Product Description:
Choose a title above from the following Academic Success programs:
#2561 Algeria 1954: Revolt of a Colony (Run Time 14 min.) DVD $49.95
This program shows the uprising which succeeded in throwing out the French from the point of view of an Algerian Arab, showing the conditions and following the thought processes and the steps that led to insurrection, and the revolt itself. The words are those of the colonized North Africans-the man in the street as well as the intellectual and politician-and of such radical theoreticians of revolt as Franz Fanon. (14 minutes, b&w/color)
#36255 The Suffering of Sudan (Run Time 12 min.) DVD $59.95
Darfur is dying. Drought and military violence in this region of Sudan have caused more than a million people to flee, and the death toll from starvation, disease, and militia attacks continues to rise. What, if anything, is being done to help the victims? This Peabody Award-winning program goes inside the Bredjing Refugee Camp in neighboring Chad, visits a tiny clinic run by Doctors Without Borders, and rides with the Sudan Liberation Army to give viewers a glimpse of what the UN is calling one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. (12 minutes)
#3260 The Legend of Ameur the Good (Algeria) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $69.95
Ali's laziness and greed make him easy prey for the devil. Unwilling to work for what he wants, Ali agrees to give up his youngest son in exchange for wealth. Unlike his father, Ameur, Ali's oldest son, is hardworking, generous, and honest, respected by the entire village. His kindness to a pair of spirits posing as a blind beggar and an abandoned princess allows him entrance to the Magnificent Garden. Inside the garden Ameur hears the words of Akhil, the wisest of the wise. Akhil directs Ameur to the grotto where his brother and many other young boys are being kept by the devil. With his pure soul, Ameur cannot be harmed by the devil and succeeds in rescuing the boys. (26 minutes)
#5093 Nigeria: A Tale of Two Families (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $69.95
This program reflects the diversity of the entire continent. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, and ranges from tropical forest in the south to sub-Saharan savannah in the north. The program looks at the effect of climate on the lives and survival strategies of two farming families living in very different locations, and at the influence of culture on the children and their ambitions. (20 minutes)
#5094 Nigeria: Dammed Water (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $69.95
This program takes the Chad Basin as a case study to examine the effects of a large-scale water management project on the lives of different kinds of farms and farmers; it contrasts this huge capital-intensive development program with a small collective project now jeopardized by further dam-building. (20 minutes)
#5095 Lagos: Rich Man, Poor Man (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $69.95
This program shows the enormous contrast between the lives of two children in Nigeria's bustling metropolis, thereby illustrating how the city works and its people survive. (20 minutes)
#5096 Zimbabwe: Tourism Along the Zambezi River (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $69.95
This program looks at the impact of tourism on the people and environment of Zimbabwe. Since its independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has encouraged tourism as a means to improve its economic well-being. The program provides a brief history of Zimbabwe, and focuses on the benefits of tourism to the country and the employment opportunities this provides. The program examines the lives of Zimbabwe's citizens to determine whether they have benefited from the development of tourism, and contrasts the lifestyles of the country's people with the lives of the tourists who visit. (20 minutes)
#5097 Zambia: A Copper Miner's Family (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $69.95
This program examines the growth and decline of the copper mining industry in Zambia and how this has influenced the lives of Zambia's citizens. Focusing on one Zambian family, the program provides an introduction to the country and explains the importance of copper to Zambia's economy. The program contrasts life in the country before and after the fall of the price of copper on the international commodity markets. As a result of the fall in copper prices, many of the miners are now unemployed and are seeking alternate ways to make a living. Since close links are usually maintained with their families in the rural areas, many miners are now returning to the land to begin farming again. (20 minutes)
#36240 Cultural Issues in Kenya (Run Time min.) DVD $69.95
Exploring Kenya's multifaceted urban and rural settings, this program looks at the various cultures found within the nation today. Viewers will experience the country's spectacular diversity-and the difficulty of providing education and mass communication for a population that speaks well over 40 languages. Highlighting the challenges of conflicting cultural traditions and beliefs, the program looks at the nation's extraordinary efforts in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The economic and sociological dynamics of Kenya are made clear through the interactions of Kenyan students, business people, artists, community leaders, and others. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (24 minutes)
#36241 Ecological Issues in Kenya (Run Time min.) DVD $69.95
East Africa's wild beauty may also be its greatest challenge. This program describes the ecological issues arising when a finite amount of land is needed for ever-growing human and animal populations. Where will Kenya's varied wildlife go when cities expand into age-old migration paths? How will farmers and cattle ranchers protect their land from invading animals? And how can a developing nation boost its much-needed tourist industry without harming its equally valuable natural resources? The program features eye-opening commentary from Professor Wangari Muta Maathai-winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (18 minutes)
#8048 Apartheid Revisited: Confronting History (Run Time min.) DVD $79.95
This video follows a group of American students on a trip through South Africa as they explore the history of this fascinating nation. The students learn about political struggles that shaped South Africa, and important roles played by young people in the evolution of this country.The journey begins at the National Youth Day Celebration on the 20th anniversary of the Student Uprising against apartheid. The students then travel from Johannesburg south to Durban and down the Garden Route to Capetown, visiting key landmarks and talking with veterans of the movement about the political and social causes of apartheid. The students also visit a traditional Zulu village, explore museums, and meet with student leaders of today to exchange ideas and experiences. With beautiful location footage and interviews, viewers share in this journey as the participants compare the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. to the Freedom Fight in South Africa. A guide is included. A Cambridge Educational Production. (38 minutes)
#871 The Beggar of Soutile (Ivory Coast) (Run Time min.) DVD $89.95
A story from the Ivory Coast that tells how the selfish villagers of Soutile were turned to stone. Long ago, the people of Soutile were known as the least hospitable people on earth. One day an old beggar came to town. Children taunted him and grown-ups shut their doors in his face. Only Balou offered him something to eat. That is why the Sacred Mask of Health and Life allowed Balou and his family to escape the punishment that befell the entire village. (26 minutes)
#1623 Soweto: Class of '76 (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
Who: White South African troops and police, and black school children. What: A protest by the children over the introduction of compulsory teaching in Afrikaans, the main dialect of the ruling white minority. When: 1976. Where: Soweto, the huge Black township outside Johannesburg. Why: The answer to why strikes at the very heart of the South African policy of apartheid, apartness, keeping blacks and whites separate and unequal. This program documents the events in Soweto 1976 that crystallized the issues in South Africa between whites seeking to maintain their power and capital and blacks demanding basic human and economic rights in their own land. (20 minutes, b&w)
#2554 Tunisia and Morocco: The Struggle for North African Independence (Run Time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
The function of colonies to provide markets for the mother country and opportunities for her citizens is nowhere better illustrated than in French North Africa. Technically only protectorates, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria were treated as colonies. In two world wars, North Africans died to save mother France; when France was occupied by Hitler, many Arabs sided with the Germans. Wiser North African leadership foresaw that a Nazi victory would not bring Arab independence. It did not take a major insurrection to secure freedom from a weakened France after the war-a different story from the one that occurred in Algeria. (16 minutes, b&w/color)
#2592 Nelson Mandela: The History of a Struggle (Run Time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
On July 12, 1964, a South African court sentenced Nelson Mandela to life imprisonment. This program covers his life and activities up to that time, the background against which they occurred, and the events in the struggle against apartheid that led to his release. (30 minutes)
#2611 Spear of the Nation: The Story of The African National Congress (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $89.95
The voice of the black South African majority was dramatically liberated with the release of Nelson Mandela and political recognition of the African National Congress (ANC). But what are the origins of the ANC, and how has it achieved such military, political, and diplomatic power in South Africa? This documentary, much of which was filmed in secret, provides both background and perspective on the ANC, its objectives, and its leaders. (52 minutes)
#2937 The Lesson of the Three Thieves (Gambia) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This is the story of two thieves who plan to steal the jewels that are to adorn the body of their dying friend, and of a wandering thief who is about to help himself to the same jewels. This is a picaresque tale of missing bodies and replaced shrouds, of hidden conspirators and angry crowds, that lead the thieves to vow never to steal again. (26 minutes)
#2943 The Wife Abductor (Algeria) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
The village is under a curse, its inhabitants forced to abandon their homes and wives to an evil magician who terrorizes them all. Haroun decides to set out on his own to find out the truth, and finds a woman carved in stone on the edge of a ravine; it is the beautiful Tazari, whom the magician has turned to stone. (26 minutes)
#2944 The End Is the Return (Algeria) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Ralib, who long ago lost to the evil magician, has gathered his strength and will revenge the hurt done his beloved Tazari, as well as the defeat he himself suffered. For an entire day, good and evil battle. But as night falls, the power of evil grows, and only by destroying evil at its root can Ralib destroy the demon's power forever. The spell is broken, and Ralib throws away his sword, knowing that no man bearing a weapon may approach a woman. (26 minutes)
#2946 The Greedy Child (Senegal) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Joomay is a 13-year-old who never helps and never shares. To avoid being scolded, he runs away and is captured by a giant. Joomay realizes that his greed is what led him to such a pass. He escapes from the giant and is given some fruit. As he comes to the river he must cross to reach his village, the ferryman demands four pieces of fruit-but Joomay has only two pieces, since he gave the others to a crying child. Joomay has changed, and when he gets home, he is no longer a greedy boy. (26 minutes)
#2947 The Good and the Evil (Senegal) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Suleiman is abandoned by his traveling companion Malich when he offers to share his goods with an old man. As a reward for his generosity, Suleiman is told a secret that will help his village grow and prosper, but when Malich returns to claim his share of the rewards, he learns that they are given only to the pure and generous of heart. (26 minutes)
#2948 How Samba Became Viceroy (Mali) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This is the story of Samba and the legacy of the four braids, each representing one great truth. Captured and brought before the king, Samba resisted telling the secrets until he realized that the alternative was death. But when he revealed the last of his secrets, that a leader deserves no honor if he is not also a friend to his people, the king understood the message and made Samba his viceroy. (26 minutes)
#2949 The Soothsayer, part 1 (Tunisia) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
The story takes place during the 18th century, when Ottoman Turks occupied Tunisia and the people placed great faith in soothsayers. It happened that a humble potter named Asfur-which means "little bird"-benefited from some lucky coincidences, and was soon regarded as a great seer. His renown reaches the ears of the Pasha, who worries that Asfur is becoming too powerful. He sends him on a dangerous mission and, as the first part of the story ends, Asfur is thrown to the Sultan's lions. (26 minutes)
#2950 The Soothsayer, part 2 (Tunisia) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Asfur learns who stole the Sultan's ring, his life is saved, and he gets a rich reward. Luck is again on Asfur's side; although the Pasha tries to discredit him, Asfur chances on the correct answer to a riddle and is made governor of the province. Asfur has everything a man could want-except that what he really wants is to return to the simple life of a humble potter. (26 minutes)
#3075 Laura the Taxi Driver (Benin) (Run Time 13 min.) DVD $89.95
Laura is a pioneer, the first woman to stake her claim under the law to what had been exclusively a male preserve: driving a taxi. The mother of three, she deals with the hassles of traffic, changes a flat when she has to, and contends both with those men who want a smiling wife to greet them at the door when they return from work, and those who welcome women as equals. She enjoys her job and the financial and social independence it gives her. (13 minutes)
#3076 The Ashanti Kingdom (Ghana) (Run Time 14 min.) DVD $89.95
The Ashanti are the best-known tribe of Ghana, comprising around 2 million of the country's 12 million inhabitants. All of the Ashanti kings belong to the Oyoko Dako clan, the clan of chieftains; they are the ones who have created and strengthened the Ashanti nation. This program shows the Ashanti kingdom: it explains the strict hierarchical organization of the village, the importance of the characteristic kente garment, the naming of children, the Ashanti religious beliefs, the importance of traditional values and traditional festivals, and the protocol surrounding the paramount chief of the Ashanti. (14 minutes)
#3077 The Glories of Ancient Benin (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
Long, long, ago, three great hunters came upon a termitary from which emerged a nine-headed genie. A city was built on this spot, beside a pond named Abomiressa Adjaga after the god of the hunters. The Portuguese traders who arrived around 1600 called the city Porto-Novo (Newport). Teagmani, son of Pokbon, was king at that time, one of a long line of kings whose heritage is preserved in the Museum of Porto-Novo. Here we can see the richly embroidered royal robes and some of the utensils used at court. The carved doors of the Royal Palace provide a window into the political, social, economic, and cultural life of the kingdom. Its symbols are as applicable today as in King Toffa's day: the snail, to show that the King must guide his people slowly and patiently; the tortoise, symbol of invulnerability, means that while the King lives, no enemy can get on his back; the lizard symbolizes unity, for lizards hide in cracks and if the country is unified, no enemy can hide; the duck symbolizes wisdom, for one who cannot swim should not go into the water and one who is not sure of victory over the enemy should not attack. The Museum and the Palace contain a wealth of testimonials and memories of Benin's glorious past. (15 minutes)
#3085 Kumekucha: Women of Tanzania (Run Time 28 min.) DVD $89.95
Tanzania's women commonly face the problem of raising their children and providing for them as well; just as commonly, they see their men as problems and burdens. In this program, the women speak out: about the difficulties of their lives, the dilemma they face when their only source of income is brewing beer which is bought by men with the money they ought to be giving their wives as support, the feelings of some women that men are useless to them. What emerges is a society in which there seems to be a total absence of romantic love, sex is hardly an issue, and women find their strength in mutual support. (28 minutes)
#3086 The Drop of Milk (Burkina Faso) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This is a fable about an old man and a young boy-the boy has allowed the final drop of milk from the cow he was milking to fall irretrievably to the ground; the old man sends the boy in search of the magical drop of milk. In the course of the story, we see the contrast between the lives of the African child from a land of drought and a European child from a land of rich pastures-and the transcending similarities as well. (26 minutes)
#3087 Zulei (Niger) (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $89.95
Zulei, a 14-year-old Fulani girl about to be married, is the focus of this program, which documents the life of a people whose ancestors were nomads and whose customs and habits have changed very little across millennia. The origins of the Fulani are shrouded in history; the present seems barely brushed by the shadow of the 20th century-or the 19th, or colonialism, or any event at all outside the routine struggle for survival and the joys and fears and sorrows of human existence. (52 minutes)
#3089 To Be a Woman in Burkina Faso (Run Time 14 min.) DVD $89.95
The lot of women in Burkina Faso is not an easy one. Those who work in the fields toil without adequate recompense; with the added work of child care, home care, and cooking, these women have no time at all for themselves. Women in the city are hardly better off; factory work and home management are a double burden-it is unheard-of for a woman here not to care for and beautify her home. Polygamy is accepted, and women appear to consider it a way of sharing the burdens of work. The future, women feel, will be better only when women are better educated, have access to equal job opportunities with men, and have their own reasonable source of income. (14 minutes)
#3090 The Priest and the Nganga (Cameroon) (Run Time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
This program visits the world of the traditional African healer, the nganga. Beyond viruses and bacteria, many believe there are evil spells, and the program shows how ngangas fight the sorcery that is thought to cause illness. The patients include a government official and a schoolteacher; the ngangas, like the patients, are Christians; the filmmaker and narrator is a white Belgian priest. (29 minutes)
#3091 Women of Manga (Niger) (Run Time 12 min.) DVD $89.95
This program is devoted to the women of a warrior tribe whose origin is ancient but unknown and which lives today in eastern Niger. It shows the life of the people, focusing on the traditions according to which the women live, behave, and make themselves beautiful-the complicated painting that constitutes makeup, the even more complicated hairstyles and their meanings, the role of facial scars and jewelry; the same standards of beauty are applied to objects. (12 minutes)
#3092 Dance, Voodoo, Dance (Benin) (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
Among the many ethnic groups of Benin, two in particular stand out as practitioners of the ancient rites of voodoo. This program explains who the voodoo practitioners are as well as the mythical origins of their cult; it also shows the music and dance of these two groups-wild and furious, acrobatic and physically demanding, beautiful and harmonious, rhythmically infectious. (15 minutes)
#3094 Black Man's Burden (Run Time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
This program examines the factors underlying the low economic status of many Africans. It finds that Africans are often caught in a vicious cycle of poverty: farmers cannot grow enough to afford fertilizer, and without fertilizer they cannot increase their crop yield or their income; workers are too poor to afford medicine when they become ill, and without medicine they cannot get better to return to work to make money. As long as the current economic structure is in place, the rich will get richer and the poor will grow poorer. (20 minutes)
#3256 Black Sugar (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
His voice shaking with rage and bitterness, an old man sitting by the West African water's edge tells his grandson how fellow men and women were seized from their daily lives, uprooted from their native soil, herded like cattle into stinking ships, and-deprived of their families, their homes, their very history-sold into slavery to make the New World fertile and prosperous for its owners. (26 minutes)
#3337 Ramohamy's Son (Madagascar) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Ramohamy's wife Bauotuvi and newborn son Zao are the most beloved people in his life. One day, he must choose between the two. The birth of Ramohamy's son brings much joy to the village, but some are envious of his family's happiness. One villager places a curse on Bauotuvi, knowing that her death will disturb the harmony of Ramohamy's family. When the village healer is unable to cure Bauotuvi, Ramohamy risks his life by going to the island of Rumbevasa, god of the just. Rumbevasa will cure Bauotuvi on one condition; Ramohamy must give up his son. Ramohamy reluctantly agrees to give his son to Rumbevasa in order to save his wife. Ultimately, Ramohamy is rewarded for his virtue; Zao is returned to him because he has kept his word. (26 minutes)
#3338 Mellala and the Temptations of the Desert (Algeria) (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
The beautiful Mellala is forced to marry the chief's son, despite her engagement to another man. Her desire for true love leads her away from the comfort of her oasis to the barren landscape of the desert. With the help of her friend Ouj, she crosses the desert in search of Ileeg, the man she loves. Along the way, the two are warned about the temptations of the desert and urged to heed the rules of survival. In a moment of weakness Ouj succumbs to temptation, leaving Mellala to wander the desert alone. As true love would have it, Ileeg discovers Mellala collapsed in the desert and returns with her to rescue Ouj from the forces of temptation. The strength of Ileeg compensates for the weakness of Ouj, allowing the entire group to survive. (26 minutes)
#3717 African Art and Women Artists (Run Time 17 min.) DVD $89.95
This program focuses on the Kenyan Elizabeth Orchardson-Mazrui. Rooted deeply in African soil, her art comments on life, particularly the contradictory and often hypocritical attitudes of African society toward women; her teaching at the university champions the concept that African art is a valid academic discipline, that African art is intrinsically different in being part of life rather than (as in Western art) a separate element. (17 minutes)
#4008 Have You Seen Drum Recently? (Run Time 77 min.) DVD $89.95
This social documentary captures a kaleidoscope of black South African life in the 1950s, showing the impact of South Africa's racial policies in shaping this culture. The program uses the photographic archives of Drum-a vibrant South African literary magazine of the time-as well as archival footage and reminiscences of Drum journalists; it includes a young Nelson Mandela sparring in the boxing ring, Oliver Tambo as a brilliant young lawyer, Trevor Huddleston, Chief Luthuli, and Miriam Makeba, among others. In all, the program shows the hopes and fears, the humor, tragedies, and idiosyncrasies of an era that has uncomfortable parallels with South Africa today. (77 minutes)
#4536 The Nature of Exploration Today: Sir Laurens van der Post (Run Time 28 min.) DVD $89.95
Sir Laurens earned a reputation as one of the most remarkable men of our time for his devotion to the cause of the Kalahari Desert Bushmen. This program, which features his Royal Geographical Society lecture on the nature of exploration today, provides the background to understanding the efforts to find the survivors of the Bushmen and preserve them and their way of life. (28 minutes, b&w)
#4537 Vanishing People (Run Time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
This program draws us into the bittersweet story of the first encounter between the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert and Sir Laurens van der Post. He explains how his grandfather's generation killed off the last of the Bushmen in South Africa and tells the 40,000-year history of the Bushmen who once lived throughout Africa. (31 minutes, b&w)
#4538 First Encounter (Run Time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
We follow Sir Laurens' search for River Bushmen at Victoria Falls, starting in September 1954. After some initial, tantalizing sightings of abandoned Bushmen camps, the expedition experiences difficulties crossing the swamps of the Okovango Delta. They were forced to the conclusion that, even then, very few Bushmen were left. (31 minutes, b&w)
#4539 The Spirit of the Slippery Hills (Run Time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
The next phase of the journey was to lead deep into the desert in search of the Veld Bushmen, the Hunters of the Plains. Serious trouble soon develops after some members of the group break Bushmen rules about hunting in this sacred area. They also catch their first view of magnificent rock paintings, thousands of years old. (31 minutes, b&w)
#4540 Life in the Thirst Land (Run Time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
After traveling 2,000 miles and several months into the desert, the group encounters its first true Bushmen. We meet a small community, including grandmothers, young girls, and strong hunters, and get a fascinating account of their daily activities and their skills in hunting, gathering, and finding water in this arid environment. (31 minutes, b&w)
#4541 The Great Eland (Run Time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Hunting is almost a religion-the key to Bushmen survival-and the hunter is the most important member of the community. Sir Laurens' party and the Bushmen go off in search of a herd of eland and use poisoned spears to catch a prime bull. The program shows the Bushmen performing the very beautiful Eland Dance and the Fire Dance, the most sacred of all Bushmen dances. (30 minutes, b&w)
#4542 Rain Song (Run Time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
The coming of rain brings great joy and many changes to the Bushmen community. They sing the new Rain Song, and the desert bursts into life, teeming with flowers, honeybees, birds, and other desert creatures. One of the young Bushmen, struck with spring fever, declares his love for an unmarried beauty by shooting a tiny "cupid's bow" to secure her heart. The program concludes with the tragically prophetic warning of the demise of the Bushmen society and way of life. (31 minutes, b&w)
#4936 Chinua Achebe (Run Time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Chinua Achebe is president of the town council in his village in Nigeria, a role that brings him more headaches than honors. He's also a storyteller who hears the music of history, weaves the fabric of memory, and sometimes offends the Emperor as well. His first novel, Things Fall Apart, took the world by storm. Achebe disagrees with the notion that literature should be divorced from the politics and economics of its society. In fact, he states, "It is the storyteller...that makes us what we are, that creates history." In his storytelling role, Achebe serves as the collective memory of his society, chronicling the rough transition of African nations such as Nigeria from colonialism to democracy. In this program with Bill Moyers, Chinua Achebe, a man caught between two worlds, discusses his observations and criticisms of both African and Western politics and culture. (30 minutes)
#5099 The Present: Benin's People (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
Osaigbovo and Adesuwa are anxious to get home from school because they are having a birthday party. We observe the preparations-getting dressed, cooking food-and join in the celebration while discovering that life in Benin City today is a mixture of the modern and the traditional, Western and Nigerian. Finally, we listen as the father tells the assembled guests the Benin creation myth, the story of how the earth was born. (15 minutes)
#5100 The Past: Emotan and the Banished Prince (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
The dance drama retells the legend of how Prince Ogun was banished and his brother usurped the throne. With the help of a widow, the loyal Emotan, he manages to regain his rightful throne to rule his people wisely and well. This tale of magic and revenge is firmly based in history. (15 minutes)
#5101 Past and Present: Traders, the City, and Men from Over the Sea (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
There is still a king or Oba of Benin today, and he still dispenses justice to his people. He lives in a very traditional world but has received a British university education. Contrasts like these are commonplace in modern Nigeria: the children shop in the tumult of a traditional market and go to a supermarket to buy plastic toys made in China. Overseas trade is not new to Benin; it was taking place long before the white man arrived. By dramatizing one of the rare accounts by a slave captured as a child, we bring home a small part of the horror that was the slave trade. (15 minutes)
#5102 Crafts and Crafts People (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
Adesuwa, age 10, and Akugbe, age 11, are going to have new party dresses made. They choose a tie-dyed fabric, and we learn how it is made. We also learn how the famous bronzes were cast. They are still being made in the traditional way, although the hand-pumped bellows has been replaced by an automobile battery-powered fan. Today's chief bronze caster narrates the dance drama that explains how the bronze casters became the most important craft guild in Benin. (15 minutes)
#5103 Home to the Village (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $89.95
Most urban Nigerians retain strong ties to their home villages. Many, like the Izevbigie family, return for planting and harvesting-suitcase farming, it's called. This program compares the life of the city-dwelling Izevbigies with that of their country cousins, as well as the games they play. Grandmother tells the story of the treasure at the end of the rainbow. (15 minutes)
#8980 Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Bill Moyers (Run Time 57 min.) DVD $89.95
Renowned as a voice of conscience in apartheid South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu-Nobel laureate and Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)-has spent his life opposing his nation's discriminatory policies. In a powerful interview with prize-winning journalist Bill Moyers, this courageous Anglican prelate discusses his life and work and shares his thoughts on justice, truth, and forgiveness-so timely at the end of a century notorious for genocide and flagrant human rights violations. The Archbishop candidly describes his experiences during three years traveling the country to unflinchingly gather atrocity testimony. Archbishop Tutu and Mr. Moyers also discuss the TRC's international impact as a model and what America in particular can learn from South Africa's attempt at reconciliation. Although expressions of remorse and the granting of forgiveness between perpetrators and victims have not been universal, the Archbishop devoutly hopes that his troubled nation can find closure with its past so that it can pave the way to a brighter future-for everyone. (57 minutes)
#11795 The Hamar and Karo Tribes: The Search for Mingi (Run Time 54 min.) DVD $89.95
Ethiopia's closely allied Hamar and Karo share many practices that help to sustain their traditional lifestyles. This program enters the world of these warrior peoples through their attentiveness toward mingi, or imperfection, and the bullah, a coming-of-age ceremony in which a young man hurdles a group of tethered bulls after a female relative, in a demonstration of respect for him, has invited other male family members to whip her. The role of the village metalworker, whose craft is prized and yet who is required to live apart from Hamar society, is also examined. (54 minutes)
#11796 The Mursi Tribe: The Day of the Donga (Run Time 54 min.) DVD $89.95
Much has changed in modern Ethiopia, but at least one thing remains the same: the Mursi are still among the fiercest warriors in Africa. This program, a study of life among the Mursi, features footage of a donga, a punishing yet graceful stick fighting competition through which young men display their bravery, establish their status, and perhaps even attract a young woman to marry. Mursi mysticism and faith healing are also considered, as well as customs such as the use of large ceramic lip disks by women as symbols of beauty and wealth. (54 minutes)
#11797 The Wodaabe and Tuareg Nomads: Stealing Beauty (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $89.95
Though sometimes in conflict with each other, the Wodaabe and Tuareg have a common enemy in the arid lands of central western Africa they call home. Filmed in part during the height of the dry season, this program offers insights into both of these warrior tribes through two of their major celebrations. For the polygynous Wodaabe it is the worso, a flamboyant courtship festival that frequently ends in the "abduction" of an additional wife. And for the matrilineal Tuareg, it is a festival featuring camel racing and dancing. The vital importance of water to the survival of both peoples is underscored. (53 minutes)
#11798 The Afar Tribe: A Bride's Story (Run Time 54 min.) DVD $89.95
This program provides an introduction to the Afar by recording two major life events: the arranged marriage of a most reluctant bride and the initiation of a nervous would-be warrior. Can Fatuma, daughter of the clan chief, steel herself to marry her first cousin Ali, or will she seek escape-perhaps through suicide? And will Mohammed be able to retain his stoic poise during his ritual circumcision? The Afar belief system, a blend of Islam and ancient traditions that underpins these crucial events, is explored. (54 minutes)
#11799 The Dinka Tribe: Man of the Men (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $89.95
This program profiles the warriors of the White Nile, a tribe that others call Dinka but that calls itself Moinjang: Man of the Men. Wedding negotiations, which involve a bride price usually paid in cattle, are highlighted, along with a traditional high-stakes contest to be the fattest man in the land. The impacts of Sudan's civil war and of a thriving slave trade, intensified by famine and extreme poverty, are also discussed. Can the Dinka devotion to their supreme being, Nialith, and to the many ancestral spirits they honor keep their culture alive? (53 minutes)
#33286 Breaking the Silence: Lifting the Stigma of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia (Run Time 28 min.) DVD $89.95
In Ethiopia, fear of HIV has led to a stigma against those who carry it. This case study spotlights the heroic efforts of individuals and organizations such as Dawn of Hope, the Cheshire Foundation, Mekdim, and Save Your Generation to open a life-saving dialogue about the disease that includes community education on HIV transmission and prevention as well as counseling and care for those in HIV-related need. "This issue is knocking on everybody's door," says Tsegaye, a young man who came out about his infection to open the eyes of his friends to the danger of unprotected sex. "Each of us must do our part." Contains discussions of condom use. (28 minutes)
#34468 Malawi: A Nation Going Hungry (Run Time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Poverty, unstable government, and disadvantages in trade have virtually eliminated food security in Malawi. This program explores the African country's struggles on both a personal and national level, interviewing frustrated civil servants and impoverished citizens, and reflecting widespread despair over WTO policies and the government's inability to subsidize the agriculture of its own people. Highlighting the additional problems of environmental degradation and AIDS, the program offers a moving glimpse into human lives that revolve around one constant challenge: getting something to eat. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)
#35835 Return to the Heart of Darkness (Run Time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
The world largely ignored Rwanda's descent into genocide and civil war. With tensions continuing along the Congo-Rwanda border, will history repeat itself? This ABC News program examines new challenges in central and eastern Africa, reporting on the instability created by Hutu guerillas known as the FDLR. The program also analyzes successes and failures that have occurred as Rwanda tries to heal. Revisiting the shores of Lake Kivu, where vast numbers of refugees died during the violence of the mid-1990s, the program studies the efforts of the International Crisis Group to address vestiges of the tragedy and remove the FDLR-giving the world a second chance to pay attention. (23 minutes)
#36266 Helping the Youngest Victims of AIDS: Spotlight on South Africa (Run Time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
This ABC News program focuses on the good works being done by two remarkable AIDS crusaders who have taken the AIDS pandemic in Africa to heart: singer/songwriter Alicia Keyes and human rights maverick Stephen Lewis. Keyes' position as spokesperson for Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit organization providing life-saving medicines directly to African children and families with HIV/AIDS, is showcased alongside the efforts of Lewis, U.N. Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and creator of a foundation devoted to funding community-based HIV/AIDS-related initiatives. (22 minutes)
#39147 Bill Moyers Journal: November 9, 2007, and December 28, 2007 (Run Time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
"We as a country are actually sacrificing children to an evil God," says historian and death penalty critic Thomas Cahill. In an interview that takes viewers from the Roman Coliseum to death row in Texas, Bill Moyers talks with the author of How the Irish Saved Civilization about capital punishment and its place in American culture. Discussing his most recent project-a book about a young defendant put to death after a questionable trial-Cahill asks us to acknowledge a brutality that lives as much "inside of us" as it does in our legal system. Also on the program: an essay on Pakistan and a look at a past interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Broadcast dates: November 9, 2007, and December 28, 2007. (58 minutes)
#3078 The Bambara Kingdom of Segu (Mali) (Run Time 19 min.) DVD $99.95
The history of the Bambara can be traced at least as far back as the seventh century. In this program, we learn something of their past, and we can imagine more from the extraordinary architecture of their ancient villages, which form a fluid continuum with life in the same region today. A large and flourishing culture, the Bambara lived by collecting enslaved Africans and reselling them to North Africa and the Western Hemisphere; when the slave trade was abolished in Europe, the economic decline of the Bambara followed. As new economic bases were created, a new Bambara civilization emerged, which has retained the artistic vigor of its forebears. (19 minutes)
#3079 Zemi Jan: The Motorcycles of Porto-Novo (Benin) (Run Time 15 min.) DVD $99.95
"Get a move on! Quick!" is the motto of modern Porto-Novo. Forget the stately rhythms of ancient Benin, nowadays everyone is in a hurry: to get to work, to rush a child to the hospital. This program shows us modern Porto-Novo and its motorcycle taxis-as the driver performs the necessary religious rituals to prevent accidents on the road, bargains with fares, and fulfills the roles of small businessman, ambulance driver, psychologist, and sightseeing guide. (15 minutes)
#3081 Baabu Banza: Nothing Goes to Waste (Niger) (Run Time 16 min.) DVD $99.95
What some throw away, others collect and refashion into something with a new utility. What in the industrialized world is recycled is in Niamey, capital of Niger, reinvented. This program shows the amazing industry and inventiveness with which Niamey's garbage dumps are gleaned. We observe among the many resurrected objects here, the amazing uses to which old tires are put. (16 minutes)
#7426 Artist Unknown: The Search for African History (Run Time 50 min.) DVD $99.95
In this documentary, Lonnie James, a young British man of Trinidadian descent, journeys to the ancient African kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria, to discover the origins of a carved mask purchased in London. He uncovers a tale of early African civilization, the looting of treasures and suppression of traditions by colonial powers, and the amazing persistence of an African artistic vision within a colonial culture. His mission becomes a quest to better understand the essence of Africa itself. In an ultimate gesture of reconciliation with his African heritage, James leaves the prized mask in the place where it was created. A BBCW Production. (50 minutes)
#6135 Healers of Ghana (Run Time 58 min.) DVD $129.95
This program explores the traditional medical practices of the Bono people of central Ghana and how their healers are cooperating with Western doctors, using herbs and spiritualism to improve health-care delivery in rural areas. Traditionally, Bono tribal priests undergo a painful spiritual possession, during which deities reveal to them the causes of illnesses, which plants to use to treat them, who is perpetrating witchcraft, and which villagers might be endangering society through improper behavior. The program features vibrant dance and possession ceremonies, set against the backdrop of the Bono villages, which are awash with color. (58 minutes)
#6136 Sorcerers of Zaire (Run Time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
For the rural Chokwe tribe of southwestern Zaire, hardship and starvation are a way of life. The mood in their villages is one of austerity and mystery. To assure that their modest food supply is distributed fairly, the Chokwe use a complex system of reprisals in which sorcerers are hired to resurrect ancestral ghosts to haunt those who hoard goods, causing them illness and death. This program, from the award-winning producers of Healers of Ghana, focuses on four patients and two healers, following them through their traditional medical treatments. The program also observes the rigorous initiation ritual in which masked dancers help prepare boys for manhood. (51 minutes)
#9324 Child Brides (Run Time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
Traditions, sanctioned by time and often necessitated by poverty, are very difficult to overcome. In many parts of Africa, Asia, and South America, young girls are often engaged by the age of eight, and leave their homes to join their husbands by twelve. And in many cases, the younger the girl, the more her family receives in the form of a dowry. This program travels to the most rural and poverty-stricken regions of Ethiopia to expose the common practice of child brides and the consequences for the young girls who often give birth before they are out of childhood. (51 minutes)
#31061 Somalia: An American in Mogadishu (Run Time 33 min.) DVD $129.95
In 1993, Mohammed Aideed's militia triumphantly paraded U.S. corpses through the streets of Mogadishu. In stunning irony, Mohammed's son, Hussein, though not a representative of Somalia's official government, now offers the U.S. strategic bases. This program presents a candid interview with Somalia's de facto leader, a warlord with unusual credentials: American citizen, former Marine, and member of the Republican Party. A succinct overview of the country's political situation since UN intervention in the early 1990s is crosscut with Aideed's remarks. (33 minutes)
#33910 Left Behind: Kenyan AIDS Orphans (Run Time 36 min.) DVD $129.95
This award-winning program takes an unflinching look at the lives of Kenya's chokoras, children orphaned by AIDS. It features emotionally charged visits to a disease-ravaged Nairobi slum, starkly illustrating the link between poverty, prostitution, and the tragically high level of sexual activity and ignorance among Kenya's street kids. Eschewing any pretense of offering solutions, the program nevertheless holds up the Nimbani orphanage-an American-funded refuge in an area with no other support system for either homeless children or people with AIDS-as an example of constructive activism. (36 minutes)
#35375 Sudan in Crisis (Run Time 22 min.) DVD $129.95
The hostilities ripping apart the Sudanese region of Darfur have created a humanitarian crisis which the international community is only beginning to address. This ABC News program serves as a starting point for analyzing the situation, shedding light on how the conflict spiraled out of control and led to the deaths of thousands and the displacement of far more. Focusing on the efforts of relief organizations to shelter, feed, and care for a tidal wave of refugees-and the political, logistical, and geographic obstacles that have made such efforts nearly impossible-the video assesses the accuracy of the term "genocide" in describing the conflict's ethnically driven atrocities. (22 minutes)
#35377 Refugees in Africa: Another Quiet Emergency (Run Time 22 min.) DVD $129.95
The day-to-day struggle for dignity and survival that goes on in refugee camps remains invisible to most of the world. In this ABC News program, actor Don Cheadle travels to Uganda to focus media attention on the plight of innocent people-especially children-displaced and endangered by war. Cheadle visits a rehabilitation center for boys and girls kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army, the militia that has battled the Ugandan government for 20 years, and sheds light on the rebels' practice of enslavement and forced prostitution. A camp for "night commuters," or young people who sleep away from their homes to avoid capture, further emphasizes Africa's crisis. (22 minutes)
#35896 Africa: Who Is to Blame? (Run Time 61 min.) DVD $129.95
Corporate greed and vestigial colonialism are Africa's worst enemies-or is homegrown leadership responsible for the continent's troubles? This program explores that dichotomous question from the vantage point of former Ghanaian president Jerry Rawlings and Kenyan law student June Arunga, who undertake a voyage of discovery through Ghana, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Visiting a struggling fishing village, a tribal hunting ground, an AIDS treatment center, an African-owned gold mine, and an eerily preserved site of genocidal slaughter, the program eloquently documents Rawlings' and Arunga's interaction with the socioeconomic dilemmas and everyday realities of African life. A BBCW Production. (60 minutes)
#36129 Journeys into Islamic Africa (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $129.95
Geographically, Muslim countries cover approximately 50 percent of Africa. This program travels around the continent to inquire into Islamic history and the Muslim way of life, making stops in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zanzibar, South Africa, Senegal, Algeria, Sudan, and many other destinations. The experiences of two particular groups-those sent by Muhammad himself to Ethiopia, during the Muslim-Quraish War, and slaves and prisoners of the Dutch who were forcibly relocated to South Africa-are given special attention. (52 minutes)
#36136 Road to Riches: Black Empowerment in Today's South Africa (Run Time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
In post-apartheid South Africa, whites earn an average of $6,300 each year, while blacks bring home just $950. Some black citizens believe they were financially better off during apartheid. This Wide Angle documentary examines economic empowerment programs designed to help transfer more of the nation's wealth and opportunity to its black majority. Focusing on Uthingo, the consortium of black-empowerment companies that manages the national lottery, the program shows how the group has created thousands of new jobs for black South Africans-while broad social change, including black ownership and participation in other industries, is slow in coming. In addition, Susan Rice discusses black economic empowerment with anchor Mishal Husain. (57 minutes)
#36148 Border Jumpers: A Better Life in Botswana? (Run Time 58 min.) DVD $129.95
Botswana's electric border fence was erected to keep out diseased livestock from neighboring Zimbabwe. It has also proved remarkably effective at stemming the influx of illegal immigrants fleeing economic collapse and political repression. This Wide Angle report examines this frontier flashpoint, profiling both a cattle farmer who strongly supports the fence and illegal immigrants determined to breach it. An interview between Bill Moyers and George Ayittey, Distinguished Economist in Residence at American University, Washington, D.C., rounds out the program. (57 minutes)
#36196 Africa's East Coast (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $129.95
Beginning at Port Said, Egypt-a busy gateway from the Middle East into Africa-this program explores the many national and cultural identities found along the eastern face of the continent. Journeying down the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea, and into the Indian Ocean, the program documents apparently healthy relations between Sunni Muslims and Orthodox Christians in Massawa, Eritrea; khat distribution and addiction in the Republic of Djibouti; the ins and outs of the booming tea industry in Mombasa, Kenya; and day-to-day survival on the streets of Durban, South Africa-which some see as the New York of the continent, a city where dreams come to flourish or die. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (53 minutes)
#36197 Africa's West Coast (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $129.95
The Cape of Good Hope-and a stop in thriving Cape Town, South Africa-begins this eye-opening fact-finding voyage up the western edge of the continent. Presenting information and perspectives on a wide range of cultural and economic landscapes, the program explores the history and aftermath of civil war in Luanda, Angola; bustling street life, including an enterprising witch doctor, in Douala, Cameroon; voodoo fetish and secondhand car trafficking in Cotonou, Benin; the specter of the slave trade at Goree Island in Dakar, Senegal; and the split cultural identity of Tangiers, Morocco-a city as European as it is North African. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (53 minutes)
#36459 The Cotton Wars (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $129.95
For centuries, cotton has influenced the relationship between America and Africa. It drove the slave trade, and today it epitomizes the uneven playing field created by farming subsidies. This program examines the lopsided nature of the global cotton industry-in which U.S. and European producers enjoy massive government support while independent African farmers struggle to remain competitive. Going deep inside the agricultural, bureaucratic, and diplomatic networks that control the cotton trade on both sides of the Atlantic, the program also looks at the growing influence of Chinese producers-another factor working against Africa. (53 minutes)
#36475 Democracy in the Rough: Long-Awaited Congolese Elections (Run Time 58 min.) DVD $129.95
Wide Angle is on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the country holds its first elections in 46 years. The stakes are high for the Congo-a nation rich in timber, diamonds, and other raw materials, yet reeling from decades of dictatorship and civil war. Can it implement democratic institutions and prosper? This program follows a former school principal running for parliament who sees her Christian faith as the best means for improving living conditions. Further insight into the relationship between democracy and poverty comes from ordinary Congolese citizens, such as a would-be accountant who earns less than a dollar per day sifting through a muddy river bed for diamonds. Presenting a diversity of voices in a country rarely seen on U.S. television, this program immerses viewers in a nation struggling, via embryonic democracy, toward a better future. In addition, anchor Daljit Dhaliwal discusses the significance of the Congolese elections with the former president of the TransAfrica Forum, Bill Fletcher, Jr. (57 minutes)
#39093 Crisis in Darfur (Run Time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
Precious time has been spent on protracted debate over the term "genocide." Meanwhile, regardless of what politicians and activists choose to call it, a colossal tragedy has torn Darfur apart. In March of 2006, NBC's Ann Curry traveled to the border between Chad and Sudan to cover the conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Curry tells the stories of people caught up in the violence: a mother, an orphan, an aid worker, and others who have been largely forgotten as Arab-on-Christian and sometimes Arab-on-Arab killing continues. Curry also talks to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof about Darfur's future and what can be done to shape it. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (30 minutes)
#36239 Road Trip to Kenya: A Path Toward Global Understanding (Run Time min.) DVD $139.90
Enthusiastic young adults serve as on-screen guides in this two-part series, which travels to Kenya to study compelling issues in culture and ecology. The series takes an investigative approach, revealing Kenya's many strengths, challenges, contrasts, and opportunities. Visiting different parts of the country and hearing commentary from a wide range of experts, viewers will gain a clear picture of Kenya's cultural diversity, education system, landscape, and natural resources-while learning about its relationship to the global community. Viewable/printable instructor's guides are available online. 2-part series, 24 and 18 minutes.
#3064 Goree: Door of No Return (Run Time 30 min.) DVD $149.95
Goree Island is where the slave ships anchored, cramming their holds with Africans to be shipped across the Atlantic to work the fields and tend their "owners" throughout the Western Hemisphere; Goree Island is where the enslaved Africans were held until the ships were ready to receive them. This documentary tells the history of the slave trade: the arrival of the first Europeans, the origins of slavery in the Americas, the development of Goree as a center of the expanding slave trade, the wealthy merchant women who controlled the slave trade on the island. Today, the island is a monument to an ignoble past. The program visits the colonial buildings, the homes of the slave traders still standing, the trading warehouse called the House of Slaves, and the infamous Door of No Return, the door through which most of America's enslaved people passed on their way to the New World. (30 minutes)
#3083 Mbira Music: The Spirit of Zimbabwe (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
This program presents the music of Zimbabwe, often associated with the sound of the mbira-a traditional instrument resembling a small, hand-held xylophone. In this stirring program, we hear traditional folk songs, songs used to send secret messages during the country's long war for independence, and chants sung by today's farmers to celebrate the nation's goals. A renowned pop musician explains why he has returned to his African musical roots, and illustrates how he incorporates the sound of the mbira into his music. Film footage depicting historical events is interwoven throughout the program. (52 minutes)
#3340 Portrait of an African Artist: Elimo Njau the Antelope-Man (Run Time 21 min.) DVD $149.95
The African views life itself as a proverb whose meaning lies in an unraveling of its symbols. This portrait of East Africa's best-known artist begins, like all African folktales, with animals, and proceeds through a series of adages-It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times. If you discipline your child, you must not stop her from crying. If you don't know where you are going, any road will lead you there-to illustrate Elimo Njau's role as an artist in enabling Africans to return to their ancestral culture. (21 minutes)
#3341 Zimbabwe: Talking Stones (Run Time 58 min.) DVD $149.95
Here is the incredible story of the most powerful stable of artists since the Renaissance, working in stone in the hills of Zimbabwe. Given a place to exhibit, dissuaded from producing "airport" art and encouraged instead to speak to their ancestors, kept at a distance from the commercializers and Coca Colarizers of art, members of the Shona tribe and itinerant workers from every part of southern Africa have taken to stone sculpture as naturally as to traditional rhythms. The result has been an extraordinary outpouring of tribal spirits liberated from the stone in which they dwelt, a safeguarding of African history in a profusion of world-class masterpieces that rival and often exceed the best yet seen of art from Africa. (58 minutes)
#3718 Street Children of Africa (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
Children without homes and without any means of support other than what they can scrounge for themselves are a worldwide phenomenon. This program looks at how they live in West Africa: Mamadou the runaway, Malik the gang leader, Suleiman the shoeshine boy who was driven to the city by the drought that befell his village, Modu the child-beggar, exploited by a Koranic teacher in the name of God. Touching, shocking, this program is above all fascinating for the comparisons it invites between the African children and their American counterparts when it comes to fears and dreams, to familial ties and the sense of "home." (52 minutes)
#4007 The Seven Ages of Music (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
This program traces the development of African music, particularly South African music, from early tribal songs to the modern pop sounds of groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Hugh Masekela. The program covers seven phases of development which mirror the history of an entire people. The relationship between African music and American jazz is also covered. The program includes performances by traditional tribal singers and dancers as well as modern pop and jazz performers. (52 minutes)
#5340 Mandela: From Prison to President (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
This moving and intimate portrait of Nelson Mandela shows us the man-truly a hero of our times-within the context of the times and the problems they present. After 27 years in prison and a life dedicated to the liberation of black South Africans, Mandela became President. What toll has this unswerving devotion and cruel imprisonment taken on Mandela the man? Through the testimony of his most intimate friends and family, a very personal picture emerges: his estranged wife Winnie recalls their courtship, her visits to Mandela in prison, the joy of his release, the anguish of their failed marriage, her longing for reconciliation; his daughter Zinzi, who first met her father when she was 13, describes her continuing bitterness at how apartheid destroyed her family; Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives a powerful and lucid assessment of Mandela; friends and colleagues reveal the human being behind what has become the Mandela myth. The program also confronts head-on the momentous questions that must be answered: how to end the violence that is still part of daily life; what the future will be of the white business community; whether he can persuade the white right-wing to lay down its arms; and whether he can appease and control the radical youth of the townships. Mandela and South Africa have come a long way, but the journey is far from over. (52 minutes)
#5806 Guardian of Africa: The Tsetse Fly (Run Time 45 min.) DVD $149.95
The tsetse fly, lethal both to humans and to cattle, is the gatekeeper to the lush woodlands of Kenya: inside are the indigenous wildlife, immune to the fly's bite; outside are the livestock of the local cattle herders, dying to get in. This program examines the standoff between the cattle business and the Kenyan government, which refuses to exterminate the tsetse fly, the de facto protector of the country's remaining wild animals. Faced with starvation on the parched plains of the southern Rift Valley or infection by the deadly flies in the verdant forests, how much longer can the cattle-and their owners-survive? (45 minutes)
#9050 Chinua Achebe: Africa's Voice (Run Time 61 min.) DVD $149.95
Things Fall Apart has been translated into 50 languages, has sold over 8 million copies, and is considered one of the 20th century's literary masterpieces. This program analyzes the impact Chinua Achebe and his writings have had on world literature, as well as his influence as an editor and a spokesman for a generation of African writers. Dr. Achebe, noted professors Abiola Irele and Gerald Graff, and Charles Larson, editor of the anthology Under African Skies, discuss the characterization, social implications, and levels of interpretation of Things Fall Apart. Vital concepts indigenous to the Ibos of southeastern Nigeria such as oral culture, reincarnation, and negotiation-concepts essential to a deep understanding of the novel-are also presented. This program is an indispensable supplement to Achebe's best-known novel that elucidates Nigerian history and culture and the impact of colonialism. (61 minutes)
#10091 Chinua Achebe: African Literature as Celebration (Run Time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
"Writers don't give prescriptions, they give headaches." Uncompromising yet nonpartisan in his views on politics and writing, Chinua Achebe-author, editor, and literary critic-ceaselessly explores the collision of European and indigenous African cultures. In this classic lecture, the well-known ambassador of African literature delivers a thought-provoking introduction to the world-class writing that has come forth from Nigeria and other African countries during the latter half of the 20th century. (52 minutes)
#10435 Sudan: Black Kingdoms of the Nile (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
A major gateway to sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan has seen the rise and fall of many powerful kingdoms and refined cultures-and the key to understanding these ancient civilizations lies in the multitude of archaeological treasures that dot the landscape and that are still buried beneath the sands. This program follows the trail of the young French naturalist and pioneer Frederic Cailliaud, whose account of his journey to Merowe in 1820 first sparked interest in Sudan. Excavations and artifacts provide insights into the way of life, beliefs, and accomplishments of the peoples who inhabited the region from Neolithic times onward. (53 minutes)
#11553 Last Chance for Peace in Sierra Leone (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This compelling program documents the daring efforts of the Interreligious Council of Sierra Leone to press for peace and reconciliation in a country devastated by civil war. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, president of Sierra Leone; William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International, U.S.A.; Diana Eck, of Harvard Divinity School; and others offer their views on topics including atrocities committed against civilians, the questionable Lome Peace Accord, and the power of religion to affect politics. Sierra Leonean history provides a larger context for the program, while news footage and interviews with those directly affected bring home the reality of the civil war and its turbulent aftermath. (53 minutes)
#29500 Africa: In Defiance of Democracy (Run Time 56 min.) DVD $149.95
Throughout Africa, democracy has long been touted as the cure for the continent's ongoing unrest. But can such a form of government flourish in countries where extreme poverty is the norm and violence is the chief tool of statecraft? Spanning the continent from Libya to South Africa, this program seeks to understand Africa's complex political situations, addressing the "Big Man" syndrome and the one-party state, the destabilizing effects of armed conflict, the mismanagement of industry and natural resources, and strained relations with the industrialized world. (56 minutes)
#31150 Thapelo: A Prayer for Africa (Run Time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
In post-apartheid South Africa, one in two children die of AIDS, one in two women are raped, and 20,000 homicides occur annually-the world's highest murder rate. Against these appalling statistics and a disintegrating social fabric, this program presents examples of South Africa's greatest hope, the spirit of its people, such as Garra, who feeds 400 children a day out of her tiny apartment's kitchen; Kate and Busi, both rape victims and HIV-positive, who counsel other survivors; and a soccer team of AIDS educators who take their safe-sex message on the road. (53 minutes)
#37560 Africa: War is Business (Run Time 54 min.) DVD $149.95
The world is slowly awakening to a disturbing reality-that the diamond trade is a major source of financing for warfare and brutality in Africa. But diamonds are only one natural resource among many that feed bloody conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Congo, and other countries. This program explores the role of international business interests in fomenting rebellion and arming renegade military forces across the African continent-often as a means of obscuring other, equally nefarious, dealings and activities. Several experts and key players are interviewed, including Daniel Chea Sr., Liberia's Minister of National Defense; Zainab Bangura, director of Sierra Leone's National Accountabiliy Group; Kassim Basma, a diamond exporter; and Major General Patrick Cammaert, UN Division Commander, Eastern Congo. (54 minutes)
#37638 Islamic Art: Africa and Central Asia (Run Time 45 min.) DVD $149.95
Continuing his trek across the Muslim world, art scholar Waldemar Januszczak introduces viewers to masterworks in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia-from the gigantic and surreal mud mosques of Mali; to a rare, 10th-century Egyptian ewer carved out of a single piece of rock crystal; to the inspired urban planning of the ancient city of Isfahan in Iran; to the stunning architecture of Uzbekistan's Samarquand. Januszczak shares his knowledge of the Sunni-Shiite schism and its artistic implications, the Fatimid influence evident in Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque, and the vast debt which Gothic architecture owes to the arches and filigrees of medieval Islamic building design. (45 minutes)
#39449 Dying in Africa: Perspectives on the End of Life in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, and South Africa (Run Time min.) DVD $149.95
In Africa-where infant mortality is sky-high, tens of millions have AIDS, and life expectancies can be as meager as 39 years-death is an all-too-frequent presence. This program presents sub-Saharan perspectives on the end of life: lavish Ghanaian funerals involving caskets shaped into whatever is most emblematic of the deceased; funeral rites of the Dogon, in Mali, where alcohol fermentation is attributed to the powers of the departed; the views of the Fulani of the Sahel, who do not believe in life after death; and the roles of the griot's tam-tam drum and fire kindled by a blacksmith's wife in the funeral rites of rural Burkina Faso. In addition, the good works of Sparrow Rainbow Village, in South Africa-the only residential facility in Africa established to meet the needs of terminally ill AIDS patients-are documented. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 50 minutes)
#39450 Miraculous Water: The Effects of Scarcity and Abundance in Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Mali (Run Time min.) DVD $149.95
In sub-Saharan Africa, water is the focus of daily life. This program seeks to understand its centrality by investigating the situation at Lake Ganvie, Benin, an "African Venice" where survival is threatened by environmental changes, improper sanitation, and water-related illnesses; a perceived correlation among Dogon elders between their people's shift away from the worship of Nommo and an increase in drought conditions; the scarcity of and limited access to water in Ethiopia near the Sahel; annual mud-fishing in Mali, as malnourished locals, desperate to fill their stomachs, gather unhealthy fish in the sure knowledge that eating them will make them ill; and the worship of Mami Wata on the banks of the Volta River and the annual fetatotro, a turning-of-the-year festival. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 53 minutes)
#39452 Will You Marry Me?" Marriage Customs in Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, and Senegal" (Run Time min.) DVD $149.95
Even today, the majority of African women in both city and country still aspire to get a good husband and have many children. This program sheds light on the pros and cons of marriage customs in sub-Saharan Africa as it relates the story of an Ethiopian woman who fled her home in Harar as a teen to avoid an arranged marriage to an uncle; two happily wedded women of Mali who are wives in a polygamous marriage; the nomadic Wodaabe of Niger, a culture in which a man may have many wives, but among whom it is the bride-to-be who chooses the husband-to-be; and a Senegalese woman competing to become Miss Yongama, a contest of beauty and style-and a proven shortcut to finding a husband. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 49 minutes)
#39455 Sex in Africa: Perspectives on Sex-Related Concerns in Ethiopia, Mali, and South Africa (Run Time min.) DVD $149.95
In Africa, views on sex vary widely from conservative to liberal and from traditional to progressive. Topics covered in this program include gay rights, protected under the law only in post-apartheid South Africa; the practices of female genital excision and "dry sexual intercourse"-each described in detail-as they relate to severe female health issues and the violation of a woman's right to her own body; the practice of "dry sex" as it relates to the spread of HIV; and female prostitution as a means of subsistence-and, if a prostitute is fortunate enough to hook up with a wealthy foreigner, a chance for her and her family to escape poverty. Contains explicit language. Some content may be objectionable. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 49 minutes)
#8798 Facing the Truth with Bill Moyers (Run Time 120 min.) DVD $159.95
The years 1960 through 1994 were a time of terror in South Africa. With the destruction of the yoke of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has had to come to terms with its oppressive past: recrimination and punishment, or forgiveness? This compelling program describes the efforts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate human rights violations, to heal the country, and to help South Africa in its process of reinvention. Prize-winning journalist Bill Moyers and producer-director Gail Pellett speak with apartheid victims to hear their stories firsthand. Additional interviews with Nobel laureate and TRC architect Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former officers of state security, counterterrorists, and journalists-combined with footage of some of the most dramatic confrontations that occurred during the TRC hearings-round out this powerful documentary. As the U.S. wrestles with its own heritage of discrimination and injustice, the TRC's process offers insights into how America might improve its own future through reconciliation and forgiveness. (2 hours)
#36195 Shores of Africa (Run Time min.) DVD $259.90
Many Westerners have difficulty understanding the multifaceted challenges facing Africa today. This two-part series provides an economic, political, and cultural portrait of African life, focusing on the countries located along the eastern and western shores of the continent. Each program analyzes the dynamics of trade, language, religion, geography, and history that have given Africa its present-and evolving-shape. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. Not available in French-speaking Canada. 2-part series, 53 minutes each.
#5092 Geographical Eye Over Africa (Run Time min.) DVD $349.75
This series scrutinizes the vast and varied continent of sub-Saharan Africa-its physical geography, climate, and economics, which are shown through the lives of its people. The involvement of individuals and families concretizes theoretical concepts and, at the same time, breaks down some of the stereotypical images of Africa and Africans. 5-part series, 20 minutes each.
#5098 Benin: An African Kingdom (Run Time min.) DVD $449.75
The Benin Empire, which reached its height in the 16th and 17th centuries, was one of the kingdoms in the forest belt of West Africa in what is now Nigeria. Much of the old kingdom survives today: the Oba still lives in his palace performing many of the traditional ceremonies; the Benin bronzes are renowned for their beauty, as well as their historical significance, and the traditional methods of casting are still used today; oral tradition has kept the history of Benin alive to this day. This series uses modern documentary material, archival film, dance, drama, and storytelling to bring alive the history, culture, and contemporary life of one of the great cultures of West Africa-an area of particular significance for those of African or West Indian background. 5-part series, 15 minutes each.
#11794 The Last Warriors: Seven African Tribes on the Verge of Extinction (Run Time min.) DVD $449.75
Filmed over a four-year period, this visually stunning five-part series intimately captures weddings, funerals, rites of passage, and celebrations among seven of Africa's fierce yet spiritual warrior tribes. Sharing a proud and violent past and an uncertain future, do the men and women depicted in these programs represent the final heirs of their ancient ways of life? 5-part series, 53-54 minutes each.
#3114 The Lost World of the Kalahari (Run Time min.) DVD $629.65
This epic series records the efforts of a group of remarkable white men to conserve and protect a vanishing population of Bushmen and their environment-and shows us as well the human beings who are the objects of this anthropological study. One of the most highly-acclaimed documentary TV series of the 1950s, the programs are now available again at long last, with Sir Laurens van der Post's lecture on the nature of exploration today as the introductory program. 7-part series, 28-31 minutes each.
