African Studies: Films
Streaming Films
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Academic Video Online• Good for primary sources
Documentary Films on DVD
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Akwantu: The Journey Documents the struggle for freedom of the legendary Maroons of Jamaica, former enslaved Africans, who were able to flee the plantations and slave ships to form communities in some of the most inhospitable regions of the island. Poorly armed and outgunned, these brave warrior engaged the mighty British Empire over an 80-year period and were victorious. As a result, two peace trieaties were signed between the British and the Maroons in 1738/39 that established Maroon self-government in Jamaica. No where else in the New World had Africans enjoyed such a degree of autonomy, coming almost sixty years before the Haitian Revolution, and more than one hundred years before the Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the United States.
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Amandla: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony Tells the story of black South African freedom music and the central role it played against apartheid. Specifically considers the music that sustained and galvanized blacks for more than 40 years. Focuses on the struggle's spiritual dimension named for the Xhosa word for "power". An uplifting story of human courage, resolve and triumph.
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Ghosts of Rwanda Frontline marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a documentary chronicling one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. Illustrated are the failures that enabled the slaughter of 800,000 people to occur unchallenged by the world.
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The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo Since 1998 a brutal war has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 4 million people have died, and many tens of thousands of women and girls have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army. Until now, the world has known nothing of their stories. A survivor of gang rape herself, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson has created an extraordinary film in which these brave women finally speak
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Have You Heard from Johannesburg? Six documentary stories chronicling the history of the global anti-apartheid movement that took on both the South African government and its international supporters, who considered South Africa an ally in the Cold War.
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The Hero Luanda, capital of Angola, is a huge city trying to cope with and overcome the profound legacy of a civil war that lasted for nearly 30 years. A military soldier Vitorio has just been discharged after almost 20 years of fighting in the war. During his last military assignment he stepped on a land mine and lost a leg. After recuperating, he finds himself alone, unemployed and homeless.
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The Long Tears: A Ndebele Story Documentary film that explores the art, culture, traditions and history of the Ndebele people of South Africa. Focuses on the initiation rites for both males and females and the Ndebele women's unique but disappearing art of decorative wall painting.
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Lumumba: The Death of a Prophet Reexamines the independence struggle in the Belgian Congo and its leader, Patrice Lumumba. This multi-award-winning film recounts Lumumba's tragic 200 day rule culminating with his assassination. Combines archival documentary footage of Lumumba with the memories of journalists who reported from the Congo.
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Monday's Girls A grandmother in Ogoloma, Nigeria is responsible for taking the young girls of the village through various rites of passage into womanhood that involve body painting, public breast examination and five weeks of confinement in "fattening rooms" so that they will be ready for marriage. Documents these ceremonies and the crisis that develops when a chieftain's daughter who has lived in the city for some years, returns to participate in the ritual but then refuses to complete them.
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Naked Spaces: Living is Round Explores the rhythm and ritual life in the rural environment of six West African countries: Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Senegal.
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Our Hip Bus Shot in free-style, 'man-with-a-camera in the streets' approach, Our Hip Bus places the viewer right inside the world of public transport commuting in Nairobi, Kenya. The film manages to reveal the 'inside story' about the antagonism between the Kenya Police and the mini-bus public transport (matatu) operators. Perhaps for the first time, a film has captured the dynamics of 'the big African city' informal public transport system and reveals some of the challenges facing traffic policing as rapid increase in population compromises commuting by road.
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Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars Uplifting and courageous, this dramatic seven-time award-winning film by Zach Niles and Banker White tracks the journey of a group of six musicians who formed a band after being displaced from their home during a brutal decade long civil war.
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Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela Confronted with the death of his stepfather, director Thomas Allen Harris embarks on a journey to understand the man who raised him, Pule Benjamin Leinaeng ("Lee") - an ANC foot-soldier who sacrificed his life for the freedom of his country. As part of the first wave of South African freedom fighters, Lee and his comrades left their homeland in 1960 to broadcast to the world the brutality of apartheid and to raise support for the African National Congress ("ANC") and its leaders, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo. This film is an intimate tale about an African-American family, the anti-apartheid movement and the quest for reconciliation between a father and son.
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War Dance A depiction of the transformative and uplifting potential of music and dance in the lives of children. Dominic, Rose, and Nancy are three children of the Acholi tribe, living in the war zone displacement camp in Patongo, Uganda. As war refugees, their families have been decimated, their homes lost, and they have been burdened with vivid memories of violence. However, the children are at least able to attend a camp school that offers them inspiration, as they participate in music, song and performance. When they are invited to compete in an annual music and dance festival in their nation's capitol, an opportunity for which all 20,000 Ugandan schools compete, they are given the chance to regain hope and success in their lives.
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Warrior Marks Documentary about female genital mutilation in Africa. Includes interviews with victims, activists against female circumcision, and circumcisers.
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Witches in Exile Witches in Exile' introduces us to four women who have taken refuge in the Kukuo witches' camp and who represent a cross section of the 'witch' population of Northern Ghana today. It leads us on a step by step journey on how a woman becomes stigmatized as a 'witch.'
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You Have Struck a Rock! A look at the history of female protest against racial and gender discrimination in South Africa, focusing especially on anti-apartheid movements.
Feature Films on DVD
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The Battle of Algiers Dramatizes the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria's struggle for independence from France. Recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed.
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Forgiveness A white former South African policeman who tortured and killed a black anti-apartheid activist seeks forgiveness from the victim's family.
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Great African Films Faraw!: An impoverished Songhai mother struggles to provide for her family in northeastern Mali. Haramuya: The patriarch of a Muslim family living in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso struggles to reconcile his traditional beliefs with his sons' thoroughly modern lifestyles.
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Hotel Rwanda Based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a five-star-hotel manager who uses his wits and persuasion in striving to save more than 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus from being massacred by the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 Rwandan conflict.
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Invictus In 1994, having been released from his long imprisonment, Nelson Mandela is elected as the first president of post-apartheid South Africa. Racial tension runs high, even in the president's offices, and especially among the members of his half black, half Afrikaner security team. As hosts of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, South Africa's low ranked national team, the Springboks, have a berth in the tournament. Mandela begins making public appearances supporting the team, and meets privately with captain Francois Pienaar, encouraging him to inspire his teammates to victory. The Springboks' new slogan is "One team, One nation." President Mandela is betting that if they win the Cup, it might even be a bit true.
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The Last King of Scotland Nick Garrigan has just graduated from medical school in his native Scotland, seeking a change he travels to 1970's era Uganda with the vague but well-intentioned notion of providing aid to the impoverished locals. After aiding newly-appointed dictator Idi Amin in a car collision, Amin asks Nick to serve as his personal physician.
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Master Harold and the Boys A young white man's frustration with the return home of his alcoholic, handicapped father turns into racist viciousness against the two black men who work for the family.
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Sankofa A story about the transformation of a self-possessed African-American woman sent on a spiritual journey in time to experience the pain of slavery and the discovery of her African identity.
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Tsotsi A young criminal finds a surprise in the backseat of a car he has stolen, which both complicates and enriches his life.
Subjects: Africana Studies
- Last Updated: Jun 11, 2025 11:15 AM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/africanstudies
