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Director: Harrikrisna Anenden
From: Mauritius
Year: 2006 Minutes: 78
Language: Creole with English subtitles
Genre: drama/comedy
The Cathedral is a lyrical narration set in the beautiful and unusual setting of Port-Louis, capital of Mauritius. Lina, a young woman in search of her identity interacts daily with friends and family in a carefree happy manner that will be challenged when one day her dancing catches the eye of a photographer...
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Khady Sylla
From: Senegal/France
Year: 1999 Minutes: 52
Language: Wolof with English subtitles
Genre: Docu-Drama
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Public vans provide the traditional and sole means of city transportation in Dakar, Senegal. In a frenzy of activity, from the outskirts to downtown, people from all walks of life as well as fruits, vegetables, chickens, etc. are transported daily in these public vans. Colobane Express opens a window on a slice of life in the busy urban metropolis where drivers and their trainees are always on the go, managing relationships, incidents and conflicts, dealing with the competition and providing an invaluable service to demanding yet loving customers.
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $245
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Dry Season / Daratt
Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
From: France / Chad
Year: 2006 Minutes: 95
Language: French & Arabic with English subtitles
Genre: Drama
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Chad, 2006. The government has granted amnesty to all war criminals. Atim, 16 years old, is given a revolver by his grandfather so that he may kill the man who killed his father... Atim leaves his village for N’djamena, seeking a man he does not know. He quickly locates him: former war criminal Nassara is now married and settled down as the owner of a small bakery... With the firm intention of killing him, Atim gets closer to Nassara under the guise of lookin for work, and is hired as an apprentice baker… Intrigued by Atim's attitude toward him, Nassara takes him under his wing and teaches him the secrets of making bread... Over the weeks, a strange relationship evolves between the two. Despite his disgust, Atim seems to recognise in Nassara the father figure he has always needed, while Nassara sees the teenager as a potential son. One day, he suggests adoption...
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35mm rental: $500
VHS rental: $140
VHS sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Cheikh Djemai
From: Martinique/France/Algeria/Tunisia
Year: 2001
Minutes: 52
Language: French with English
Subtitles
Genre: Documentary
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| Frantz Fanon, was a psychiatrist, originally
from Martinique, who had become a spokesman for the
Algerian revolution against French colonialism. Embittered
by his experience with racism in the French Army, he
gravitated to radical politics, Sartrean existentialism
and the philosophy of black consciousness known as negritude.
His 1952 book, ''Black Skin, White Masks,''
offers a penetrating analysis of racism and of the ways
in which it is internalized by its victims. While secretly
aiding the rebels of the Algerian anti-colonial war
as a doctor in Algeria, Fanon cared for victims and
perpetrators alike, producing case notes that shed invaluable
light on the psychic traumas of colonial war. Expelled
from Algeria in 1956, Fanon moved to Tunis where wrote
for El Moudjahid, the rebel newspaper, founded Africa's
first psychiatric clinic, and wrote several influential
books on decolonization. Frantz Fanon, His
Life, His Struggle, His Work traces the
short and intense life of one of the great thinkers
of the 20th century.
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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The Glass Ceiling
Director: Yamina Benguigui
From: France
Year: 2004 Minutes: 90
Language: French with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
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Europe's racial make-up is quickly changing. French-Algerian filmmaker Yamina Benguigui is hoping to start a conversation about affirmative action - a policy that does not exist in France today. Benguigui's Le Plafond de Verre (Glass Ceiling) presents a serie of sometimes very emotional first-hand accounts of discrimination againt mostly black and North African Arab who are trying to find jobs. The documentary offers poingnant and reveiling accounts of discrimination faced by these full-fledged French citizens who are also children of immigrant parents.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Leonardo Ricagni
From: Uruguay
Year: 2005
Minutes: 100
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: drama
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Obdulio is an 11-year-old Afro-Uruguayan
street boy who lives with his grandmother and sells newspapers
for a living while he cannot read or write. Obdulio is
not interested in going to school until he finds out that
the night watchman of the newspaper's office is a charismatic
magical "Maestro" who not only introduces him
to the world of literacy but also teaches him the real
meaning of life through the lyrics of the "Murgas"
(Carnival Pierrots) during the mythical nights of the
irreverent and provocative Uruguayan carnival.
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35mm rental: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
Bonus film with DVD: short film Candombe
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Director: Licinio Azevedo
From: Mozambique
Year: 2005
Minutes: 58
Language: Portuguese with
English subtitles
Genre: Comedy
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| In the suburb of an African city, 12 years-old
Paito sells fritters outside his house. One day, a band
of young robbers takes his money. He decides he’s
not going to go home until he recovers what he lost.
With this in mind, he heads out for the big city on
the same train as the thieves. Looking for work, he
begins to live in a market square that at night becomes
a dormitory for homeless vendors. There he meets Xano,
a boy his age, whose insolent behavior and fearlessness
attract him. Unlike Paito, Xano despises work and he
steals. Despite their differences, they become friends.
Together, they reinvent the world.
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $245
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Hands
of God
Director: Delia Ackerman
From: Peru
Year: 2004
Minutes: 54
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
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The stunning dexterity and mastery of famous Afro-Peruvian
percussionist Julio "Chocolate" Algendones
are on display in this affectionate documentary
about the great master. Afro-Peruvian music is rooted
in multiples rhythms coming from Africa. Mixing
the traditional and the contemporary, from cajón
to Jazz, Chocolate composed and played many music
styles, taught all over the world and contributed
to the creative development of numerous artists
including the dance group Peru Negro.
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Norman Maake
From: South Africa
Year: 2005 Minutes: 90
Language: English
Genre: Fiction
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Charlie, Thabo and Peter, three "MK" veterans from the armed branch of the African National Congress, return to post-apartheid South Africa in 1996 after years of exile. It will not be easy for them to find their place in society again. Charlie dreams of opening a club, Thabo has to patch up his relationship with his wife and son and Peter continues to work in the Party and investigate the traitors of the ANC. Continuously hampered as he delves into the Government's files, his ensuing investigations provide shocking revelations of the identities of the traitors. Pared down from a successful mini series for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Homecoming draws its plot from the real life experiences of acclaimed filmmaker and writer, Zola Maseko, a former "MK" soldier of the ANC. Morman Maake (26) is perhaps the most promising young director from South Africa. He studied at ADFA, a dynamic young film- and drama school in Johannesburg. He has several films to his name, amongst which Sweet Home (1999), Soldiers of Rock (2003), and Homecoming (2005).
video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Georges Gachot
From: Brazil/Switzerland
Year: 2005
Minutes: 82
Language: Portuguese with English subtitles
Genre: Musical Documentary |
| In his captivating
film, Georges Gachot invites us to enter the universe
of Maria Bethania, the famous Brazilian singer. Narrated
by Bethania herself, the film not only gives us an insight
into the intimate sphere of Maria Bethania's creative
process, but focuses on the history of Brazilian music.
First a muse of the so-called counter culture, and then
the queen of romantic ballads, Maria Bethania chronicles
her musical life experience in relation to Brazilian
society's development. In addition to this, filmmaker
Gachot gathers together a fantastic ensemble of contributors
including Gilberto Gil, Nana Caymmi, Miucha, Chico Buarque
and Caetano Veloso, all of them witnesses and participants
to some of the greatest music history of our time. |
35 mm: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Masai: The Rain Warriors
Director: Pascal Plisson
From: France/Kenya
Year: 2005 Minutes: 94
Language: Maa with English subtitles
Genre: Epic Drama
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Faced with a drought that endangers the continuity of their people, Masai elders are convinced that they have been cursed by the Red God -- the God of Vengeance. Following the death of the war chief, a group of adolescents must now cross over to adulthood, forced to quickly form a new generation of inexperienced but brave warriors. The young men must bring back the mane of a legendary lion, which appears at every critical period of Masai history to appease the wrath of the Red God and bring back the rains. The survival of their culture depends on this quest.
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35mm Rental: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $295
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On the Verge of a Fever
Director: John L'Ecuyer
From: Haiti/Quebec-Canada
Year: 2004 Minutes: 88
Language: French with English sub.
Genre: Drama
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Against the backdrop of poverty, fear and the brutal dictatorship of Haiti in 1971, On the Verge of a Fever (Le goût des jeunes filles) is about Fanfan, a 15-year-old boy who just wants to experience life for himself with his streetwise friend Gégé. Having lived a somewhat sheltered life with his protective mother, Fanfan experiences a bizarrely terrifying incident involving a Tonton-Macoute. As a result, he decides to hide out at his beautiful neighbor's house for the weekend. There, he is trapped between his fear of being caught and the fulfilling of his deepest fantasy. Based on the Book Le Gout des Jeunes Filles by famous Haitian novelist Dany Laferriere.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Sara Gomez, An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker
Director: Alessandra Muller
From: Cuba/Switzerland
Year: 2005 Minutes: 76
Language: Spanish with English
subtitles
Genre: Documentary
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Donde esta Sara Gomez? / Sara Gomez, An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker is a rich, multilayered documentary about Afro-Cuban director
Sarah Gomez. Born in 1943, she studied literature, piano,
and Afro-Cuban ethnography before becoming the first female
Cuban filmmaker. A woman of great intelligence, independence
and generosity, she was a revolutionary filmmaker with intersecting
concerns about the Afro-Cuban community and the value of
its cultural traditions, women's issues, and the treatment
of the marginalized sectors of society. Through archival
footage of her works and interviews with her children and
husband Germinal Hernandez, cast members of her best-know
film De cierta manera,as well as colleagues and friends,
we get closer to a filmmaker who invented new landscapes
and brought together opposite worlds.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Sons of Benkos
From: Colombia/France
Year: 2003 Minutes: 52
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Director: Silva Lucas
Official selection, African Diaspora
Film Festival 2006.
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An entertaining documentary that explores the African culture of Colombia through music. The film presents the music of the Sons of Benkos, one of the most important Black leaders in the fight for freedom during the times of slavery in Colombia. The film also shows the evolution of Afro-Colombian music over time through the fusion of Cuban and contemporary African rhythms with traditional Afro-Colombian music.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Sotigui Kouyate: A Modern Griot
Director:Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
From:Chad/France
Year:1996 Minutes:58
Language:French with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Through testimonies by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, Jean-Pierre Guigane, and Sotigui Kouyate himself, Sotigui Kouyate: a Modern Griot dresses the portrait of one of Africa’s greatest actor now based in Paris. From Africa to Europe, the film unveils the multiple facets of Sotigui Kouyate, actor, musician and modern griot.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $295
DVD sale: $295
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Youssou
N'Dour:
Return to Goree
Director: Pierre-Yves Borgeaud
From: Senegal/Switzerland/ Luxembourg
Year: 2006
Minutes:108
Language:English and French with English subtitles
Genre: Musical Documentary
Format: 35mm
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A musical road movie, Youssou N'Dour:
Return to Gorée follows Senegalese singer
Youssou N'Dour's historical journey tracing the trail
left by slaves and the jazz music they created. Youssou
N'Dour's challenge is to bring back to Africa a jazz repertoire
of his own songs to perform a concert in Gorée,
the island that today symbolizes the slave trade and stands
to honor its victims.
From Atlanta to New Orleans, from New
York to Bordeaux and Luxembourg, the songs are transformed,
immersed in jazz and gospel. Transcending cultural divisions
and rehearsing with of some of the world's most exceptional
musicians, Youssou N'Dour is preparing to return to Africa
for the final concert...
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35mm rental: $400
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