Sample entries:
19. AFRICAN CROSS RHYTHMS - AS SEEN THROUGH GHANAIAN MUSIC.
VHS format. PAL standard. 52 minutes. Made in 1987, released 1994. Photography: Adam Schmedes. Written and produced by Peter Bischoff. English version. GHANA.
Ethnomusicologist John Collins is narrator and "idea person" behind a marvelous work on Ghanaian cross rhythms that includes children's games, a postal clerk's jazzy letter-stamping, multidimensional village events, and more. Ewe, Ashanti, Ga, and Frafra demonstrate myriad musical styles. Impressive are Collin's insights into silence, sensed by Africans as a matrix for improvisation, his demonstration that individual rhythm patterns heard from afar blend into even, regular pulsations, his correction of stereotypes of African music as "frenzied," his fascinating reflection that Africans "colonized" American and Western culture from within via the centuries-later "explosion" of their irrepressible and transforming music!
Purchase. (DENMARK): LOKE Film.
873. MAURITANIA: WEALTH OF BLOOD.
VHS format. NTSC, PAL, and SECAM standards. 51 minutes. 1991. Anthropologist: Diana Stone. Music Director: Howard L. Davidson. Part of the Nomads series. Hansaniya Arabic conversation appears as English subtitles. English narration. MAURITANIA.
We accompany trekking Moorish people and animals, experience their camp life in the western Sahara of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Ali, head of the family studied, is rich in animals called "wealth of blood." We understand his commitment to nomadic existence, his anxiety regarding serious changes in life style sure to be imposed by future droughts. Memorable: children laughing, women singing, clapping, drumming, ululating, unreal camel vocalizations, a domestic quarrel (ultimately mediated), fire treatment for a sick animal, bargaining over a goat, conflict over well use, a child learning brand markings in sand, a sage's spit blessing. Instructive. Marvelous!
Purchase. (Possible Rental USA): Public Media, Inc. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s.
7. AFRICA: A NEW LOOK.
VHS format. NTSC standard. 27 minutes. 1981. Producer/Director: Sam Bryan. Junior High School to Adult. AFRICA.
A comprehensive survey of Africa that "puts aside images of wild animals and festive dances and concentrates on the people of Africa today: teachers and students, politicians and artists, business people, farmers, fishermen and factory workers...Shows primary schools and universities, commercial and family farms, religious services, health clinics, large and small businesses, a television studio, and political rallies." Includes glimpses of city life, as well as towns and villages. An animated map sequence pinpoints deserts, farmland, rivers, and major population areas - a much-needed corrective for any entries showing antiquated examples of African "performance."
Purchase. (USA): International Film Foundation, Inc. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s.
537. A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM.
VHS format. NTSC standard. 60 minutes. 1995. USA.
"This video chronicles the historical day in 1958 when Art Kane assembled `all the jazz greats' for a group photo. Includes rare performances and home-movie footage, plus interviews with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Count Basie, Art Blakey, and many others."
Purchase. (USA): Critics' Choice Video.
975. OGGÚN: TRADICIONES AFROCUBANAS.
VHS format. NTSC standard. 52 minutes. 1993? Videoamerica South America; Artex South America. Production: Guillermo Garcia y Olga Fernández. Director: Gloria Rolando, with Lazaro Ros. Musical themes by Pablo Milanés. In Spanish. "African-origin songs, rituals, and dancing interpreted in Yorùbá language." CUBA.
In this sensuous cinematographic masterpiece, famed Afro-Cuban, Lazaro Ros, narrates, dances, sings, and leads Cuban celebrants as they pay homage to the Yorùbá god, Oggún. The video alternates between breathtaking forest scenes in which representatives of the pantheon, clothed in identifying vibrant colors, whirl, leap, and slither to express their individual god natures, and the outdoor, daylight gathering where people dance to propulsive drumming, and chant joyously in response to their leader's call. Includes rare and memorable images of people, nature, animals, and altar art. Projects the beauty of the religious event. In Spanish, singing in Yorùbá.
Purchase (USA): Center for Cuban Studies.
255. CAMERA D'AFRIQUE: TWENTY YEARS OF AFRICAN CINEMA.
VHS format. NTSC standard. 96 minutes. 1983. Director: Ferid Boughedir. French with English subtitles. AFRICA.
"Ten years in the making, Camera d'Afrique documents the birth of Black African cinema in Senegal where Ousmane Sembene, the father of African cinema, began making films in 1963. It offers a rare opportunity to hear leading African filmmakers talk about their work, and to see footage from 18 Black African films. Although this film was made in 1983, its message still applies: Foreign control of distribution is crippling the nascent African film community."
Purchase. (Rental CANADA): IDERA Film and Video. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s.
73. ANANSI.
VHS format. NTSC standard. Approximately 30 minutes. 1991. Told by Denzel Washington. Music by UB40. Illustrated by Steven Guarnaccia. JAMAICA. AFRICA.
Meant for children 5 years and older, although adults will also enjoy these two animated Jamaican folktales accompanied by Caribbean music. Sometimes Anansi the Spider (who originated in West African culture) triumphs over adversity, as in the first story in which he uses his wits to outsmart a proud snake and thereby acquires all the stories in the kingdom. But other times, such as when he devises a plan to appear important at his mother-in-law's funeral, his lies get him into trouble and he ends up "bald as a mango." Delightful. Winner of awards.
Purchase. (USA): Rabbit Ears Productions. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s.
1061. RETURN TO MAHE.
U-Matic format. PAL standard. 54 minutes. Producer: UNESCO. Directors: Yaw-Berko Nuako and Ralph LaBlache. GHANA. SEYCHELLES.
Includes three dance sequences, two of them old forms from the Seychelles, the third, an Ashanti dance performed at festivals and on happy occasions. A moving documentary concerning the exile of King Prempeh I of Ashanti in 1896 to the Seychelles Islands by the British Colonial Government, and his return to Ghana 30 years later with survivors of his entourage and family members. The film features the direct grandson of the King - born on the Island of Mahe, Sechelles - who returned in 1991 to visit his mother's grave. Insights are given of Prempeh's life in exile. The historical narrative has an epic quality.
Purchase. (GHANA): National Film and Television Institute.
943. MYTHMAKERS.
VHS format. NTSC, PAL, and SECAM standards. 52 minutes. 1984. Part of the A Planet for the Taking series. English narration. BOTSWANA.
Mythmakers includes 6 minutes with the San of Botswana, camped near the edge of the Kalahari desert. An elderly woman tells in Khoisan (a "click" language) how Bustard and Python were sabotaged by Jackal, bringing mistrust and suspicion into the world, ending closeness between people and animals. Formerly, the Kalahari provided everything needed for a complete and unified existence. Sadly, today livestock overgrazing and loss of water sources have turned the San's value system upside down, and no myths provide for these changes. Cropped scenes of San activities are left unexplained by fast-paced commentary that follows a predetermined agenda.
Purchase. (Possible Rental USA): Public Media, Inc. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s. #Purchase. (CANADA. UNITED KINGDOM): CBC International Sales. Contact distributor regarding other possible format/s, standard/s.