Movies (fiction) by Region

Ainsi meurent les anges c2001

A Senegalese poet living in France suffers from existential malaise, exacerbated by his turbulent relationship with his father. 1 videodisc (56 min.)

MEDIA 10-4034

 

Boy called Twist 2008, c2004

Tim Greene, Aurelia Driver, Clare Van Zyl, Jarrid Geduld, Lesley Fong, Charles Dickens, Monkey Films, Twisted Pictures (Firm), MonteCristo International (Firm), and Peace Arch Home Entertainment (Firm)

A harrowing tale of a South African street-kid's search for love. Growing up neglected in a rural orphanage, Twist escapes to the unpredictable freedom of Cape Town, where he falls in with Fagin's gang of street urchins. 1 videodisc (115 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2366

 

Chocolat 2001

Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Alain Belmondo, Gérard Crosnier, Isaach de Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, Franēois Cluzet, Cecile Ducasse, and Mireille Perrier

A young woman returns to Cameroon to trace her past in this enthralling depiction of a family's struggle during the final years of French colonialism in Africa that takes a profound look at the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society. 1 videodisc (106 min.)

MEDIA 10-83

 

Come back, Africa In 1957, Rogosin travelled to South Africa and created a powerfully, moving drama exposing the harsh reality of life under the system apartheid. Filmed secretly under the noses of the feared South African police, Rogosin, his crew, and cast risked arrest and deportation. Miriam Makeba was banned from her country after travelling to Venice for the movie's premiere. The scenes shot in the vibrant black ghetto of Sophiatown are precious images of a lost world.  Rogosin took the fight for equality to his homeland with Black roots, his documentary on African American life.  The extraordinary cast, including Reverend Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, attorney and feminist activist Florynce "Flo" Kennedy, musicians Jim Collier, Wende [i.e. Wendy] Smith, Larry Johnson and Reverend Gary Davis, tell stories of heartbreak and despair while their songs blow the roof off the rafters. The film combines tales of oppression with hauntingly beautiful images of the faces of black men, women and children. 2 videodiscs (86 min.)

MEDIA 10-5549

 

Faat Kine 2000

Ousmane Sembčne, Wongue Mbengue, Venus Seye, Mame Ndoumbé, Ndiagne Dia, Mariama Balde, Awa Sene Sarr, and Tabata Ndiaye

The deceptively light domestic drama of Faat Kine, a gas station operator, and unwed mother of two, who climbs the ladder of success in a male dominated field. 1 videcassette (121 min.)

MEDIA 2-5725      10-2243

 

Fathers c2000

Gerum Zenebe, Binyam Worku, Abonesh Mengistu, Emebet Woldegabriel, Tefferialemu Tsion Kassahun, Abubakar Mohammed, Issa Ali Said, Justus Esiri, Hilda Dokubo Mrakpor, Foluke Daramola, Joy Onwubuya, Ermias Woldeamlak, Maji-Da Abdi, Manyazewal Endashaw, Celine Gilbert, B. Nasra Hillal, Kiiza Kahama, Amaka Igwe, Tajuddeen Adepetu, Paul Emema, MagicWorks (Firm), Richard Green and Associates, Ahadu Films, Zenj Films, Alphavision Multimedia Limited, MNET New Directions (Firm), M-Net (Firm), and California Newsreel (Firm)

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. 1 videodisc (78 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2522

 

Flame 200-?, 1998

Dramatization of the role of women fighters in the Zimbabwean liberation struggle, and of the abuses committed against women and peasants in the military and in Zimbabwean society at large. 1 videodisc (85 min.)

MEDIA 10-4701

 

Forgiveness c2005

Ian Gabriel, Greg Latter, Cindy Gabriel, Arnold Vosloo, Zane Meas, Denise Newman, Quanita Adams, Christo Davids, DV/8 Films, National Film and Video Foundation (South Africa), Film i Väst, Fortissimo Films, Giant Films, and California Newsreel (Firm)

A white former South African policeman who tortured and killed a black anti-apartheid activists seeks forgiveness from the victim's family. 1 videodisc (113 min.)

MEDIA 10-1009

 

Le franc 2007, 1994

After the French government devalues the West African Franc, Marigo wins a lottery and finds his life changed in both comic and meaningful ways. The first film of what was to be a trilogy by Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambety entitled Histoires de petites gens. 1 videodisc (46 min.)

MEDIA 10-1924

 

The gods must be crazy 2004, 1980

An empty Coke bottle drops from the sky near Xixo, an African San hunter, but after it causes trouble to the group, he tries to return the bottle to the gods who must have dropped it. 1 videodisc (109 min.)

MEDIA 10-4107

 

Hollow city Na cidade vazia 2005?

Maria Joaao Ganga, Fran cois Gonot, Roldan Pinto Joaao, Domingos Fernandes Fonseca, Raaul Rosaario, Integrada (Firm), Animatografo 2 (Firm), Global Film Initiative, and First Run/Icarus Films

N'dala is an orphan from the Angolan province of Bie, a flashpoint in the rebellion that incited Angola's brutal civil war. In 1991 N'dala is airlifted by missionaries to the port city of Luanda, Angola's capital. He slips away from the nuns at the airport, choosing the solitude of the streets of the old city, but he is not prepared for living by his wits. His wandering leads N'dala to the beach where he takes shelter in an old fisherman's shack, but he is haunted by nightmares of the assault that left his family dead, and he soon disappears into the shanty-town neighborhoods of the city. Each step N'dala takes into the dark streets of the city leads him farther from his home. 1 videodisc (88 min.)

MEDIA 10-1972

 

Max and Mona 2007

Teddy Mattera, Jerry Mofokeng, Mpho Lovinga, Percy Matsemela, Tumi Melamu, Coco Merckle, and First-Run Features (Firm)

"Young Max leaves his small farming village to become a doctor in the big city. But things start to go wrong right away as Max is mistakenly sent on his journey with the sacred village goat, who he names Mona. Upon arrival in Johannesburg, he crosses paths with a sexy siren and becomes embroiled in a gangster face-off triggered by his crooked Uncle Norman"--Container. 1 videodisc (98 min.)

MEDIA 10-1510

 

Moolaadé 2004

Ousmane Sembčne, Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Films Domirev (Firm), and New Yorker Films

To escape the ritual of "purification" organized every seven years, four young girls flee their village and find protection with Collé, but their flight sends the local population into turmoil. 1 videocassette (124 min.)

MEDIA 10-2447     2-7181

 

La noire de Black girl 2005, 1965

Ousmane Sembčne, Mbissine Thérčse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinck, Momar Nar Sene, Robert Fontaine, Abdoulaye Ly, Albourah, Films Domirev (Firm), and New Yorker Video (Firm)

In La noire de ..., a Senegalese maid goes to the Riviera with her employers and gains a new perspective on what it means to be African outside of Africa. A story of exile and despair. Borom Sarret follows a cart driver as he meets an unfortunate array of people in Dakar. 1 videodisc (ca. 80 min.)

MEDIA 10-671

 

Non ou a vaa glaoria de mandar c2005

Manuel de Oliveira, Paulo Branco, Luais Miguel Cintra, Diogo Daoria, Miguel Guilherme, Luais Lucas, Tornasol Films, Radiotelevisaao Portuguesa, Televisiaon Espaanola, and  Llamentol (Firm)

Episodes from the military history of Portugal are told through flashbacks narrated by an intellectual soldier as he travels through a Portuguese African colony in 1973. He easily draws his comrades into philosophical musings, and the little contingent suffers badly at the hands of the local military opposition. 1 videodisc (111 min.)

MEDIA 10-1514

 

O jardim do outro homem Another man's garden 2006

Luais Galvaao Teles,  Serge Zeitoun, Sol de Carvalho, Joana Smith, Gigliola Zacara, Evaristo Abreu, Maria Amaelia Pangane, Timaoteo Maposse, Filomena Remigio, Fado Filmes, Films de Mai, Promarte (Firm), First-Run Features (Firm), and Global Film Initiative

Sofia, a young girl studying to be a doctor, finds that her professor wants more from her than hard work. Highlighting corruption and misogynistic attitudes in a society devastated by the AIDS virus, Sofia's opportunities may depend on her willingness to compromise her values and even her health. 1 videodisc (80 min.)

MEDIA 10-2156

 

Touki-bouki Former cowherd Mory drives a motorbike with a cow's skull on the handlebars, and he and his girlfriend Anta are riding away--from their families, their home, and their future--at least as far as Dakar. They dream of a mythic and romanticized France, and set about scavenging and hustling the funds for the steam liner to Paris. Mory finds that the West, while seductive, cannot compete with the challenges posed by Dakar and his own country. Mambety's juxtaposition of premodern, pastoral, and modern sights and sounds vividly captures the hybridity of postcolonial African society, while his story grapples with the difficulties that society faces in constructing a usable African culture. 1 videodisc (85 min.)

MEDIA 10-1599

 

Xala 198-?

Ousmane Sembčne, Ousmane Sembčne, Seune Samb, Younouss Seye, Miriam Niang, Fatim Diagne, and Moustapha Touré

A savage satire on the impotence of young African nations over-dependent on European technology and white bureaucratic structures. 1 videocassette (123 min.)

MEDIA 2-1788, 10-542

 

Yeelen Brightness c2002

Souleymane Cissae, Salif Keeita, Michel Portal, Balla Moussa Keita, Issiaka Kane, Soumba Traore, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Ismaila Sarr, Koke Sangare , Sise Filimu, Films Cissae, Cinecom International Films, and Kino International Corporation

A film adaptation of one of the great oral epics of the Bambara people, set during the powerful Mali Empire of the 13th century. Tells the story of Nianankoro, a young Bambara warrior destined to destroy a corrupt older society, the secret Komo cult, and with it his father, and, inevitably, himself. The climactic flash of light which floods the screen at the film's end 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. 1 videodisc (105 min.)

MEDIA 10-1382

 

Yesterday 2006

Darrell Roodt, Anant Singh, Helena Spring, Kenneth Kambule, Leleti Khumalo, Harriet Lenabe, HBO Films, and Home Box Office (Firm)

After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and a young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school. Set against the awesome, harsh landscapes of South Africa. 1 videodisc (ca. 95 min.)

MEDIA 10-1339

 

Ainsi meurent les anges Moussa Sene Absa, Thierno Ndiaye Doos, Zéka Laplaine, Odetta Laurent, MSA productions, Institut national de l'audiovisuel (France), and California Newsreel (Firm)

"Mory [is] a troubled Senegalese poet living outside Paris with his French wife and their children.  We watch his marriage fall apart under cross-cultural pressures, specifically his father's demand that he take a second wife in Senegal. Homeless in winter, separated from his children, his poems scattered over a Paris street, Mory returns to Senegal, penniless and with uncertain prospects. At the same time, black-and-white sequences reveal the psychological origins of Mory's present malaise.". 1 videocassette (57 min.)

DANA 1988

 

Black Dju! 1995

Manu Dibango, Richard Courcet, Patrice Flora-Praxo, Philippe Léotard, Cesaria Evora, Jani Thiltges, Pol Cruchten, Claude Waringo, Samsa film (Firm), Saga Film, Radio-Télévision belge de la communauté culturelle française, Vermedla, and ArtMattan Productions

From the sun of the Cape Verde Island, its a very big step to rainy, land-locked Luxembourg, but that's the journey Dju Dele Dibonga takes to track down his dad, whose yearly visits and monthly guest worker checks have stopped. Dju has to face overzealous immigration cops and an outraged police lieutenant who eventually joins in the hunt, becoming Dju's partner in this tale of love and friendship. 1 videocassette (80 min.)

MEDIA 2-7482

 

Bye bye Africa 1999

Claude Gilaizeau, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Productions de la lanterne, and California Newsreel (Firm)

In this reflexive docu-drama about the difficulties of making films in Africa, an exiled film director returns to Chad after the death of his mother. There he discovers, as a result of wars, that motion picture theaters have been abandoned in favor of makeshift video theaters often in private homes. Haroun visits a producer who suggests that he make a film using a video camera and concludes that the important thing is to continue to produce films no matter what the circumstances. 1 videocassette (86 min.)

DANA 1989

Ça twiste ŕ Poponguine Rocking Popenguine 1993

Moussa Sene Absa, Jean-François Belmar, Ismaďl Thiam, Ousmane Bo, Patrice Nassalang, Marieme Fall, and Coura Ba

A comedy set during the last week before Christmas, 1964, in a remote beachside village, where the local teenagers are divided into rival cultural camps. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5269

Ceddo 2001?

Ousmane Sembaene, Tabara Ndiaye, Moustapha Yade, Ismaeila Diagne, Films Domirev (Firm), and New Yorker Films

An historical epic set loosely in the 19th century, the film examines the confrontation between opposing forces in the face of Moslem expansion in Africa. 1 videocassette (112 min.) :

DANA 2198

 

Chocolat 2001

Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Alain Belmondo, Gérard Crosnier, Isaach de Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, François Cluzet, Cecile Ducasse, and Mireille Perrier

A young woman returns to Cameroon to trace her past in this enthralling depiction of a family's struggle during the final years of French colonialism in Africa that takes a profound look at the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society. 1 videodisc (106 min.) :

MEDIA 10-83

 

Comedia infantil 1997

Solveig Nordlund, Sergio Titos, Joao Manja , Henning Mankell,  Torromfilm (Firm), Prole Filme, Avenida Producoes, and ArtMattan Productions

The film depicts the life of an orphan boy, Nelio, whose parents were killed by guerrillas. He escapes to the city and finds magic there and is soon rumored to possess healing powers. 1 videocassette (92 min.)

MEDIA 2-7481

 

Cry freedom 1988

John Briley, Norman Spencer, Richard Attenborough, Donald Woods, and Donald Woods

The story of the friendship between Steve Biko, a black South African activist, and Donald Woods, a white newspaper editor who escapes South Africa after Biko's death to publicize the truth about Biko and about apartheid. 1 videocassette (157 min.) :

MEDIA 2-623

 

Cry, the beloved country 1995

Darrell Roodt, Anant Singh, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, Ronald Harwood, Vusi Kunene, Leleti Khumalo, Charles S Dutton, and Alan Paton

The story of two fathers living in South Africa, a black minister and a white farmer, whose lives are bound together by mutual tragedy. 1 videocassette (106 min.) :

DANA 1032

 

Dakan Destiny 1997

Mohamed Camara, René Feret, Aboubacar Touré, Mamady Mory Camara, Cécile Bois, Koumba Diakite, and Kadé Seck

Dakan is the first feature film on homosexuality from sub-Saharan Africa.  It also is a contemporary African reinterpretation of the age-old Romeo and Juliet conflict between love and social convention. 1 videocassette (87 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1294      2-3730

 

Daresalam 2000

Issa Serge Cœlo, Ismael Ben-Cherif, Pierre Erwan Guillaume, Haikal Zakaria, Abdoulaye Ahmat, Gérard Essomba Many, Sidiki Bakaba, Sept/Arte (Firm), Pierre Javaux Productions, and California Newsreel (Firm)

This feature film focuses on two young men caught up in the Civil War in Chad. It begins in the 1970s with the story of Koni and Djimi as the central government invades their village and insistes on buying the farmer's millet at below market and then browbeats the villagers into paying taxes to help fight the war. When they resist the government burns the village and massacres the inhabitants. Djimi, wounded, remains behind with the hard-liners, while Koni joins a faction which supports compromise with the government . 1 videocassette (100 min.)

DANA 1984

 

Dôlč 2001

Imunga Ivanga, David Ngnema Nkoche, Emile Mepango Matala, Roland Nkeyi, Direct & Différé (Firm), Ce. Na. Ci. (Firm), and California Newsreel (Firm)

This film reveals that here or abroad, causes of youthful disaffection are remarkably similar. When four boys decide to up their odds by robbing the lottery kiosk, this gentle comedy turns tragic. 1 videcassette (ca. 80 min.)

MEDIA  2-7463

 

Emitai 1971?

Ousmane Sembčne, Pierre Blanchard, Robert Fontaine, and Michel Remaudeau

Dramatically depicts the confrontation and resistance that ensued between the French colonial goverment and the Diola people in Senegal. The colonial goverment's conscription of young Diola men to fight for France in World War II and their demand for food from the women and old men set the stage for the clash between the Diola and the French. 1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2220

 

Everyone's child 1996

Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nomsa Mlambo, Thulani Sandhla, Walter Muparutsa, Elijah Madzikatire, Chunky Phiri, and Killness Nyati

In a rural village in Zimbabwe, Tamari and Itai are devastated following the tragic death from AIDS of both their parents. For the children this is a time of fear and survival as family and neighbors turn their heads. The social climate in the city is just as hostile as it is in the village. In the end it is only tragedy that can bridge the gulf of denial between their two worlds and make the community realize that these are everyone's children. 1 videocassette (83 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3617

 

Faat Kine 2000

Ousmane Sembène, Wongue Mbengue, Venus Seye, Mame Ndoumbé, Ndiagne Dia, Mariama Balde, Awa Sene Sarr, and Tabata Ndiaye

The deceptively light domestic drama of Faat Kine, a gas station operator, and unwed mother of two, who climbs the ladder of success in a male dominated field. 1 videcassette (121 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5725

 

Faraw! une mere des sables 1997

Abdoulaye Ascofaré, Balla Moussa Keita, Safiatou Mahaman, and Aminata Ousmane

With three difficult children, a crippled, mentally unbalanced husband and no steady income, Zamiatou is the poorest woman in an impoverished desert village in Mali. She could have plenty of money to survive if she would sell her daughter as a prostitute to nearby French settlers, but she refuses to do so. Unfortunately, her family situation continues to spiral downward and she is finally forced to seek outside help. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5259

 

The father Surrender ; A barber's wisdom c2000

Gerum Zenebe, Binyam Worku, Abonesh Mengistu, Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, Issa Ali Said, Justus Esiri, Dokubo Hilda Mrakpor, Foluke Daramola, Joy Onwubuya, Maji-Da Abdi, Letebele Masemola-Jones, B. Nasra Hillal, Tajuddeen Adepetu, Ermias Woldeamlak, Celine Gilbert, Amaka Igwe, Manyazewal Endashaw, Paul Emema, Kilza Kahama, California Newsreel (Firm), M-Net (Firm), and MNET New Directions

Each of these three films offers a critical look at the relationships between fathers and their children in contemporary Africa. 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. In The Father, the patriarch in question is ultimately the military dictatorship which terrorized Ethiopia in the 70s and 80s. 1 videocassette (87 min.)

DANA 1992

 

Fintar o destino 1998

Fernando Vendrell, Carlos Germano, Bettina Lopes, Daniel Martinho, and Horácio Santos

"Fintar o destino is the Library of African Cinema's first sports film -- but a sports film with a distinctly African twist. It is the story of the aging sport hero who holds onto his past so strongly he destroys his present. At the same time, this film explores a much broader tension, personal and political, between remaining true to one's dreams or making the best of the limited opportunities around us.". 1 videocassette (77 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1387 2-5155

 

Finzan 1990

Cheick Oumar Sissoku, Diarrah Sonogo Koti, Oumar Namory Keďta, and Saďdou Touré

Tells the story of two Mali women steadfastly resisting the oppression of tradition and their subsequent rebellion.  Nanyuma, a young widow, refuses her brother-in-law, the village fool, when he asserts his traditional right to "inherit" her.  Fili, a young girl sent from the city by her conservative father, is brutally circumcised by the village women who are scandalized that she resists the age-old custom. 1 videocassette (107 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 842 2-3377

 

Flame 1996

Ingrid Sinclair, Simon Bright, Marian Kunonga, and Ulla Mahaka

One of the most controversial films ever produced in Africa (seized by the police during editing), this feature film not only exposes past abuses but continuing divisions within Zimbabwean society, especially against women and peasants. It is the story of two close friends, Florence and Nyasha as they train and fight as soldiers in the Zimbabwean liberation struggle, but after liberation find their lives little changed. 1 videorecording (85 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1295       2-3299

 

Forgiveness c2005

Ian Gabriel, Greg Latter, Cindy Gabriel, Arnold Vosloo, Zane Meas, Denise Newman, Quanita Adams, Christo Davids, DV/8 Films, National Film and Video Foundation (South Africa), Film i Väst, Fortissimo Films, Giant Films, and California Newsreel (Firm)

A white former South African policeman who tortured and killed a black anti-apartheid activists seeks forgiveness from the victim's family. 1 videodisc (113 min.)  :

MEDIA 10-1009

 

Friends 1994, 1993

Elaine Proctor, Judith Hunt, Kerry Fox, Dambisa Kente, and Michele Burgers

The close friendship between three young South African women (a white political activist, a Black schoolteacher, and an Afrikaner archeologist) is tested when the activist sets off an airport bomb during the late '80's fight against apartheid and two innocent people are killed. 1 videocassette (105 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3414

 

Frontičres Borders 2002

Mostéfa Djadjam, Aďssa Djabri, Farid Lahouassa, Manuel Munz, Lou Dante, Ona Lu Yenke, Delvelin Matthews, Dioucounda Koma, Tadie Tuene, Meyong Bakate , Clarisse Luambo,  TPS Cinéma, and ArtMattan Productions

Seven Africans, one woman and six men, decide to enter Europe clandestinely to start a new life. Together, they face dangers and obstacles, but as they get closer to Tangiers, the last stop before they reach Spain and liberty, their inter-group solidarity starts to fall apart. 1 videocassette (102 min.)

MEDIA 2-7155

 

The Gods must be crazy 1990

Jamie Uys, Marius Weyers, and Sandra Prinsloo

For five thousand years, things have stayed pretty much the same for Xi and his fellow Bushmen.  Then one day an empty Coke bottle drops magically from the sky, and life goes topsy-turvy in the face of this generous 'gift of the gods'. 1 videocassette (109 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1212

 

The grass is singing 1997?

Karen Black, John Thaw, John Kani, Doris May Lessing, Michael Raeburn, and Mark Forstater

The story of a successful career woman who gives up the comfort of her cosmopolitan life when she falls in love with a bush farmer. She tries to assimilate herself to her forbidding new environment. Gradually farm life begins to unnerve her, and in a gripping series of events she loses her self-control and becomes sexually involved with another man. 1 videocassette (102 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5210

 

Guelwaar 1996?, 1993

When Guelwaar, a political activist and a Christian, is mistakenly buried in a Muslim cemetary, family members, political and religious leaders become embroiled in the dispute. 1 videocassette (115 min.) :

DANA 1219

 

Haramuya 1995

Drissa Touré, Abdoulaye Kaba, Abdoulaye Komboudri, Ali Malagouin, Sidiki Sanogo, Ramada N'Diaye Tall, and Assita Sankara

Through Fousseini, a Muslim firmly attached to his faith and traditions, this film draws a picture of Ouagadougou in the traps of modernism and traditionalism. Foussei tries to take care of his family according to the old precepts and the code of honor inherited from his ancestors. One of his sons is a cinema projectionist and supports all the family against the will of his wife, while the other son idles around all day, looking for girlfriends. 1 videocassette (87 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5260

 

Hotel Rwanda 2005

Terry George, A. Kitman Ho, Keir Pearson, Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Naomi Geraghty, Nick Nolte, United Artists Corporation, Lion's Gate Films, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, Miracle Pictures (Firm), Inside Track Productions, Mikado Film, and MGM Home Entertainment Inc

A true story of Paul Rusesabagnia, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsis refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. 1 videodisc (122 min.)

DANA 265

 

Hyčnes Hyenas 1993?, 1992

Djibril Diop Mambéty, Alain P Rozančs, Pierre-Alain Meier, Mansour Diouf, Ami Diakhate, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Adapted from the play, Der Besuch der alten Dame, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The Swiss dramatist's celebrated parable of human greed is adapted into a biting satire of today's Africa--betraying the hopes of independence for the false promises of Western maleviolence. A woman who amasses a fortune returns to her hometown upon which she will bestow a great deal of money if someone there will murder her former lover who betrayed her, forcing her out of the village and into a life of prostitution. 1 videocassette (107 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3376

 

Karmen Gei 2002

Joseph Gai Ramaka, Richard Sadler, Djeďnabe Diop Gaď, Magaye Niang, Stephanie Biddle, Thierno Ndiaye, Dieynaba Niang , Prosper Mérimée, Euripide (Firm), Arte France cinéma (Firm), Canal+Horizons, and California Newsreel (Firm)

Karmen escapes prison through her lesbian relationship with the warden. She then wrecks the marriage and career of a police corporal by making him her lover and co-conspirator in a smuggling ring. She abandons the corporal who, in a fit of jealous rage, stabs her. Contains much singing and dancing. 1 videocassette (83 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 1976 2-6434

 

Lumumba 2000

Raoul Peck, Jacques Bidou, Pascal Bonitzer, Eriq Ebouaney, Alex Descas, Maka Kotto, Théophile Moussa Sowie, and André Debaar

Dramatizes the life of Congolese revolutionary, Patrice Lumumba, who lead his country to independence from Belgium in 1960.  He served, for less than a year, as the first elected prime minister until he was brutally assassinated. 1 videocassette (115 min.) :

MEDIA. MEDIA 2-5699 2-5699

 

Mama Africa 2001

Latifah, Bridget Pickering, Ngozi Onwurah, Zulfah Otto-Sallies, Simon Onwurah, Steven Markowitz, Platon Trakoshis, Henrietta Rose-Innes,  Brian Tilley, Sophie David, Jack Nakalemo, Brian Biragi, Brian Bovell, Rehane Abrams, and Ayesha Meer Krige

Uno's world: Young girl learns that dressing up in fancy clothes does not make her a woman. Hangtime: Young boy tries to have it all through basketball. Raya: A young woman learns to leave her past behind, change her life and do it right. 1 videocassette (87 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5750

 

Mapantsula 1990?

Thomas Mogotlane, Oliver Schmitz, Max Montocchio, Thembi Mtsahi, and Marcel van Heerden

Panic is a petty criminal imprisoned with South African Anti-Apartheid activists who feel contempt toward his lifestyle. While in jail, Panic is transformed into a man willing to become involved with social change. 1 videocassette (104 min.) :

DANA 373

 

Master Harold ... and the boys 1986

Athol Fugard, Iris Merlis, Matthew Broderick, Zakes Mokae, John Kani, and Michael Lindsay-Hogg

A young white man's frustration with the return home of his alcoholic, handicapped father turns into racist viciousness against the two black men who work for the family. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 17            2-1332

 

Max and Mona 2007

Teddy Mattera, Jerry Mofokeng, Mpho Lovinga, Percy Matsemela, Tumi Melamu, Coco Merckle, and First-Run Features (Firm)

"Young Max leaves his small farming village to become a doctor in the big city. But things start to go wrong right away as Max is mistakenly sent on his journey with the sacred village goat, who he names Mona. Upon arrival in Johannesburg, he crosses paths with a sexy siren and becomes embroiled in a gangster face-off triggered by his crooked Uncle Norman"--Container. 1 videodisc (98 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1510

 

Moolaadé 2004

Ousmane Sembčne, Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Films Domirev (Firm), and New Yorker Films

To escape the ritual of "purification" organized every seven years, four young girls flee their village and find protection with Collé, but their flight sends the local population into turmoil. 1 videocassette (124 min.)

MEDIA 2-7181

 

Mortu nega Those whom death refused 1988

Flora Gomes, Bia Gomes, Tunu Eugenio Almada, Mamadu Uri Baldo, M'male Nhassé, and Pedro Da Silva

"In 1973, independence was proclaimed [in Guinea Bissau], ending five centuries of Portuguese colonization and a decade of armed struggle. [This film], Gomes' first feature-length film, made in 1987, ... portrays this critical period in history through the story of one woman, Diminga, whose husband is fighting on the front lines. The camera captures Cabral's assassination, the ending of hostilities, and the reconstruction of the economically and spiritually devastated country. The term "Mortu Nega" means those that death did not want, and Gomes films a ceremony using 3000 extras, in which survivors call upon the dead, asking them how they can go on living in such terrible conditions"--From the Le Monde Cannes '96 Supplement, May 10. 1 videocassette (93 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 1386 2-5164

 

Nagstappie A walk in the night 1998?

Mickey Madoda Dube, Mandla Langa, Duncan Johnson, Allan Granville, Marlon Allenby, Molefi Moleli, and Alex La Guma

Recounts a single terrible night in South Africa when the fragile world of Mikey Adonis, a young coloured steel worker, disintegrates; illustrates how a decent man can be driven to an act of brutality by a racist society which humiliates him at every turn. 1 videocassette  (79 min.) :

DANA 1300

 

Neria 1992

Louise Riber, John Riber, Godwin Mawuru, and Tsitsi Dangarembga

Patrick and Neria, through shared hard work and resourcefulness, built a comfortable home, a good life and family in the city.  But when their loving and equal partnership suddenly ends with the tragic death of Patrick, Neria's nightmare begins. 1 videocassette (103 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3819

 

La noire de Black girl 2005, 1965

Ousmane Sembčne, Mbissine Thérčse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinck, Momar Nar Sene, Robert Fontaine, Abdoulaye Ly, Albourah, Films Domirev (Firm), and New Yorker Video (Firm)

In La noire de ..., a Senegalese maid goes to the Riviera with her employers and gains a new perspective on what it means to be African outside of Africa. A story of exile and despair. Borom Sarret follows a cart driver as he meets an unfortunate array of people in Dakar. 1 videodisc (ca. 80 min.)

MEDIA 10-671

 

Les noms n'habitent nulle part Names live nowhere 1994

Dominique Loreau

Experiences of Senegalese living in Brussels, with commentary on African expatriates by a griot. 1 videocassette (76 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5279

 

Non ou a vaa glaoria de mandar c2005

Manuel de Oliveira, Paulo Branco, Luais Miguel Cintra, Diogo Daoria, Miguel Guilherme, Luais Lucas, Tornasol Films, Radiotelevisaao Portuguesa, Televisiaon Espaanola, and  Llamentol (Firm)

Episodes from the military history of Portugal are told through flashbacks narrated by an intellectual soldier as he travels through a Portuguese African colony in 1973. He easily draws his comrades into philosophical musings, and the little contingent suffers badly at the hands of the local military opposition. 1 videodisc (111 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1514

 

O herói The hero 2005

Zézé Gamboa, Fernando Vendrell, Oumar Makéna Diop, Milton Coelho, Maria Ceic a, Neuza Borges, Patricia Bull, David & Golias, and California Newsreel (Firm)

The story of Vitorio a war hero, and the people he encounters, who are attempting to rebuild their lives at the same time Angola, a nation torn apart by forty years of uninterrupted war, is trying imperfectly but courageously to piece itself back together. 1 videocassette (97 min.)

MEDIA 2-7260

 

O testamento do Senhor. Napumoceno Napumoceno's will 1998

Francisco Manso, Germano Almeida, Nelson Xavier, Maria Ceiça, Chico Diaz, and Zezé Motta

The film is an epic farce from one of the world's least known but most culturally complex societies - Cape Verde. This classic tale of the hollowness at the core of provincial bourgeois life introduces English speaking audiences to Germano Almeida, one of the outstanding writers in Portuguesee today. With its novelistic breadth, the film offers a bildungsroman of a man and a society so caught up in the pursuit of conventional success and prestige it overlooks its true self almost until it is too late. 1 videocassette (110 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5163

 

Out of Africa 1986

Sydney Pollack, Kurt Luedtke, Terence Clegg, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Isak Dinesen

The story of Karen Blixen, her philandering husband, her struggles with a coffee plantation in Kenya, and her ill-fated love for a mysterious white hunter. 1 videocassette (161 min.) :

MEDIA 2-630

 

La petite vendeuse de Soleil The little girl who sold The sun 1999

Lissa Baléra, Taïrou M'Baye, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Silvia Voser, Wasis Diop, Cephéide Productions, Maag Daan (Firm), and Waka Films

Parable uses the struggles of a young crippled girl in Dakar trying to earn her living in the market place selling newspapers to mirror Africa's role in the international marketplace. 1 videocassette (44 min.)

DANA 1990

 

Pičces d'identités ID 1998

Ngangura Mweze, Gérard Essomba Many, Dominique Mesa, Jean-Louis Daulne, Herbert Flack, and California Newsreel (Firm)

A Congolese king searches for his daughter in Brussels where for a time he loses his royal fetishes, his identity, but finds a friend, a local cabdriver with a secret identity. With his help and a chain of coincidence (it must be destined), Mani Kongo is reunited with his daughter and his regalia and returns to Africa with a circle of friends. 1 videocassette (94 min.)

DANA. MEDIA  1974 2-6432

 

Princess Tam Tam 1989

Josephine Baker, Albert Préjean, Edmond T Gréville, and Pepito Abatino

An exotic Pygmalion-like musical comedy about a French author who goes to North Africa to write a novel but becomes distracted--then entranced--by a native girl whom he transforms into a "princess.". 1 videocassette (80 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 305 2-1293

 

Le prix du pardon Ndeysaan = the price of forgiveness c2001

Mansour Sora Wade, Mbissane Ngom, Hubert Kounde, Rokhaya Niang, Gora Seck, Kaany Production (Firm), Films du Safran, and California Newsreel (Firm)

A Lébou fishing village on the south coast of Senegal is covered in a mysterious persistent fog. Neither prayer not sacrifices can break the curse. Mbanik, the son of the dying witch doctor, dares defy the spirits and return the sun to the village. He can then declare his love for Maxoy. Yatma, his best friend and rival, is driven to murder by jealousy. For Yatma, a new curse is about to begin. 1 videocassette (91 min.)

DANA 1972

Quartier Mozart 1992

Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Sandrine Ola, and Serge Amougou

Uses traditional Cameroonian folk beliefs to explore the sexual politics of an urban neighborhood. Queen of the Hood is a proud young girl who doesn't want to be taken advantage of by men. She befriends a local sorcercess who helps her enter the body of a young stud, My Guy. 1 videocassette (81 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 860 2-3618

 

Saaraba 1991

Amadou Saalum Seck, Abdoul Aziz Diop, Fabiene Joelle Felhio, Diankou Bakhayokho, Awa Cheikh Gueye, California Newsreel (Firm), Azanie Films, and Société nouvelle de promotion cinématographique

A young man returns to his homeland after spending many years in Europe. He and his homeland have changed in the interval and he is caught between his simple upbringing, the Western influence he was exposed to, and the corruption existing around him. 1 videocassette (81 min.)

MEDIA 2-6943

 

Sanders of the river 1984

Leslie Banks, Zoltan Korda, Edgar Wallace, Paul Robeson, and  Nina Mae McKinney

Commissioner Sanders, an English colonial officer in the Nigerian River country, thwarts the warlike plans of the old chief Mofalaba with the help of Chief Bosambo. 1 videocassette (85 min.) :

MEDIA      DANA 2-1234             816

 

Sango Malo 1991

Bassek Ba Kobhio, Bassek Ba Kobhio, Jérôme Bolo, Marcel Mvondo, and Edwige Ntongon à Zock

A young teacher, Sango Malo, comes to a rural village with ideas of promoting rural development through practical education; he clashes with the established headmaster, who insists on a traditional French-style education.  Malo alienates many of his supporters through his impatience and is arrested by the army on the behalf of the village chief, storeowner and priest.  But he has taught well and the the villagers carry on his ideas without him. 1 videocassette (94 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5270

 

Song of freedom 1936, 1986

J. Elder Wills, Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch, Esme Percy, and Robert Adams

Paul Robeson plays a stevedore-turned-concert singer who journeys to Africa in search of his roots. 1 videocassette (80 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1303          2-3446

 

Taafe fanga Pouvoir de pagne = Skirt power 1997

Adama Drabo, Fanta Berete, Ibrahima S Koita, and Hélène Diarra

A boy born during a lunar eclipse survives abandonment and inherits magical powers. This proleptic tale of a comic revolution in which, in part, was inspired by the role women played in Mali's 1991 revolution. 1 videocassette (99 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3380

 

Tableau ferraille 1997

Alain P Rozančs, Pascal Verroux, Moussa Sene Absa, ADR productions, Sept Cinéma (Firm), Kus Productions, Canal+Horizons, MSA productions, and California Newsreel (Firm)

Daam, a well-intentioned but weak young European-trained politician, must choose in both his public and private life between the traditional values of his first wife, the barren Gagnesiri, and the modern, individualistic values of his second wife, Kiné. 1 videocassette (88 min.)

MEDIA 2-6913

 

Three tales from Senegal histories de petites gens 1994

Djibril Diop Mambéty, Mansour Sora Wade, Madieye Massamba Dieye, Aminta Fall, Eloi Coly, Silvia Voser, B. a. Demba, Parisien, and Thial-Thial Fara

Le franc is a parable about the plight of everyday Africans buffeted by the changing winds of the international monetary system. Picc mi (Little bird) is a story of two destitute boys who escape the predatory demands of adults to spend one day of freedom together. Fary l'anesse (Fary, the donkey) is a tale of a man led into folly by his pursuit of the perfect woman. When he thinks he has finally found her, she turns out to be a donkey. 1 videocassette (82 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2992

 

Thunderbolt 2000

Tunde Kelani, Uche Obi-Osotule, Lanre Balogun, Buki Ajayi,  Wale Macaulay, Ngozi Nwosu, Adébáyáo Fálétí , William Shakespeare, Mainframe Productions, and California Newsreel (Firm)

This feature film focuses on Yinka from the Yoruba tribe and Ngozi, an Ibo, who meet in the National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria. A retelling of the Othello story in an African setting, the seeds of jealousy are planted when a friend of Yinka, suggests that Ngozi is having a secret affair because "Ibo are untrustworthy." The film then becomes distinctly West African as the supernatural comes to the fore; curses and ritual cleansing take the place of psychological explanations. An old man warns Ngozi, who is accused of having AIDS, that her death is imminent and will strike her like a thunderbolt. 1 videocassette (105 min.)

DANA 1979

 

Tilaď 1995

Idrissa Ouedraogo, Rasmane Ouedraogo, Ine Cisse, Roukietou Barry, and Assane Ouedraogo

Saga returns to his village to find that his fiancée Nogma is now his father's second wife. Saga can do nothing about the marriage within the law of the tribe. Saga and Nogma still love each other. The village views their relationship as incest. The couple leave the village to live outside the law. 1 videocassette (81 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 857 2-6114

 

Udju azul di Yonta The blue eyes of Yonta 1994, 1992

Flora Gomes, Angela Cerveira, Ana Costa, Maysa Marta, Pedro Dias, and António Simão Mendes

Uses the device of a young woman's search for the author of a love letter to explore the political and social environment in the former Portuguese overseas province of Portuguese Guinea, now the independent country of Guinea-Bissau. 1 videocassette (92 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3625

 

La Vie est belle 1991

Ngangura Mweze, Benoit Lamy, Papa Wemba, Bibi Krubwa, Landu Nzunzimbu Matshia, and Kanku Kasongo

Tells the rags to riches story of Kourou, a poor rural musician who realizes that to succeed in today's music world he must go to the city and break into radio and television. In Kinshasa he uses his wit and talent to win a beautiful wife, trick his greedy boss and succeed in singing his "theme song" on national television. Although the film is primarily entertainment, it reveals much about class divisions, male-female relations, the desires of the urban poor, and the economic and social problems confronting rural immigrants to the cities of Zaire. 1 videocassette (83 min.) :

DANA. MEDIA 859 2-3615

 

La vie sur terre Life on earth 2000

Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Abderrahmane Sissako, Nana Baby, Mohamed Sissako, Mahamadou Drame, Sept/Arte (Firm), Haut et Court (Firm), Fox Lorber Films, WinStar TV and Video (Firm), and California Newsreel (Firm)

A fictional documentary by the filmmaker which points out the significance of the start of the 21st century and our so-called Information Age while the people in Sokolo, his father's village in Mali, are still struggling to enter the 20th century. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

DANA 1986

 

White mischief 1988

Greta Scacchi, Charles Dance, and Michael Radford

The year is 1940.  War is raging in England, but that doesn't faze the wealthy colonists in Kenya.  The "Happy Valley" set is far less interested in world affairs than sexual affairs.  Not to mention polo, champagne and cross-dressing. 1 videocassette (108 min.) :

MEDIA 2-665

 

Wild gunman 1998?

C. G Baldwin

Wild gunman--From the opening loop of repeated exhortations to "shoot" and continuing through a frentic montage of clips from feature films, commercials, documentaries and newsreels the emphasis is on society's eventual self- destruction. Rocketkitkongokit--Stylistic portrayal of the history of the newly established country of Zaire (Congo Democratic Republic). The narrative follows the rise of dictator Joseph Mobutu, the establishment of the German rocket program and internal rebellions with external influences.  Ends with a fictional climax. 1 videocassette (50 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3931

 

Węnd K uuni Le don de Dieu 1982

Gaston Kaboré, Marie-Jeanne Kanyala, Serge Yanogo, Yawa Wima, Martine Ouedraogo, Boucare Ouedraogo, and Joseph Nikiema

A mute, memoryless child is raised in an African village by a weaver and his family. In gratitude they rename him Węnd K uuni, or "God's gift." In a series of flashbacks, we learn how bigotry and cruelty ironically drove Węnd K uuni to discover the compassion of his adopted village. 1 videocassette (70 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5326

 

Xala 198-?

Ousmane Sembčne, Ousmane Sembčne, Seune Samb, Younouss Seye, Miriam Niang, Fatim Diagne, and Moustapha Touré

A savage satire on the impotence of young African nations over-dependent on European technology and white bureaucratic structures. 1 videocassette (123 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1788, 10-542

 

Yaaba 1989

An old woman pariah is befriended by a young boy. During a brawl, the boy's friend is cut by a rusty knife and she contracts a fever. The local witch doctor claims the old woman's evil spirit has entered the girl. The old woman seeks the assistance of an old medicine man who provides a cure. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

DANA 1218

 

Yeelen Brightness c2002

Souleymane Cissae, Salif Keeita, Michel Portal, Balla Moussa Keita, Issiaka Kane, Soumba Traore, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Ismaila Sarr, Koke Sangare , Sise Filimu, Films Cissae, Cinecom International Films, and Kino International Corporation

A film adaptation of one of the great oral epics of the Bambara people, set during the powerful Mali Empire of the 13th century. Tells the story of Nianankoro, a young Bambara warrior destined to destroy a corrupt older society, the secret Komo cult, and with it his father, and, inevitably, himself. The climactic flash of light which floods the screen at the film's end 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. 1 videodisc (105 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1382

 

Yesterday 2006

Darrell Roodt, Anant Singh, Helena Spring, Kenneth Kambule, Leleti Khumalo, Harriet Lenabe, HBO Films, and Home Box Office (Firm)

After falling ill, Yesterday learns that she is HIV positive. With her husband in denial and a young daughter to tend to, Yesterday's one goal is to live long enough to see her child go to school. Set against the awesome, harsh landscapes of South Africa. 1 videodisc (ca. 95 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1339

 

Zan Boko homeland c1988

Gaston Kaboré, Joseph Nikiema, Colette Kaboré, Celestin N Zongo, and California Newsreel (Firm)

Zan boko means "the place where the placenta is buried" and symbolizes the continuity between past and present in African village societies. The film tells the story of one village swallowed up by one of Africa's large cities and the change from agrarian society to a mass media culture. 1 videocassette (94 min.)

MEDIA 2-6912

 

Zulu c2006, 1964

Joseph E Levine, Stanley Baker, Cy Endfield, John Prebble, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Stephen Dade, John Jympson, John Barry, Embassy Pictures Corp, Monty Diamond Films, and MGM Home Entertainment Inc

Set in 1879 Africa, hours after the battle of Isandhlwana. A group of British soldiers stood their ground at a farm house against an onslaught of Zulus. 1 videodisc (138 min.) :

DANA 426