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Director: Ossama Fawzi
From: Egypt
Year: 1999  Minutes: 80
Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Genre: dramatic comedy
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A homeless man dies of an overdose in a popular Cairo neighborhood. He was once an ideal husband and represented security for his family. Then one day, everything changed. Upon his death his friends from the underworld drag the corpse around for a whole night of madness, drinking and hallucinating situations. A game with death where the dead man becomes more alive than the living and fallen angels live according to their own rules, laws and desires in the chaos of the Egyptian capital. The film is based on a famous short story written by the Brazilian writer Jorge Amado.
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Best Director and Best Actor, festival of Egyptian Cinema 2000
35mm rental: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
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Director: Abbdoulaye Ascofaré
From: Mali
Year: 1997 Minutes: 90
Language: Songhoï with English subtitles
Genre: drama
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Zamiatou is the mother of two quarrelsome boys and a depressed teenage girl. She is also the wife of a man arrested for political reasons who returns from prison mentally and physically destroyed. She struggles hard to survive in a poor and desolate area. She is ready to face anything to keep the family alive except prostituting her beautiful daughter. Her determination will take her far from her family…
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Best Actress, FESPACO 1997
International Critics Week, 1997 Cannes Film Festival
35mm rental: $400
video rental: $140
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $395
DVD entitled GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 1 - also includes
feature film Haramuya
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Director: John Carstarphen
From: USA
Year: 1999 Minutes: 89
Language: English
Genre: satirical comedy
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A provocative digital feature
that dares to probe the question: What the f*ck is going on
in American filmmaking? FLMKR is a quirky, comic thriller,
which traces the odyssey of independent filmmaker Veronica
Davidson, as professional setbacks are amplified by personal
betrayals; then she realizes something more sinister has taken
over the film industry in America. FLMKR explores the agonies
of film making, from personal compromises, to the concessions
required of an entertainment-addicted society. All seen through
the eyes of one paranoid filmmaker, living and working in
the heart of the “conspiracy capitol of the world”, Dallas,
Texas.
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video rental: $90
video sale: $195
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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
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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 this, they become friends. Together,
they reinvent the world.
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VHS rental: $90
VHS sale: $245
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Director:Abbdoulaye Ascofaré (Faraw!) & Drissa
Toure (Haramuya)
From:Mali (Faraw!), Burkina Faso and France (Haramuya)
Year:1997 (Faraw!), 1995 (Haramuya)
Minutes: 90 (Faraw!), 87 (Haramuya)
Language:Songhoï with English subtitles (Faraw!),
French with English subtitles (Haramuya)
Genre: Drama (Faraw!), Comedy (Haramuya)
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GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 1 : Haramuya
& Faraw! Mother of the Dunes - Two films are
included in the package, making for an entertaining and
edifying double feature experience: Drissa Toure's Haramuya
(1995) is a sprawling dramatic comedy about several generations
of a traditional Muslim family scraping up against various
temptations (crime, movies, drugs, music) of modernity in
the city of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and
Abbdoulaye Ascofare's Faraw: Mother of the Dunes (1997),
from Mali is about a mother of three who struggles to support
her family while saving her daughter from becoming the concubine-maid
of a French colonialist.
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DVD sale: $395
DVD entitled GREAT AFRICAN FILMS - VOL 1 - includes
feature films Faraw, Mother of the Dunes and
Haramuya |
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Director: Darlene Johnson
From: Australia
Year: 2003 Minutes: 56
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
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Legendary Aboriginal actor and Australian icon David Gulpilil's life has been one of dueling lifestyles, with his jet-setting movie star life on a completely different plane from his life as an Aboriginal village elder, and director Darlene Johnson manages to capture intimate details from both lifestyles in her 2003 biographical documentary Gulpilil: One Red Blood. At the age of 17, Gulpilil made history as the first Aboriginal actor to appear on film -- in Nicolas Roeg's 1971 Walkabout -- which, in turn, led to an historic acting career that culminated in his receiving numerous awards and an Order of Australia medal. All the while, Gulpilil remained true to his culture by accepting his tribal responsibilities, which include living in a primitive house and procuring his household's daily food and water. As Johnson films a number of very candid encounters with the actor in both settings -- David lives in a tent shed and is quite open about the lack of facilities in his abode and the exploitation he’s experienced during his career -- she documents the class differences that still exist between the indigenous population of Australia versus the relatively new white population.
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video rental: $90
DVD rental: $140
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $295
DVD also includes feature film The Tracker
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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: Drissa Toure
From: Burkina Faso and France
Year: 1995 Minutes: 87
Language: French with English subtitles
Genre: comedy
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Ouagadougou, its buildings and shantytowns... Wealth in a modern town and poverty in the suburbs. Through Fousseini -- a Muslim firmly attached to his faith and traditions - and his family HARAMUYA draws a picture of Ouagadougou in the traps of modernism and traditionalism. Fousseini tries to take care of his family according to the old precepts and the code of honor inherited from his ancestors. One of his sons is a cinema projectionist and supports all the family against the will of his wife. The other son idles around all day long in Ouagadougou, looking for a girlfriend.
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FESPACO 1995, official selection Cannes 1995 "Un Certain Regard" 35mm rental: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
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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
Director: Dany Laferriere
From: Canada/Haiti
Year: 2004 Minutes: 96
Language: French with English Subtitles
Genre: Romantic Comedy
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Recipient of Zenith Prize (Best First
Fiction Feature), Montreal World Film Festival 2004
Newly arrived in Montréal, and determined to conquer
North America by charming blond-haired women, Gégé,
a Haitian in his thirties, lands up at Fanfan's - his nostalgic
uncle who has given up poetry for a good old taxicab and
dreams of returning to his homeland. Over the course of
one night filled with humor and friendship -- highlighted
by a party attended by twins Andrée and Denise, two
Quebecers with contrasting charms -- the two fun-loving
guys take stock of their lives, memories and fantasies.
Meanwhile, on television, various celebrities draw up a
comic portrait of North American society.
"A shrewd, funny, humane and very well-written and
acted comedy from Haitian-born Montreal writer Dany Laferriere
(author of "How To Make Love To a Negro Without Getting
Tired" and "On the Verge of a Fever"), who
makes a lively directorial debut with this comic-dramatic
tale."
~ Michael Wilmington - Chicago Tribune
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35mm rental: $300
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Flavio Leandro
From: Brazil
Year: 1995 Minutes: 12
Language: silent
Genre: drama
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A short film depicting the lives of homeless children in Rio de Janeiro.
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35mm rental: $150
video rental: $60
video sale: $145
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Director: Fritz Baumann
From: Jamaica and Germany
Year: 1992 Minutes: 90
Language: English
Genre: docu-drama
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Brother Howie is a Jamaican Rastifari who dreams of the land of his ancestors: Africa. On a journey in search of his roots and his identity he travels through three continents and - with great humor and sensitivity - discovers the world...and Africa.
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16mm rental: $250
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $295
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Director: Michel Ocelot
From: France
Year: 1998 Minutes: 70
Language: French w/ English subtitles or dubbed in English
Genre: animation
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This animated film exquisitely recounts the tale of tiny Kirikou born in an African village in which Karaba the Sorceress has placed a terrible curse. Kirikou sets out on a quest to free his village of the curse and find out the secret of why Karaba is so wicked.
Lisa Nesselson of Variety (11/1/99) notes: “KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS employs snappy visuals to tell a catchy story for all ages. A blend of African folktales “Kirikou” has both humor and flair.” KIRIKOU depicts a precocious newborn infant who battles ignorance, and so-called evil, with endearing perseverance. This film speaks to the child within us all who yearns to express and defend the best in others and ourselves. KIRIKOU’s stunning visuals are accented by a traditional music soundtrack by African music giant Youssou N’ Dour of Senegal.
Also, see the official Kirikou web site.
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35mm rental: $300
video rental: $90
DVD rental: $140
video sale: $195
DVD sale: $295
Special DVD Features:
- French and English tracks
- Comments by Filmmaker
- Color Game
- Scene Selection
- Character Presentation
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Winner Grand Prize for best animated feature, International Festival of Animated Film in Annecy, France
First Prize from both children and adult juries, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.
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Director: Claudette Coulanges
From: Haiti/Germany
Year: 1999 Minutes: 60
Language: Creole and French with English subtitles
Genre: documentary
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Looking for Life introduces the viewer to two women, Anne-Rose and Rosemene, who each one has their own particular way of battling through life. The former makes lunches in a factory yard in Port-au-Prince and sells her meals to the factory workers; the latter is employed in the same factory as a production worker making pullovers and T-shirts. Every day she buys her midday meal on credit from Anne-Rose. Through the connection between these two women the film shows part of their daily work and the constant battle for survival that they lead together with other women in Haiti. Going beyond this, however the film demonstrates the extent to which the importation of North American goods has brought about the collapse of Haitian regional production and ruined Haiti's economy. The connection between the two topics of the film reveals the significant role that Haitian women of today play in an economy that has been bled dry.
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16mm rental: $290
video rental: $90
video sale: $195
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