African Studies Media Catalog
Search results:11 records
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Asylum: Fleeing Genital Mutilation. (Videocassette : 20 min. ) [2004]
VHS 9173
Abstract: Asylum is a powerful tale of a young Ghanaian woman whose life suddenly changes when her father insists that she undergo a bloody, life-threatening circumcision and then marry an old man. Although traditional circumcision is now illegal in Ghana, it is still practiced. Baaba Andoh had a happy childhood, raised by her mother who sold vegetables in the market place. Baaba had sought out her long-lost father to seek his blessing for her marriage to the man of her dreams. To her horror, she learned of her father's plan and fled her village. Her father, a man of some means, pursued her. Having no recourse but to leave the country, she obtained a false passport and a ticket to the U.S. with the help of friends. The INS spotted the forgery immediately and arrested her at Newark Airport. She spends a nightmarish year in prison before she is successful in obtaining political asylum. Her chilling story is not unlike that of many of the 7,000 women immigrants now being held in detention, awaiting legal representation and hearings on their claims.
Director: Sandy McLeod, Gini Reticker Distributor:Filmakers Library, NY
Keywords: Ghana, USA, female circumcision, immigration, political asylum, women
Benjamin and His Brother (DVD : 87 min. ) [2002]
DVD7071
Abstract: Tells the story of Benjamin and William Deng, two young Sudanese men who left Sudan in the mass exodus of boy refugees in 1987. This group became known as the Lost Boys, and in 2001, the U.S. government began a project to resettle them from the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya to the United States. William went to Houston, Texas, and eventually was reunited with his grandmother and other relatives in Kansas City. Benjamin remained at the refugee camp and is waiting to be allowed to emigrate.
Director: Arthur Howes Distributor:Documentary Educational Resources
Keywords: Kenya, Sudan, Kakuma refugee camp, orphans, immigrants, civil war
Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict ( A) (Videocassette : 174 min. ) [2000]
V. CASS. VHS 6141 Parts 1-6
Abstract: This six-part series tells one of the 20th century's most important and least-known stories-- how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. In South Africa in 1907, Mohandas Gandhi led Indian immigrants in a nonviolent fight for rights denied them by white rulers. The power that Gandhi pioneered has been used by underdogs on every continent and in every decade of the 20th century, to fight for their rights and freedom. Includes segments on South Africa, India, Denmark, Poland, Chile, and the U.S.
Director: Steve York Distributor:Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Keywords: South Africa, nonviolence, Gandhi, politics
Great Wonder (A): Lost Children of Sudan (DVD : 61 min. ) [2004]
DVD 7676
Abstract: More than 2 million Sudanese have died in the longest uninterrupted civil war in the world, now in its 20th year. Another 5 million civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting. A Great Wonder traces the extraordinary journey of three young Sudanese orphans, a fraction of the 17,000 so-called 'Lost Boys' of Sudan, who have spent the majority of their lives either in flight from war or in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. Having navigated the hazards of warfare, disease and starvation, their arrival and resettlement in Seattle, Washington is not your average immigration story. Over the course of 18 months, these youths have recorded their own experiences through their own eyes and in their own words using digital video cameras. The resulting diaries serve as a personal thread throughout the film, incorporating first-hand accounts of their experiences in war with their radically different lives as immigrants in America. A story of survival in its most elemental form, A Great Wonder explores the concepts of loss, faith, community and freedom as it bears witness to the spirit that drives these young people to rebuild their lives.
Director: Kim Shelton Distributor:Bull Frog Films
Keywords: Sudan, refugees, immigrants, children, war, resettlement
In Their Own Voices (DVD : 16 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Interwoven stories of four Africans in Philadelphia who find in the African continent the inspiration for their art. Features a Liberian drum maker, a Sierra Leonean singer, a Nigerian visual artist and a Guinean artisan.
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, African immigrants, art, music
Little Senegal (DVD : 93 min. ) [2001]
DVD 7817
Abstract: A story of a man who works as a tour guide at a historical site in Senegal from where slaves were taken to America. He heads to America himself, to trace his own family history there. He finds himself in New York City and falls in love with a distant cousin.
Director: Rachid Bouchareb Distributor:Paramount Home Entertainment
Keywords: Senegal, slave trade, immigrants, tourism, feature film
Living with Illegals (DVD : 60 min. ) [2006]
DVD 8601
Abstract: In Living with Illegals, award-winning journalist Sorious Samura becomes an illegal immigrant. His journey is epic as he travels from Morocco into Europe through Spain and France, finally crossing the English Channel to Britain. Samura wants to understand the reality of being an illegal immigrant, so he lives in the exact same conditions and experiences the same gruelling hardships as his companions. The story begins in Northern Morocco, where hundreds of illegal immigrants live in forests waiting for their chance to break into the enclave of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Africa. All that separates them from Ceuta and Europe is a 50 km, 6 m fence, around which they camp. Huddled together in cold, flimsy tents and hounded by daily police raids, the immigrants struggle to survive with no food, money or peace of mind, but their determination to reach the promised land is unyielding. Samura meets Gus and Theo who have decided to swim around the fence and thus into Europe, an extremely dangerous method of entry which many have paid for with their lives. The next day, news arrives that only Theo made it to other side. Gus was captured. Samura leaves the Moroccan forest and meets with Theo in Ceuta. Together they try to earn some money parking cars. Samura soon discovers a derelict factory known as the 'Longhouse' where those on the run from immigration authorities live. The conditions are horrifying. For these people, the dream of Europe has already turned into a nightmare. Samura travels through several cities of mainland Spain where he begs, sleeps rough, performs odd jobs and learns inside tricks to survive as an immigrant. Through a 'connection man,' Samura crosses the Spanish/ French border, and onwards by train he reaches Calais. This is the hub for all immigrants trying to enter the UK. Samura is surprised to find living conditions and scenes of desperation as bad as those in Morocco. In the end, through astonishing circumstances, both Sorious and his companion Arick do reach their final destination. It has been an incredible journey, but was all the suffering really worth it? Living with Illegals is an extraordinary documentary. Offering unprecedented access and unique insights into the world of African illegal immigration, it raises important questions about the rights of individuals to seek a better life free of poverty and war. See also Living with Hunger, Living with Refugees and Living with AIDS.
Director: Sorious Samura Distributor:Insight News TV
Keywords: Morocco, Spain, Europe, immigration, unemployment, poverty, law, human rights
Ordinary People. City of Dreams (Videocassette : 26 min. ) [1993]
VHS 9320
Abstract: City of Dreams spends a day in Ponte City, perhaps the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere, and home to thousands of immigrants from all over Africa. This film introduces Babu, a bandmember in Ponte City's Zairian evangelical church; Mary, organizer of the on-premise nightclub's Miss Manhattan Africa competition; and James, a Zimbabwean banker and complex resident, who attends the pageant. The film reveals a city of dreamers, who in turn lend fascinating insights into the aspirations of urban Africans in South Africa.
Director: Harriet Gavshon Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: South Africa, urbanization, immigration, religion, performance
Reel Voices Video Collection (DVD : 53 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Contains three short films about the lives of African immigrants living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On one DVD. See individual titles for description: Stop Killing Taxi Drivers, In Their Own Voices, Rencontrer (To Meet).
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, immigrantion, politics, art, labor
Rencontrer = To Meet (DVD : 30 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Follows six African immigrants in the course of their daily lives, giving us a broader perspective on the diverse African immigrant experiences in Philadelphia.
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, immigration, daily life, labor
White Girl in Search of the Party (Videocassette : 24 min. ) [2000]
VHS 9234
Abstract: In 1943 Pauline Podberry, the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants in South Africa, fell in love with the dashing trade union hero, H.A. Naidoo. The events that followed, including his listing as a Communist, their exile in Hungary and London, and H.A.'s disillusionment with the Communist Party and subsequent isolation, tell a complex story. Told through the eyes of Pauline, now living in Cape Town, and with the testimony of their daughters and friends, White Girl in Search of the Party is a film about history and heroes, and about how political passion and love are often intertwined. See also The Moon in my Pocket (Kgomotso Matsunyane) and Bubbles and me (Mary Human). Part of Love Stories, a series produced by Harriet Gavshon & David Jammy.
Director: Pat van Heerden Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: South Africa, Hungary, England, apartheid, Communist Party, race relations, love narratives
Page(s): 1
Asylum: Fleeing Genital Mutilation. (Videocassette : 20 min. ) [2004]
VHS 9173
Abstract: Asylum is a powerful tale of a young Ghanaian woman whose life suddenly changes when her father insists that she undergo a bloody, life-threatening circumcision and then marry an old man. Although traditional circumcision is now illegal in Ghana, it is still practiced. Baaba Andoh had a happy childhood, raised by her mother who sold vegetables in the market place. Baaba had sought out her long-lost father to seek his blessing for her marriage to the man of her dreams. To her horror, she learned of her father's plan and fled her village. Her father, a man of some means, pursued her. Having no recourse but to leave the country, she obtained a false passport and a ticket to the U.S. with the help of friends. The INS spotted the forgery immediately and arrested her at Newark Airport. She spends a nightmarish year in prison before she is successful in obtaining political asylum. Her chilling story is not unlike that of many of the 7,000 women immigrants now being held in detention, awaiting legal representation and hearings on their claims.
Director: Sandy McLeod, Gini Reticker Distributor:Filmakers Library, NY
Keywords: Ghana, USA, female circumcision, immigration, political asylum, women
Benjamin and His Brother (DVD : 87 min. ) [2002]
DVD7071
Abstract: Tells the story of Benjamin and William Deng, two young Sudanese men who left Sudan in the mass exodus of boy refugees in 1987. This group became known as the Lost Boys, and in 2001, the U.S. government began a project to resettle them from the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya to the United States. William went to Houston, Texas, and eventually was reunited with his grandmother and other relatives in Kansas City. Benjamin remained at the refugee camp and is waiting to be allowed to emigrate.
Director: Arthur Howes Distributor:Documentary Educational Resources
Keywords: Kenya, Sudan, Kakuma refugee camp, orphans, immigrants, civil war
Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict ( A) (Videocassette : 174 min. ) [2000]
V. CASS. VHS 6141 Parts 1-6
Abstract: This six-part series tells one of the 20th century's most important and least-known stories-- how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. In South Africa in 1907, Mohandas Gandhi led Indian immigrants in a nonviolent fight for rights denied them by white rulers. The power that Gandhi pioneered has been used by underdogs on every continent and in every decade of the 20th century, to fight for their rights and freedom. Includes segments on South Africa, India, Denmark, Poland, Chile, and the U.S.
Director: Steve York Distributor:Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Keywords: South Africa, nonviolence, Gandhi, politics
Great Wonder (A): Lost Children of Sudan (DVD : 61 min. ) [2004]
DVD 7676
Abstract: More than 2 million Sudanese have died in the longest uninterrupted civil war in the world, now in its 20th year. Another 5 million civilians have fled their homes to escape the fighting. A Great Wonder traces the extraordinary journey of three young Sudanese orphans, a fraction of the 17,000 so-called 'Lost Boys' of Sudan, who have spent the majority of their lives either in flight from war or in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. Having navigated the hazards of warfare, disease and starvation, their arrival and resettlement in Seattle, Washington is not your average immigration story. Over the course of 18 months, these youths have recorded their own experiences through their own eyes and in their own words using digital video cameras. The resulting diaries serve as a personal thread throughout the film, incorporating first-hand accounts of their experiences in war with their radically different lives as immigrants in America. A story of survival in its most elemental form, A Great Wonder explores the concepts of loss, faith, community and freedom as it bears witness to the spirit that drives these young people to rebuild their lives.
Director: Kim Shelton Distributor:Bull Frog Films
Keywords: Sudan, refugees, immigrants, children, war, resettlement
In Their Own Voices (DVD : 16 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Interwoven stories of four Africans in Philadelphia who find in the African continent the inspiration for their art. Features a Liberian drum maker, a Sierra Leonean singer, a Nigerian visual artist and a Guinean artisan.
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, African immigrants, art, music
Little Senegal (DVD : 93 min. ) [2001]
DVD 7817
Abstract: A story of a man who works as a tour guide at a historical site in Senegal from where slaves were taken to America. He heads to America himself, to trace his own family history there. He finds himself in New York City and falls in love with a distant cousin.
Director: Rachid Bouchareb Distributor:Paramount Home Entertainment
Keywords: Senegal, slave trade, immigrants, tourism, feature film
Living with Illegals (DVD : 60 min. ) [2006]
DVD 8601
Abstract: In Living with Illegals, award-winning journalist Sorious Samura becomes an illegal immigrant. His journey is epic as he travels from Morocco into Europe through Spain and France, finally crossing the English Channel to Britain. Samura wants to understand the reality of being an illegal immigrant, so he lives in the exact same conditions and experiences the same gruelling hardships as his companions. The story begins in Northern Morocco, where hundreds of illegal immigrants live in forests waiting for their chance to break into the enclave of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in Africa. All that separates them from Ceuta and Europe is a 50 km, 6 m fence, around which they camp. Huddled together in cold, flimsy tents and hounded by daily police raids, the immigrants struggle to survive with no food, money or peace of mind, but their determination to reach the promised land is unyielding. Samura meets Gus and Theo who have decided to swim around the fence and thus into Europe, an extremely dangerous method of entry which many have paid for with their lives. The next day, news arrives that only Theo made it to other side. Gus was captured. Samura leaves the Moroccan forest and meets with Theo in Ceuta. Together they try to earn some money parking cars. Samura soon discovers a derelict factory known as the 'Longhouse' where those on the run from immigration authorities live. The conditions are horrifying. For these people, the dream of Europe has already turned into a nightmare. Samura travels through several cities of mainland Spain where he begs, sleeps rough, performs odd jobs and learns inside tricks to survive as an immigrant. Through a 'connection man,' Samura crosses the Spanish/ French border, and onwards by train he reaches Calais. This is the hub for all immigrants trying to enter the UK. Samura is surprised to find living conditions and scenes of desperation as bad as those in Morocco. In the end, through astonishing circumstances, both Sorious and his companion Arick do reach their final destination. It has been an incredible journey, but was all the suffering really worth it? Living with Illegals is an extraordinary documentary. Offering unprecedented access and unique insights into the world of African illegal immigration, it raises important questions about the rights of individuals to seek a better life free of poverty and war. See also Living with Hunger, Living with Refugees and Living with AIDS.
Director: Sorious Samura Distributor:Insight News TV
Keywords: Morocco, Spain, Europe, immigration, unemployment, poverty, law, human rights
Ordinary People. City of Dreams (Videocassette : 26 min. ) [1993]
VHS 9320
Abstract: City of Dreams spends a day in Ponte City, perhaps the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere, and home to thousands of immigrants from all over Africa. This film introduces Babu, a bandmember in Ponte City's Zairian evangelical church; Mary, organizer of the on-premise nightclub's Miss Manhattan Africa competition; and James, a Zimbabwean banker and complex resident, who attends the pageant. The film reveals a city of dreamers, who in turn lend fascinating insights into the aspirations of urban Africans in South Africa.
Director: Harriet Gavshon Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: South Africa, urbanization, immigration, religion, performance
Reel Voices Video Collection (DVD : 53 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Contains three short films about the lives of African immigrants living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On one DVD. See individual titles for description: Stop Killing Taxi Drivers, In Their Own Voices, Rencontrer (To Meet).
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, immigrantion, politics, art, labor
Rencontrer = To Meet (DVD : 30 min. ) [2004]
DVD 3719
Abstract: Follows six African immigrants in the course of their daily lives, giving us a broader perspective on the diverse African immigrant experiences in Philadelphia.
Director: Filmon Mebrahtu Distributor:Reel Voices
Keywords: United States, diaspora, immigration, daily life, labor
White Girl in Search of the Party (Videocassette : 24 min. ) [2000]
VHS 9234
Abstract: In 1943 Pauline Podberry, the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants in South Africa, fell in love with the dashing trade union hero, H.A. Naidoo. The events that followed, including his listing as a Communist, their exile in Hungary and London, and H.A.'s disillusionment with the Communist Party and subsequent isolation, tell a complex story. Told through the eyes of Pauline, now living in Cape Town, and with the testimony of their daughters and friends, White Girl in Search of the Party is a film about history and heroes, and about how political passion and love are often intertwined. See also The Moon in my Pocket (Kgomotso Matsunyane) and Bubbles and me (Mary Human). Part of Love Stories, a series produced by Harriet Gavshon & David Jammy.
Director: Pat van Heerden Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: South Africa, Hungary, England, apartheid, Communist Party, race relations, love narratives
September 16, 2008: Geoffrey Nyarota
