together opposite worlds.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Alessandra Muller
Starring: Sara Gómez
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GENRES
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SOUL IN THE EYE
DIRECTED BY ZOZIMO BULBUL
BRAZIL / 1974 / SILENT / 8 MIN
SYNOPSIS
This short film on the legacy of culture and survival bestowed by enslaved Africans brought to the Americas features the music of John Coltrane.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Zozimo Bulbul
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GENRES
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THE EXCEPTION AND THE RULE
DIRECTED BY JOEL ZITO ARAUJO
BRAZIL / 1997 / PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 38 MIN
SYNOPSIS
On March 13, 1992, Vicente Francisco do Espirito Santo, a Black Brazilian who worked in a government-owned electricity company, was fired from his job. It did not take long for him to realize that his dismissal was directly linked to his skin color. Encouraged by his union and a strong Black empowerment movement, he began a judicial process which he won, and as a result was reinstated in his former position. This informative documentary about an unknown victory illustrates how the courts of Brazil did recognize the company's prejudice and racism in a country where such realities are usually dismissed as atypical.
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DIRECTOR AND CAST
Director: Joel Zito Araujo
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GENRES
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