VIDEO
TITLE |
CALL
NUMBER |
Feature
Films and Folktales |
|
*** AFRICAN
STORY MAGIC
w/ narrator
Brock Peters. 27:00. 1992
Elementary
and Up
A 7 year
old steps from the streets of LA into the Africa of
his ancestors. Storytellers share six stories of wisdom
and courage. |
IA FS 121 |
ANANSI
Rabbit Ears
Approx. 30 Min. Color
Ages: 5
& Up
Oscar-winner
Denzel Washington narrates two hilarious stories from
Jamaica where Anasi outsmarts the prideful snake. Reggae
hit makers UB 40 provide the decidedly Jamaican score.
An introductory animated segment shows the link between
this Jamaican Anansi and his African origin. |
IA FS 132 |
GUIMBA THE
TYRANT
Producer/Director:
Cheick Oumar Sissoko. 1995. Bambara and Peul with subtitles.
94:00.
An epic
set in a legendary past that offers a biting allegory
of present-day African politics. Through the story of
the downfall of Guimba, the tyrant, this film foretells
a similar fate for the many dictators who still pillage
the continent. |
IA FS 146 |
HYENAS
Director:
Djibril Diop Mambety. 1992. Wolof with subtitles. 113:00.
HS, Adult
A scorned
lover returns to her village as the richest woman in
the world and offers the villagers a trillion dollars
to execute the man who betrayed her. An adaptation of
the Swiss parable, "The Visit of the Old Woman," this
drama is a biting satire of today's Africa --betraying
the hopes of independence for the false promises of
Western materialism. |
IA FS 147 |
KEITA
Director:
Dani Kouyate. Burkina Faso. 1994. In Jula and French
with subtitles. (94:00).
HS, Adult
This film
introduces the viewer to one of the most important works
of African oral literature, The Sundjata Epic. The film
frames its dramatization of this legend within the story
of a contemporary young African's initiation into the
history of his family. When a djeliba, a master griot
or bard, arrives mysteriously at the home of Mabo Keita
to teach him "the meaning of his name," boy and griot
are inevitably brought into conflict with his Westernized
mother and schoolteacher, who have rejected African
tradition. |
IA FS 150 |
MAPANTSULA
Producer:
Max Motoechio. 1988. 90:00
In English,
Zulu and Sotho w/subtitles.
HS, Adult
The first
anti-apartheid feature film told from the perspective
of black South Africans. Banned by the apartheid Government.
The story of "Panic" (a petty criminal), his life in
a black township, and his transformation into a man
who takes a stand against apartheid. |
IA FS 64 |
ONCE UPON
A TIME
This video
captures the storytelling and healing traditions of
Kenyans as they pass on their wisdom through the church
in a fast-changing world. |
IA FS 125 |
** QUARTIER
MOZART
Producer/Director:
Jean-Pierre Bekolo. Cameroon 1992 in French, subtitles.
80:00
Adult
A new sex
farce, where women's wisdom and 'witchcraft' help them
regain the balance of power in a sexist world. The star
of the film is a young schoolgirl named Queen of the
'Hood. The local 'witch', Maman Thekla, helps her take
over the body of a young boy named My Guy so she can
discover the sexual politics of her neighborhood. A
completely different kind of African film, the sensibility
crosses MTV and Hollywood with African folklore. |
IA FS 127 |
STORIES FROM
THE BLACK TRADITION
Children's
Circle. 1992. 52:00 total, in short segments.
Elementary |
IA FS 124 |
A STORY-A
STORY
Anansi the
Spider Man climbs up to the sky to buy stories from
the Sky God. | |
MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL
DAUGHTERS
Mufaro's
daughters are tested unknowingly to reveal which one
is worthy enough to marry the King. | |
WHY MOSQUITOES
BUZZ IN PEOPLE'S EARS
A tall tale
sets off a chain of mishaps through the jungle grapevine
from Mosquito to Iguana to Rabbit to Owl in this traditional
story. | |
THE VILLAGE
OF ROUND AND SQUARE HOUSES
A young
girl from the Cameroonian village of Tos movingly tells
how the men came to live in square houses and the women
in round ones. | |
GOGGLES!
Peter and
his friend Archie call upon faithful dog Willie to help
outsmart a gang of tough bullies who are after Peter's
motorcycle goggles. | |
** THREE TALES
FROM SENEGAL
Directors:
Djibril Diop Mambety and Mansour Sora Wade. 1994. Wolof
with subtitles. 82:00 (45:00; 20:00; 17:00)
HS, Adult
Le Fanc
is the whimsical but sardonic parable about the plight
of everday Africans buffeted by the changing winds of
the international monetary system. Picc Mi (Little Bird)
is a touching fable revealing the exploitation of children
in Africa's teeming cities. Fary l'Anesse (Fary, the
Donkey) is the tale of a man led into folly by his pursuit
of the "perfect" woman. |
IA FS 145 |
** WEND KUUNI
(GOD'S GIFT)
Producer/Director:
Gaston Kabore. Burkina Faso. 1982
More, subtitled,
70:00 HS, Adult
A feature
film on a pastoral romance before the coming of Islam
and Christianity. A mute, memoryless child is found
under a tree and is adopted by the village and named
Wend Kuuni. Through flashbacks, the audience learns
about compassion through the medium of hate. The boy
finds community and recovers his ability to communicate.
This fable demonstrates how traditional Mossi values
can heal and unify a modern African state beset by dislocation,
refugees, and social conflict. Kabore adapted the measured
rhythms and formal compositions of oral story telling
to make this film accessible to people seeing a movie
for the first time. |
IA FS 130 |
** YEELEN
(BRIGHTNESS)
Producer/Director
Souleymane CissŸ. Mali, 1987.
in Bambara,
subtitles. 105:00
Adult
An adaptation
of one of the great oral epics of the Bambara people.
Set in the Mali Empire of the 13th century, this is
the story of Nianankoro: a young warrior destined to
destroy a corrupt older elite, and with it his father
and ultimately himself. The film follows his initiation
quest across Bambara, Fulani and Dogon lands - a cross
section of West African cultures and folklore. |
IA FS 129 |
** ZAN BOKO
(HOMELAND)
Producer/Director
Gaston Faso. 1988
in MorŸ,
subtitled. 94:00
This feature
film explores in story form the transformation that
occurs when an agrarian economy is swallowed up by a
corrupt urban one. It is the drama of two men--a peasant
farmer trying to hold onto his land and a wealthy businessman
who wants it. Each man finds an ally: the farmer's is
a crusading TV journalist, while the businessman finds
a friend in the government. |
IA FS 126 |
