African Studies Media Catalog
Search results:14 records
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Page(s): 1
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
Child's Century of War (A) (Videocassette : 90 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8466
Abstract: From the perspective of children, this documentary takes the viewer on a journey through the past century, examining the way in which modern wars have increasingly threatened and targeted children. Two orphans of the two recent Chechen wars, children growing up on a dangerous street in the West Bank, and abducted, raped, and amputated children of Sierra Leone all tell their stories. This films makes parallel connections with past and present conflicts, with an eye to the future.
Director: Shelley Saywell Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: Chechnya, West Bank, Sierra Leone, war, orphans, trauma
Condoms, Fish and Circus Tricks: The AIDS Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa (Videocassette : 47 min. ) [2002]
VHS 9182
Abstract: Shot in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia, this is a compelling documentary on the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is ravaging Southern Africa. It takes an intimate look at the people who are dying, those who are caring for them, and why this disease has had such a devastating impact on African society. In a remote village in Malawi, the struggle against AIDS is led by local volunteers who care for the orphan children and those that are dying, without medicines, clean water, or even rubber gloves. In a fishing village on Zambia's Kafue Flats the local fishermen earn their livelihood by selling their catch. When women don't have the money to pay, the men often trade their fish for sex. The result has been a huge surge of AIDS patients, overwhelming the local hospital which has only three doctors and three hundred beds. The film reveals a 'quiet revolution' is underway as young people are talking about sex and challenging traditional concepts of sexuality. Through performances in a street circus young people are spreading the message of AIDS prevention. It is these young people that offer hope for Africa's future.
Director: Brenda & Robert Rooney Distributor:Filmakers Library, N.Y. [www.filmakers.com]
Keywords: Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, children, HIV/AIDS, health education, disease prevention, orphans, youth
Eclipse (Videocassette : 25 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8248
Abstract: A dreamlike documentary depicting the total blackout of four girls' lives, eclipsed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is a story about four sisters, Lara, Eugenisse, Fátima and Luisa-- the oldest sixteen and the youngest nine. They are AIDS orphans living in the Mozambican town of Chimoio. Their mother died of AIDS and their father disappeared, probably to commit suicide in a nearby place of spirits. The film documents the girls' day-to-day struggle for existence as they try to make ends meet by reselling produce they have bought from the market. Part of Steps for the Future, a unique collection of documentaries and short films from Southern Africa about life in the time of HIV/AIDS (Volume 9).
Director: Orlando Mesquita Distributor:California Newsreel
Keywords: Mozambique, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, family, Steps for the Future
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
Imita Ikula (Videocassette : 26 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8250
Abstract: Memory is one of the 75,000 street kids in Lusaka, most of them orphans due to the AIDS epidemic. This documentary illustrates that she is streetwise and ready to fight, and yet she has her softer, more vulnerable side. Follows her as she finds a way to watch the solar eclipse, gets her hair braided, cooks, and sings and talks with her friends. Part of Steps for the Future, a unique collection of documentaries and short films from Southern Africa about life in the time of HIV/AIDS (Volume 11).
Director: Sampa Kangwa, Simon Wilkie Distributor:California Newsreel
Keywords: Zambia, Lusaka, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, family, Steps for the Future
Left Behind (Videocassette : 36 min. ) [2002]
VHS 9155
Abstract: Left Behind is a 36-minute documentary that reveals the devastating effects of AIDS on Kenya's children by exploring the lives of HIV-positive orphans at Nyumbani Children's Home; why the virus spreads in the poverty-ridden slum of Kibera; and the struggle for survival of homeless children in nearby Dagoretti who lost their parents to AIDS. Through the eyes and voices of the children themselves, as well as prostitutes, slum dwellers and those infected with HIV, Left Behind dramatically exposes the enormity of the challenge that faces all those who seek to help the victims and prevent the collapse of a continent.
Director: Christof Putzel Distributor:www.films.com
Keywords: Kenya, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, homelessness
Living with AIDS (DVD : 49 min. ) [2005]
DVD 5584
Abstract: In the third of his Living with... series, Sorious Samura works as an orderly in a hospital in Zambia , where the majority of the patients are HIV positive. Confronted on a daily basis with death, he describes his workplace as being like a frontline in a war zone. The staff works under horrendous conditions where protective gloves are a luxury and shrouds for the dead are stained with the blood of previous corpses. In this film, Samura exposes the untold story of AIDS -- how poverty and the complex nature of African culture and sexuality are hampering efforts to eradicate this horrifying disease. He meets characters like Joshua and Lawson who continue to practice unprotected sex despite their HIV positive status, and Precious and Nancy, AIDS orphans who fend for themselves in a world where sex 'flesh to flesh' pays well and offers an easy short term solution. Samura also meets heroines such as Bitonda, who at sixteen is in sole charge of her dying 14 year old brother, an AIDS orphaned cousin as well as her own child. After one month, Samura is left with the realization that for the war against HIV in Africa to be won, poverty, ignorance and African sexual attitudes have to be tackled head on. See also Living with Hunger, Living with Refugees and Living with Illegals.
Director: Sorious Samura, Claudio von Planta Distributor:Insight News Television
Keywords: Zambia, children, HIV/AIDS, journalism, orphans, health, medicine
Mseyas (The) (Video Disc/Laser Vision : 53 min. ) [2007]
DVD 9607
Abstract: AIDS kills more than two million people every year in Africa. As a result of this epidemic, there are more than 11 million orphans. This documentary is the story of the Mseyas, AIDS orphans from Iringa, Tanzania. Alberina, Maria, Amos and Orsolina live on their own and face a life of struggle without resources.
Director: Gustavo Vizoso Distributor:Third World Newsreel
Keywords: Tanzania, HIV/AIDS, orphans, street children, poverty
Na cidade vazia = Hollow city (Videocassette : 88 min. ) [2005]
V.CASS. VHS 9143
Abstract: 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. N'dala meets Zé, an older boy who shares the epic story of a young warrior. Zé and his friends, who drift amongst the Luanda homeless, fascinate N'dala and he is tragically pulled into their existence of survival. Each step N'dala takes into the dark streets of the city leads him farther from his home.
Director: Maria Joao Ganga Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: Angola, Luanda, children, civil war, homelessness, orphans, trauma, feature film
Orphans of Mathare (Videocassette : 62 min. ) [2003]
V.CASS. VHS 7911
Abstract: Documents the lives of former street children, many orphaned by HIV/AIDS, now living at the Good Samaritan Children's Home, an orphanage and school run by Mercy Thuo in the Mathare Slum of Nairobi, Kenya. By following the lives of several orphans, the film lays bare the complicated relationship between poverty, violence, disease, Christianity, tradition and the orphan crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reveals that global AIDS is not simply a medical crisis but a socio-cultural one as well that threatens to create a generation of children without parents.
Director: Randy Bell Distributor:University of California Extension Center for Media
Keywords: Kenya, HIV/AIDS, orphans, poverty
Shouting Silent (Videocassette : 50 min. ) [2002]
V.CASS. VHS 7761
Abstract: Explores the South African AIDS epidemic through the eyes of Xoliswa Sithole, an adult orphan who lost her mother to AIDS in 1996. The devastation wrought on the orphaned children of South Africa by the HIV/AIDS pandemic shows how entire generations of young people are growing up without parents.
Director: Renée Rosen Distributor:Women Make Movies
Keywords: South Africa, HIV/AIDS, youth, health, orphans
Their Brothers' Keepers: Orphaned by AIDS (Videocassette : 56 min. ) [2005]
V.CASS. VHS 8942
Abstract: Examines the lives and struggles of Zambian children orphaned by AIDS, who must now act as parents for their siblings and peers. Filmed over a seven-month period, Their Brothers' Keepers goes inside Chazanga Compound, a shantytown in Lusaka, Zambia, and follows the day-to-day struggles of two child-headed families. We see how Benny, Dorris and Paul cope with a lack of food, water, health care, and schooling. They scramble for piecework to buy mealie-meal for their younger siblings. Local aid and community workers give support but lack the necessary resources. Foreign aid is too thin to trickle down. The film alternates between the broader view and the personal detail, between tragedy and hope. Stunning photography and an exquisite musical score contrast with the surreal lives of these heroic kids.
Director: Catherine Mullins Distributor:Bullfrog Films
Keywords: Zambia, Lusaka, children, youth, poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans, economy
Two Dollars With or Without A Condom (DVD : 40 min. ) [1997]
DVD 8758
Abstract: Ethiopia has become to the Arab world what Thailand is to European tourists. Prostitution in Ethiopia has increased incredibly in recent years. In one section of Addis Ababa, some 130,000 girls support themselves by selling their bodies. Most of them are under eighteen, and many even under fourteen. In this probing documentary, we meet the victims, girls that have been orphaned, or thrown out by their family, or are hoping to find a better life. They are compelled to turn to prostitution to survive. The young ones, like nine-year-old Yashwarek, don't even earn enough money to buy food. The older ones earn more, about $2 a night, but yearn to work the luxury hotels as high-class prostitutes. Virtually all the girls are HIV positive. Condoms are seldom used, even though they are distributed free in many places. Customers, believing the youngest girls are HIV-free, seek them out, which in turn keeps lowering the age of girls becoming HIV-infected. Some attempts by agencies are being made to help these girls, but they face heavy odds.
Director: Leyla Assaf-Tengroth Distributor:Filmakers Library
Keywords: Ethiopia, prostitution, orphans, HIV/AIDS, women, youth, economy, poverty
Page(s): 1
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
Child's Century of War (A) (Videocassette : 90 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8466
Abstract: From the perspective of children, this documentary takes the viewer on a journey through the past century, examining the way in which modern wars have increasingly threatened and targeted children. Two orphans of the two recent Chechen wars, children growing up on a dangerous street in the West Bank, and abducted, raped, and amputated children of Sierra Leone all tell their stories. This films makes parallel connections with past and present conflicts, with an eye to the future.
Director: Shelley Saywell Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: Chechnya, West Bank, Sierra Leone, war, orphans, trauma
Condoms, Fish and Circus Tricks: The AIDS Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa (Videocassette : 47 min. ) [2002]
VHS 9182
Abstract: Shot in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia, this is a compelling documentary on the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is ravaging Southern Africa. It takes an intimate look at the people who are dying, those who are caring for them, and why this disease has had such a devastating impact on African society. In a remote village in Malawi, the struggle against AIDS is led by local volunteers who care for the orphan children and those that are dying, without medicines, clean water, or even rubber gloves. In a fishing village on Zambia's Kafue Flats the local fishermen earn their livelihood by selling their catch. When women don't have the money to pay, the men often trade their fish for sex. The result has been a huge surge of AIDS patients, overwhelming the local hospital which has only three doctors and three hundred beds. The film reveals a 'quiet revolution' is underway as young people are talking about sex and challenging traditional concepts of sexuality. Through performances in a street circus young people are spreading the message of AIDS prevention. It is these young people that offer hope for Africa's future.
Director: Brenda & Robert Rooney Distributor:Filmakers Library, N.Y. [www.filmakers.com]
Keywords: Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, children, HIV/AIDS, health education, disease prevention, orphans, youth
Eclipse (Videocassette : 25 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8248
Abstract: A dreamlike documentary depicting the total blackout of four girls' lives, eclipsed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is a story about four sisters, Lara, Eugenisse, Fátima and Luisa-- the oldest sixteen and the youngest nine. They are AIDS orphans living in the Mozambican town of Chimoio. Their mother died of AIDS and their father disappeared, probably to commit suicide in a nearby place of spirits. The film documents the girls' day-to-day struggle for existence as they try to make ends meet by reselling produce they have bought from the market. Part of Steps for the Future, a unique collection of documentaries and short films from Southern Africa about life in the time of HIV/AIDS (Volume 9).
Director: Orlando Mesquita Distributor:California Newsreel
Keywords: Mozambique, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, family, Steps for the Future
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
Imita Ikula (Videocassette : 26 min. ) [2001]
V.CASS. VHS 8250
Abstract: Memory is one of the 75,000 street kids in Lusaka, most of them orphans due to the AIDS epidemic. This documentary illustrates that she is streetwise and ready to fight, and yet she has her softer, more vulnerable side. Follows her as she finds a way to watch the solar eclipse, gets her hair braided, cooks, and sings and talks with her friends. Part of Steps for the Future, a unique collection of documentaries and short films from Southern Africa about life in the time of HIV/AIDS (Volume 11).
Director: Sampa Kangwa, Simon Wilkie Distributor:California Newsreel
Keywords: Zambia, Lusaka, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, family, Steps for the Future
Left Behind (Videocassette : 36 min. ) [2002]
VHS 9155
Abstract: Left Behind is a 36-minute documentary that reveals the devastating effects of AIDS on Kenya's children by exploring the lives of HIV-positive orphans at Nyumbani Children's Home; why the virus spreads in the poverty-ridden slum of Kibera; and the struggle for survival of homeless children in nearby Dagoretti who lost their parents to AIDS. Through the eyes and voices of the children themselves, as well as prostitutes, slum dwellers and those infected with HIV, Left Behind dramatically exposes the enormity of the challenge that faces all those who seek to help the victims and prevent the collapse of a continent.
Director: Christof Putzel Distributor:www.films.com
Keywords: Kenya, HIV/AIDS, children, orphans, homelessness
Living with AIDS (DVD : 49 min. ) [2005]
DVD 5584
Abstract: In the third of his Living with... series, Sorious Samura works as an orderly in a hospital in Zambia , where the majority of the patients are HIV positive. Confronted on a daily basis with death, he describes his workplace as being like a frontline in a war zone. The staff works under horrendous conditions where protective gloves are a luxury and shrouds for the dead are stained with the blood of previous corpses. In this film, Samura exposes the untold story of AIDS -- how poverty and the complex nature of African culture and sexuality are hampering efforts to eradicate this horrifying disease. He meets characters like Joshua and Lawson who continue to practice unprotected sex despite their HIV positive status, and Precious and Nancy, AIDS orphans who fend for themselves in a world where sex 'flesh to flesh' pays well and offers an easy short term solution. Samura also meets heroines such as Bitonda, who at sixteen is in sole charge of her dying 14 year old brother, an AIDS orphaned cousin as well as her own child. After one month, Samura is left with the realization that for the war against HIV in Africa to be won, poverty, ignorance and African sexual attitudes have to be tackled head on. See also Living with Hunger, Living with Refugees and Living with Illegals.
Director: Sorious Samura, Claudio von Planta Distributor:Insight News Television
Keywords: Zambia, children, HIV/AIDS, journalism, orphans, health, medicine
Mseyas (The) (Video Disc/Laser Vision : 53 min. ) [2007]
DVD 9607
Abstract: AIDS kills more than two million people every year in Africa. As a result of this epidemic, there are more than 11 million orphans. This documentary is the story of the Mseyas, AIDS orphans from Iringa, Tanzania. Alberina, Maria, Amos and Orsolina live on their own and face a life of struggle without resources.
Director: Gustavo Vizoso Distributor:Third World Newsreel
Keywords: Tanzania, HIV/AIDS, orphans, street children, poverty
Na cidade vazia = Hollow city (Videocassette : 88 min. ) [2005]
V.CASS. VHS 9143
Abstract: 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. N'dala meets Zé, an older boy who shares the epic story of a young warrior. Zé and his friends, who drift amongst the Luanda homeless, fascinate N'dala and he is tragically pulled into their existence of survival. Each step N'dala takes into the dark streets of the city leads him farther from his home.
Director: Maria Joao Ganga Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films
Keywords: Angola, Luanda, children, civil war, homelessness, orphans, trauma, feature film
Orphans of Mathare (Videocassette : 62 min. ) [2003]
V.CASS. VHS 7911
Abstract: Documents the lives of former street children, many orphaned by HIV/AIDS, now living at the Good Samaritan Children's Home, an orphanage and school run by Mercy Thuo in the Mathare Slum of Nairobi, Kenya. By following the lives of several orphans, the film lays bare the complicated relationship between poverty, violence, disease, Christianity, tradition and the orphan crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Reveals that global AIDS is not simply a medical crisis but a socio-cultural one as well that threatens to create a generation of children without parents.
Director: Randy Bell Distributor:University of California Extension Center for Media
Keywords: Kenya, HIV/AIDS, orphans, poverty
Shouting Silent (Videocassette : 50 min. ) [2002]
V.CASS. VHS 7761
Abstract: Explores the South African AIDS epidemic through the eyes of Xoliswa Sithole, an adult orphan who lost her mother to AIDS in 1996. The devastation wrought on the orphaned children of South Africa by the HIV/AIDS pandemic shows how entire generations of young people are growing up without parents.
Director: Renée Rosen Distributor:Women Make Movies
Keywords: South Africa, HIV/AIDS, youth, health, orphans
Their Brothers' Keepers: Orphaned by AIDS (Videocassette : 56 min. ) [2005]
V.CASS. VHS 8942
Abstract: Examines the lives and struggles of Zambian children orphaned by AIDS, who must now act as parents for their siblings and peers. Filmed over a seven-month period, Their Brothers' Keepers goes inside Chazanga Compound, a shantytown in Lusaka, Zambia, and follows the day-to-day struggles of two child-headed families. We see how Benny, Dorris and Paul cope with a lack of food, water, health care, and schooling. They scramble for piecework to buy mealie-meal for their younger siblings. Local aid and community workers give support but lack the necessary resources. Foreign aid is too thin to trickle down. The film alternates between the broader view and the personal detail, between tragedy and hope. Stunning photography and an exquisite musical score contrast with the surreal lives of these heroic kids.
Director: Catherine Mullins Distributor:Bullfrog Films
Keywords: Zambia, Lusaka, children, youth, poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans, economy
Two Dollars With or Without A Condom (DVD : 40 min. ) [1997]
DVD 8758
Abstract: Ethiopia has become to the Arab world what Thailand is to European tourists. Prostitution in Ethiopia has increased incredibly in recent years. In one section of Addis Ababa, some 130,000 girls support themselves by selling their bodies. Most of them are under eighteen, and many even under fourteen. In this probing documentary, we meet the victims, girls that have been orphaned, or thrown out by their family, or are hoping to find a better life. They are compelled to turn to prostitution to survive. The young ones, like nine-year-old Yashwarek, don't even earn enough money to buy food. The older ones earn more, about $2 a night, but yearn to work the luxury hotels as high-class prostitutes. Virtually all the girls are HIV positive. Condoms are seldom used, even though they are distributed free in many places. Customers, believing the youngest girls are HIV-free, seek them out, which in turn keeps lowering the age of girls becoming HIV-infected. Some attempts by agencies are being made to help these girls, but they face heavy odds.
Director: Leyla Assaf-Tengroth Distributor:Filmakers Library
Keywords: Ethiopia, prostitution, orphans, HIV/AIDS, women, youth, economy, poverty
September 16, 2008: Geoffrey Nyarota
