African-American Studies Collections

Filmography

---

This filmography lists those film and video documentary, instructional, and feature titles on and about Africa and African-Americans available at UNC in House Undergraduate Library's Media Resources Center. African-American in this filmography denotes both North and South Americans of African heritage and those of the Caribbean Basin as well. It includes subject headings in the Nonprint subject index that contain titles applicable to the study of African and African-American Studies. A selected bibliography of printed reference, monographic and articles on these areas is also listed at the beginning of the filmography.

Critical opinions expressed are those of the editor of the filmography. Users are urged to use other sources for other opinions and more detailed information such as the selected bibliography below [the bibliography is only of film literature sources]. Text in quotes (". . .") are from other sources.

Selected Bibliography [Items in italics are journal sources. Monographic titles are in bold italics. Sources chosen are available at UNC Academic Affairs Libraries.]

• "African Cinema" by Kenneth W. Harrow in Research in African Literatures [Fall 1996 v27 n3 p 173 (5).
• "African Cinema in Crisis, The" by Gaston Kabore in UNESCO COURIER [July-August 1995 p 70 (4).
• African, cinema: politics & culture, Manthia Diawara.
• "African-American images on television and film" by Herb Boyd in The Crisis [Feb-March 1996 v 103 n2 p 22 (3).
• "Black African Cinema" by Charlene Regester in Film Quarterly [Winter 1995 v49 n2 p 55 (2).
• Black African Cinema, by Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike
• "Black south in contemporary film, The" by Jacquie Jones in African American Review [Spring 1993 v27 n1 p 19 (6)]
• Blackface: Reflections on African-Americans and the movies, by George Nelson.
• Blackface: reflections on African-Americans in the movies by Nelson George
• Blacks in American Films and Television, by Donald Bogle [PN1995.9.N4/B58 1988].
• Blacks in Black and White, by Henry T. Sampson [PN1995.9.N4/S2].
• Cinemas of the Black Diaspora: diversity, dependence and oppositionality, edited by Michael T. Martin.
• Directory of African film-makers and films, compiled and edited by Keith Shiri.
• Facets African-American Video Guide [PN1995.9.N4/O44 1994]
• Film as an index to folklore: Sweet Sweetback's Badasss song, Shaft, Superfly as extensions of the toast tradition by Precious Stone.
• Framing Blackness: the African-American image in film by Ed Guerrero.
• From Sambo to Superspade: the Black experience in motion pictures by Daniel Leab.
• "Political Economy of black film" by Jesse Algeron Rhines in Cineaste [Summer 1995 v21 n3 p 38 (2).
• Same River Twice: Honoring the difficult: a meditation on life, spirit, art, and the making of the film The Color Purple [The] by Alice Walker.
• Slavery & race in Americana popular culture by William L. Van Deburg
• "Tragically hip: Hollywood and African-American cinema" by Dennis Greene in Cineaste [Oct 1994 v20 n4 p 28 (2).
• Twenty-five Black African filmmakers: a critical study, by Francoise Pfaff.
• White screens, black images: Hollywood from the dark side by James Snead, edited by Colin MacCabe and Cornel West.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

---

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH: FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM.
1996. 86 minutes.
Documentary. Biographical Study. Randolph, A. Philip -- 1889-1979. Civil Rights Movement. Labor Movement. Labor Unions. Directed by Dante J. James.

"Today most Americans don't realize that the man who led the 1963 March on Washington wasn't Martin Luther King, Jr. but a 74 year old African American labor leader. A Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom begins to restore a brilliant civil rights activist to his place as a key figure in 20th century American history. Born in 1889 in the Jim Crow South, Randolph moved North and became a prominent radical journalist. He was approached by the Pullman porters and helped them organize the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. After a bitter 12 year battle Randolph won the first national labor agreement for a black union. Randolph always stressed that civil rights needed to be backed up by economic rights. As the nation mobilized for World War II, Randolph's threat of an embarrassing protest march on Washington forced President Roosevelt to ban segregation in the federal government and defense industries. After the war, Randolph again called for resistance to the first peace-time draft unless the military were desegregated. President Truman was outraged but in 1948 signed the ground breaking executive order integrating the military. Finally, with the 1963 March on Washington, Randolph succeeded in placing civil rights at the forefront of the nation's moral and legislative agenda."
Notes: Narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Among those interviewed: William Harris [Historian], John H. Bracey [Historian], Nelson Lichtenstein [Historian], Maida Springer [Harlem Resident], John Hope Franklin [Historian], Leroy Shackleford [Former Pullman Porter], C. L. Dellums [Pullman Porter], D. D. Nixon [Pullman Porter], Timuel D. Black [Negro American Labor Council], Rachelle Horowitz [Assistant to Bayard Rustin], James Farmer [CORE], Arnold Aronson [Leadership Conference on Civil Rights]. Produced by Dante J. James. Edited by Catherine Shields. Written by Juan Williams and Dante J. James. Music composed by Patrice Rushen. Photographed by Michael Chin.


AFRICA.
1984. 57 minutes. (Each of 8 programs). (V3086).
Africa -- History and Culture.

The programs included: Different But Equal. "For over four centuries Africa was ravished by the slave trade. This has permanently distorted our view of the continent and its people. Basil Davidson goes back to Africa's origins to show that, far from having no great art or technology, Africa gave rise to some of the world's greatest early civilizations." Directed by Ralling. Mastering a Continent. "Looking closely at three different communities, Basil Davidson examines the way African peoples carve out an existence in an often hostile environment. A group of Pokot cattle herders in Kenya tell how they use the natural environment to their advantage. Two very different farming villages show how, in Africa, spiritual development goes hand in hand with technological advance." Directed by Percival. Caravans of Gold. "Basil Davidson traces the routes of the medieval gold trade, which reached from African to India and China in the east, and westward to the city states of Italy. African ruler's grew rich and powerful -- the King of Ghana was described by an Arab traveler in AD 951 as the wealthiest of all kings on earth. It was the coming of the Portuguese in 1498 which heralded the end of the great African trade." Directed by Csaky. Kings and Cities. "To explore the ways in which the African kingdoms functioned, Davidson visits Kano in Nigeria, where a king still holds court in his 15th century palace, presiding with his council over ancient rituals which continue to command the respect of the people." Directed by Percival. The Bible and The Gun. "The slave trade in Africa decimated the population and rent apart the fabric of society. After the slave traders came new kinds of interlopers; first, the explorers, among them Stanley and Livingston; and then the missionaries. Next came those interested not in souls but in wealth--gold and diamonds--men like Cecil Rhodes, who envisioned an empire stretching from "Cape to Cairo." This Magnificent African Cake. "The 1880's saw the beginning of a 30-year "scramble for Africa," when dramatically changed the face of the continent. All of Africa, except for Liberia and Ethiopia, became subject to colonial rule, a condition unchanged until the outbreak of the Second World War." The Rise of Nationalism. "Here the major struggles for African independence--in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, the Belgian Congo-- are all charted. Basil Davidson looks closely at the situation in Guinea Bissau and talks to the military leader in Mozambique. He also focuses on the final collapse of the white minority in Zimbabwe and then turns to South Africa to question how long this final bastion of white rule can survive." The Legacy. "Basil Davidson looks at Africa in the aftermath of colonial rule, as the continent seeks ways to come to terms with its diverse inheritance. Interview with statesmen, including Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Shagari in Nigeria and Senghor in Senegal, illuminate the problems and successes of Africa today."
Notes: Written and presented by Basil Davidson. Directed by John Percival, Christopher Ralling, Andrew Harries and Mike Csaky. Photographed by Ivan Strasburg, with added work by Dick Pope, Bruce Parsons and others. Director of music, Tim Souster. Series theme music by Julian Bahala.


THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA I see WITHIN OUR GATES


THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA II see SCAR OF SHAME


AFRICAN RELIGIONS: ZULU ZION.
1977. 52 minutes.
Documentary. Religious Studies. Religion in Africa.

"Christian missionaries taking the Gospel to Africa tried to suppress the native religions, but in the past twenty years, Africans have been rediscovering their lost religious identity. This program explores the Zulu Independent Churches in South Africa."
Notes: Among those interviewed included Zion Faith member Grace Shabalala. Peter Uinkize, Lutheran and bank executive.


AFRICAN WILDLIFE.
1980. 60 minutes.
Documentary. Nature Studies. African Wildlife. A National Geographic special segment.

An interesting look at animal life and death on the grounds of Namibia's Etosha National Park.
Notes: Produced and photographed by David and Carol Hughes. Narrated by Alexander Scourby. Written by Nicolas Noxon. Edited by Chris Fraer and Barry Nye. Music by Mike Trim and Helen Hurden.


AFRIQUE, JE TE PLUMERAI.
1992. 88 minutes. In French with English subtitles.
Documentary. Nationalism, the Cameroons. Cameroonian Culture and Politics. Cameroon. Directed by Jean-Marie Teno.

A film that looks at the cultural dependency of the Cameroonian Republic on France. The fact that nearly all books published in the country are first, in French, and more importantly, produced and imported from France and also practically mandatory in the schools of the country is analyzed and spoofed in detail. A fascinating cultural study by Cameroonian filmmakers. With: Narcisse Kouokam, Marie Claire Dati, Essindi Mindja, Aboubakar, and Ange Geutoum.
Notes: Written, produced and narrated by Jean-Marie Teno. Photographed by Robert Dianoux and Louis-Paul Ntsa. Music by Ray Lema and Aboubakar [Les Vibration's].


AFRO-AMERICAN WORK SONGS IN TEXAS PRISONS (On 16mm Only).


AFTER THE HUNGER AND THE DROUGHT.
1988. 54 minutes. (V2117).

A documentary that looks into the role of the major writers of Zimbabwe in the development of their nation -- under white rule -- and as independent and black. "The work of Zimbabwean film maker Ollie Maruma's thoughtful documentary asks leading writers and critics how they are helping construct a new Zimbabwean identity. The work of writers who went into exiles such as Stanlake Sankage and Wilson Katiyo was deeply influenced by their experience of alienation in the West. Those like Charles Mungoshi and Solomon Musvairo who remained in white-ruled Rhodesia had to rely on allegory to evade government censorship. Today these writers debate whether traditionalism is a source of liberation or reaction..."
Notes: Produced and directed by Olley Marima.


AGAINST THE ODDS: THE ARTISTS OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.
1994. 60 minutes.
African-American Artists. Harlem Renaissance. Harmon Foundation.

This film "tells how black artists triumphed over formidable odds. This documentary, narrated by actor Joe Morton, features more than 130 rarely seen paintings, prints, photographs, and sculptures by black artists, and even more rarely seen archival footage of those artists at work. The period of the 1920s and '30s known as the Harlem Renaissance encompassed an extraordinary outburst of creativity by African-American visual artists. Racial prejudice an segregation, however, not only kept them out of the mainstream museums and galleries where they could show and sell their art, but threatened the very core of their personal artistic expression. Rich archival footage, including newsreels and photographs, recalls the influential force of the exhibitions, the vibrancy of Harlem in the roaring twenties, and the many significant personalities that shaped the movement, such as William E. Harmon, W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke."
Notes: Among those interviewed: Beryl Wright [Co-curator, Newark Museum], Gary Reynolds [Curator, Newark Museum], Clement A. Price [Historian, Rutgers University], Arnold Rampersad [Biographer, Princeton University], David Levering Lewis [author When Harlem Was In Vogue], James Lesesne Wells [artist], Allan Rohan Crite [artist], Lois Mailou Jones [artist], Matthew Baigell [Art Historian, Rutgers University]. Produced, written, and directed by Amber Edwards. Narrated by Joe Morton. Camera by Mike Budd.


AIMÉ CÉSAIRE: UNE VOIX POUR L'HISTOIRE.
1994. [Three programs of 54 minutes, 56 minutes, and 50 minutes. respectively].
Documentary. Biographical Study. Césaire, Aimé. Black Intellectuals. Directed by Euzhan Palcy.

Aimé Césaire introduces American audiences to the celebrated Martinican author who coined the term negritude and launched the movement called the "Great Black Cry." Euzhan Palcy, the internationally acclaimed director of Sugarcane Alley and A Dry White Season, weaves Césaire's life and poetry into a vast three part study featuring many of the most important artistic and intellectual figures of the pasts six decades, André Breton, the high priest of surrealism, described by Césaire as, " black man who embodies not simply the black race but all mankind, who will remain for me the prototype of human dignity."
Notes: Among those interviewed: Roland Suvélor [teacher], Joseph Zobel (novelist], Docteur Aliker [Deputy Mayor- Fort de France], Lou Laurin Lam [artist and widow of Wifredo Lam], René Depestre [writer], Roger Fayolle (former professor École Normale Supérieure].
Notes: Cameraman, Jean-Michel Destang. Edited by Catherine Chouchan and Annie Lemesle. Historical Advisor, Patrick Besenval. With the voices of Perette Pradier, Pascal Nzonzi, Bachir Touré, Sanvi Panou and Katy Vail.

• Part I - L'Ile Veilleuse (The Vigilant Island]. Césaire shows us his pays natale, its volcano, beaches and colonial towns, a tropical crossroads where Europe, Africa and America meet. From this cultural vortex, Césaire, his wife Suzanne and the philosopher Réne Menil founded in 1939 the seminal literary review, Tropiques. This journal influenced Caribbean intellectuals like artist like artist Wilfredo Lam, writer René Despestre and revolutionary theorist, Frantz Fanon. After the war, Césaire served as mayor of Fort-de-France and Martinique's representative in the French National Assembly during the crucial years of decolonization. He discusses the difficulty of balancing years of decolonization. He discusses the difficulty of balancing the life of a poet with that of a practical politician for over 50 years.
  Notes: Among those interviewed: Howard Dodson [Schomburg Center - New York], Peter Guberina [Professor, University of Zagreb], Jean Toussaint Desanti [Philosopher].Dominique Desanti [writer], Albert Memmi [writer], René Depestre [writer].
• Part II - Au Rendez-vous de la Conquéte (Where the Edges of Conquest Meet ) moves to Paris in the 1930s where Césaire, Leopold Senghor, first president of Senegal, and the French Guyanese poet Léon Damas developed the concept of negritude a world wide re-vindication of African values. John Henrik Clarke and Howard Dodson of the Schomburg Center discuss the profound impact of black American authors like Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and Claude McKay as well as jazz and the Harlem Renaissance on this primarily Francophone movement. After the war, the negritude movement centered around a French publishing house Présence Africaine and Senegalese scholar Cheick Anta Diop emerged as the intellectual leader of the group. It attracted the support of progressive French intellectuals including Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre, who remarked that Césaire had transformed French into a super language, solemn and sacred which was now open to all the wounded hands in the world."
• Part III - La Force de Regarder Demain (The Strength to Face Tomorrow) Césaire responds to the disappointments of the post-colonial world and expresses his hopes for the future. In the 1960s his plays, La tragedie du roi Christophe (about the Haitian revolution) and Une saison au congo (about the assassination of Patrice Lumumba), were among the first to warn of the dangers of neo-colonialism. French anthropologist Edgar Morin, biographer Roger Toumson, Brazilian author Jorge Amado, Antilean novelist Maryse Condé and American writer Maya Angelou testify to Césaire's central role as a found ancestor for the current flowering of African Diaspora literature. Also interviewed: Nicéphore Soglo [President of the Republic of Benin], Alpha Oumar Konaré [President of the Republic of Mali], Marie-Angélique Savané [Sociologist], Jean Malaurie [Manager "Terre Humaine" Collection], Edgar Morin [Anthropologist], Ehsan Naraghi [Sociologist, UNESCO].

ALEX HALEY.
1992. 50 minutes.
Documentary. Alex Haley. African-American Authors. Directed by Matteo Bellinelli.

"In this inspiring video portrait, Haley recounts the transformation of a college drop-out into one of America's most powerful non-fiction writers. One of the few in-depth conversations with Haley before his death in 1992, this tape is a moving testament to a man who, like ROOTS itself, became a symbol of African Americans' determination to endure and, indeed, excel." Haley talks about being born American, about his pride in America and about his belief in his writing as American and Tennessean. He reminisces about life with his grandmother and great aunts in Henning, Tennessee, whose tales and memories were the sources of his seminal work ROOTS.
Notes: Written by Bellinelli. English adaptation by Marianne Mantell. Narrated by Robert Lanchester.


ALICE WALKER: A PORTRAIT IN THE FIRST PERSON.
1994. 24 minutes.
Documentary. Instructional. Interview. African-American authors. Black Women Authors.

"Alice Walker's first novel was inspired by the sight of a murdered woman, stretched out on a undertaker's table in ragged clothes, old newspaper stuffed to fill the hole in her single, tattered shoe. "I could not not write about such a thing." she recalls. In this program, Alice Walker recalls the defining moments of her childhood and explores the themes that course through her novels and poetry--the devastating effects of violence and abuse on women and their children, and the determination to overcome the barriers of race and gender to achieve a life worth living."
Notes: Walker talks about her art in personal and emotional terms. She discusses success, abuse, activism, commitment. Interview by Jim Hanley. Photography by Ron Stannett. Music by Patricia Collen. Series concept by Hanley. Edited by Christopher Castelyn.


ALICE WALKER.
1990. 60 minutes.
Poets. Poetry Readings. Directed and produced by Lewis Mac Adams and John Dorr.

Alice Walker, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, reads her poems and excerpts from her novels, The Color Purple and The Temple of My Familiar, and is interviewed by Evelyn White at her Mendocino, California home. Poems include "Expect Nothing," "Be Nobody's Darling," "Burial," "Remember?," "The Diamonds on Liz's Bosom," and "These Mornings of Rain." Walker responds to the notion that she has become a "respectable" writer. She discusses her childhood ambitions, how poverty affected her means of expression, and the impact of the community on her youth. Other topics include her experiences at Spelman College and Sara Lawrence, her resolution to become a career writer, and the Civil Rights movement in the South. After reading the "God" section from The Color Purple, she discusses the "misters" in the black community. An excerpt from The Temple of My Familiar is followed by remarks on how she approaches writing a novel.


ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT: MEMORIES FROM BEALE STREET.
1990. 29 minutes. (V4022).
Documentary. Memphis Blues. Beale Street. Delta Blues.

This documentary is about the life and times of jazz and blues professionals on the Memphis, Tennessee strip, Beale Street. The center of most entertainment for blacks in the region, this district was the Mecca of every young blues singer trying for the big time. Blues great B.B. King narrates this film which includes segments about and interviews with such key blues and jazz musicians as Rufus Thomas, Evelyn, "Gatemouth" Moore, Fred Ford, "Honeymoon" Garner, "Hot Rod" Hulbert, Andrew Chaplin Jr., Booker T. Lawry and Laura Dukes. Some of the interviewees perform in a Memphis Club where they have gathered to recall the glory days of Beale Street. Note: Executive Producer was Judy Peiser. Directed by Robert Gordon and Louis Guida. Edited by Gordon. Photographed by Michael Camerini, Rene Koopman, and Larry Dunn.


ALLAH TANTOU.
1991. 62 minutes. In French with English subtitles.
Documentary. Biographical re-enactment. Human Rights, Africa. Camp Boiro. Guinea. Africa -- Social Conditions. Directed by David Achkar.

The filmmaker's handsome, intelligent father was a former dance in the Corps Afrique who became a key diplomat of the late '50s and early '60s the age of Black African emergence from colonialism. Using photographs, newsreel footage, and 16 and 8 mm home film footage he mounts a loving, painfully astute tribute to the "new" African totalitarianism that brought about the political downfall and murder of his father. A fine piece of documentary filmmaking. With: Michel Montanary, Jean-Baptiste Tiemele, Pierre Saintons, Baaron, Pierre Makanda, Josis Boisdur,
Notes: Music by Francois Corea and Lumumba Marouf Achkar. Written by David Achkar. Photographed by Anne Mustelier.


ALLAN BOESAK: CHOOSING FOR JUSTICE.
1984. 28 minutes. (V2119)

"To preach the work of God relevantly in South Africa," Dr. Boesak observes, "is to walk through a minefield blindfolded." This documentary explains how Dr. Boesak found a message of brotherhood at the heart of the Christian tradition and decided to devote his ministry to ending apartheid's systematic division of people from each other. NOTE: Narration is by James Earl James.


ALMOS' A MAN.
1976. 51 minutes. (V1179).
Directed by Stan Alton.

Story: Dave, a black teenage farm boy, is ridiculed by his elders because he wants to be treated like a man. while practicing with a cheap pistol, he accidentally shoots a mule which subjects him to more ridicule. His reaction is to run away, under the cover of night by freight to escape the situation. With: Levar Burton, Madge Sinclair, Robert Doqui, Christopher Brooks, and Roy Andrews. Note: Based on a short story by Richard Wright. Music by Taj Mahal.


AMERICA: BLACK AND WHITE.
1984. 90 minutes. (V82).
Race Relations, United States.

An NBC News White Paper on race relations in the United states in the early 1980s. Using news footage of everything from school board confrontations over busing through interviews and discussions over the issue of affirmative action, the program goes into depth on the depths.
Notes: Produced and directed by Anthony Potter. Reported by Garrick Utley and Emery King for NBC News.


AMERICA'S WAR ON POVERTY.
1995. 300 minutes. [5 60 min. segments].

• In This Affluent Society "In the early 1960s, hundreds of Kentucky coal miners, displaced by automation, strike out at their former employers, bombing mines to shut down production. Millions of others displaced by machines across Appalachia and the rural South head north to begin a new life in Chicago, where they face overcrowded tenements and schools, and the familiar inequities of segregation. This program recounts the stories of desperation and hope and explores the origins of the federal government's war on poverty and how attitudes toward race, and faith in the accessibility of the American dream, shape the battle plans for the nation's greatest effort to reduce poverty. In the 1960s, in the midst of unprecedented national prosperity, poverty was rediscovered by policy makers, the mass media and the American public. America's War On Poverty reconsiders the poverty programs created during these turbulent times when America seemed to possess inexhaustible natural and technical resources and an abundance of goodwill."
  Notes: Among those interviewed: Doris Kearnes Goodwin, Hamish Sinclair, Anndrenna Belcher, A. b. Hatfield, Charles "Buck" Maggard, Janice Shepard, Clory Bryant, Hattie Kelley, and Hyman Bookbinder. Written by Terry Kay Rockefeller. Edited by Sharol Sachs. Photographed by Michael Chin. Music by Wik Bariluk.
• Given A Chance [Shriver Vs Stennis] on the "Early 1965 is a critical period for President Johnson's war on poverty. The Office of Economic Opportunity's goal to have the poor themselves design and run anti-poverty programs attracts strong opposition from local and state governments. Head Start is created to provide poor children with adequate nutrition, health care and the educational advantages that other American children enjoy. This program looks at Head Start in Mississippi, America's poorest state."
  Notes: Among those interviewed: Sargeant Shriver, Polly Greenberg, William Winter, William Spell, Tom Levin, Unita Blackwell, Marian Wright, Lavaree Jones, Henry Kirksey, Hattie Saffold, Rev. James McRee, Jules Sugarman, Harry MacPherson, Harding Carter, Richard Boone. Directed and produced by Dante J. James. Written by Sheila Curran Bernard and James. Edited by Jon Neuburger. narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Photographed by Michael Chin. Film Research by John Grybowski. Music by Nik Barulik.
• City of Promise "The context for the war on poverty shifts dramatically after 1965. Urban rebellions provoke a sense of urgency for some, while others now see the war against poverty as hopeless. Increasingly, the media and the public equate poverty with inner-city black communities. This program looks at the anger and frustration of the middle class at having to pay for others' mistakes. It also examines attempts made in Newark, New Jersey, to reclaim the inner city through public/private partnerships."
  Notes: Among those interviewed: Joseph Califano, Mary Smith [Newark resident], James Walker [Newark resident], Donald Malafronte [mayor or Newark], Lee Bernstein [city councilman), Junius Williams [SDS], Carol Glassman [SDS], Edna R. Thomas [Newark resident], Cyril D. Tyson [UCC, executive director], Douglas Eldrige [Newark Evening News], DeOtis Taylor [Blazers training], Dr. Nathan Wright, George Richardson [UCC board], Sharpe James [Newark resident], Frank Addonizio [councilman, ex mayor], Hilda Hildago [Newark resident], Leroi Jones [playwright], Sargent Shriver. Produced, directed and written by Werner Bundschuh. Edited by James Rutenbeck. Narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Photographed by Rick Malkames. Film Research by Shari Chertok and others.
• In Service To America "By 1967, poverty warriors increase the sophistication of their tactics at the same time that a number of outspoken opponents rise to national prominence. This episode tells the stories of Legal Services and VISTA, two programs that combined individual action with the idea of volunteerism. Lawyers team up with migrant farm workers in California to fight for better education, health care and working conditions, and VISTA volunteers and local residents organize against strip mining in Appalachia. Both stories raise significant questions about activities the government funds in the name of fighting poverty."
  Notes: Among those interviewed: Elinor Constable [VISTA], Sargent Shriver, Karen Bolte [VISTA], Joe Mulloy [Appalachian Volunteers], Sue Ella Easterling [VISTA, Appalachian Volunteers], Gov. Edward T. Breathitt [Dem. Kentucky], David Zeeger [mining manager], Edith Easterling [Appalachian resident], Hector de La Rosa [farm worker], Jim Lorenz [CRLA], Lucy McCabe [CRLA], Bob Gnaidza [CRLA], Father Lorenza Avila, Cruz Reynoso [Director, CRLA], Lewis K. Uhler [private lawyer], John Ehrlichman. Produced and directed by Paige Martinez and Sam Sills. Written by Martinez, sills and Sheila Curran Bernard. Edited by Joanna Kiernan. Narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Photography by Michael Chin, Lee Daniel and Tom Kauffman.
• My Brother's Keeper "The Nixon Administration and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), in a surprising partnership, bring the nation to the brink of overhauling the federal social security system and replacing welfare with a guaranteed income will be quite low, the NWRO joins an alliance of conservatives and liberals to defeat the proposed legislation. It is an American story that gets to the heart of the country's conflicting notions about the deserving and undeserving poor."
  Notes: Timothy Sampson [National Welfare Rights Organization], Bob Jorgan, Guida West [Friends of Welfare Rights], Johnny Yillmon [Chairman, NWRO], Jacqueline Pope [NWRO], Nitza Vera, Terry Lucas Szpak [NWRO], Roxanne Jones [NWRO], Faith Evans [NWRO], Daniel Schorr [CBS], Nick Kotz [Washington Post], Anthony Basilio [Welfare Case Supervisor, NYC], Robert Finch, Marian Wright. Produced, directed and written by Leslie D. Farrell. Edited by Betty Ciccarelli. Narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Photography by Michael Chin. Film Research by John Grybowski and others.

AMONG BROTHERS.
1984. 58 minutes. (V1611).
African-Americans in Politics. New Orleans, La. Politics. Directed by Paul Jeffrey Stekler.

A look at the nature of black politics in present day New Orleans. The focus is on the 1984 mayoral election between Sidney Barthelemy and William Jefferson, the leading candidate, and both black.
Notes: Written by Stekler. Subtitled Politics in New Orleans. Produced by Stekler.


ANCESTORS.
1996. Ten 30 minute episodes.
Genealogy. Family History. Family Heritage.

A 10-part series that "focuses on the positive impact family history can have on individuals and families." · Episode 7 African-American Families. "This episode focuses on the distinct challenge of researching African-American records. Guests include Collette De Verge and members of the Southern California Genealogical Association, who share what family history means to them, and expert Tony Burroughs who dispels myths about African-American records and introduces new information to help begin a successful search."


ANCIENT AFRICANS.
1970. 25 minutes.
Documentary. Instruction. African, Antiquity. Africa, Art and Culture.

A look into the cultural and historic past of Africa. Acknowledgment of a culture pre-Egypt and Kush. The Kush conquered the early Egyptians and were in turn conquered by the Assyrians. The discovery and arrival of iron had a great affect on the culture's future development.
Notes: Directed and Photographed by Sam Bryan. Animation by Philip Stapp. Music by Thomas Wagner. Edited by Yehuda Yaniv. Narrated by Athmani Magoma and Edmund Lyndeck.


AND THE DISH RAN AWAY WITH THE SPOON.
1992. 50 minutes.
Documentary. Trinidad and Tobago. Development, Caribbean Basin. Television Broadcast, Trinidad and Tobago. Mass Media, Trinidad and Tobago. Mass Media, Cuba. Radio Marti. Mass Media, Criticism of,.

A film by Christopher Laird and Anthony Hall and part of a BBC series called Developing Stories I. "A fascinating documentary from Trinidad and Tobago about the domination of Caribbean television programs from the North, primarily the U.S. This film ambitiously weaves together interviews, indigenous poetry and music with clips from imported French and U.S. television programs to show how Caribbean viewers receive a distorted view of the world that alienates them form their own cultural heritage. Also included are a glimpse of how Cuba tackled the problem and the U.S. response in the form of Radio Marti."
Notes: Among those interviewed: Errol Sitahal, Herman Hippolyte [recording artist], Rick Wayne [Star Newspaper], Derrick Walker [poet], Kendell Hippolyte [poet], Monsignor Patrick Anthony 'Paba', Kennedy 'boots' Samuel [Folk Research Centre, St. Lucia], Jose Esteves [Cuban Television], Antonio Navarro [Radio Marti]. Photographed by David Bennett. Original Music by Ron Reid. Edited by Keith Lakhan.


THE ANDERSON PLATOON.
1966. 64 minutes.
Documentary. Vietnamese Conflict. African-Americans in the Military. Directed by Pierre Schoendorffer.

"The Anderson Platoon was an integrated combat unit in Vietnam led by a handsome black West Pointer, Lt. Joseph B. Anderson. French producer Pierre Schoendorffer and his cameraman spent six weeks filming the men of the platoon as they ate, slept, fought and died. The camera is constantly present on the faces, the tension, the frustration, anger, hopelessness and pathos of war. Schoendorffer takes no sides politically but at the outset he "is on the side of the soldier." It is understandable. He fought at Dien Bien Phu and was a prisoner for four months afterwards. The Anderson Platoon is not so much about the Vietnam War as it is a direct confrontation with the quality of war -- any war."
Notes: Best foreign documentary Academy Award winner for 1966. Camera by Dominique Merlin. Sound by Raymond Adams.


ANGANO...ANGANO: TALES FROM MADAGASCAR.
1989. 64 minutes. (V2927).

In Malagasy and French with English Subtitles. Madagascar. Folk tales -- Madagascar. Directed by Cesar Paes. This documentary is about the great oral tradition of the Malagasy peoples of Madagascar. It lets the story of man and God unfold itself through the tales and folk wisdom of villagers in the countryside. It begins with a rendition of the Creation (a witty story of the jealousy between the God of earth and the God of the sky), then a tale about the introduction of woman (and rice, they are quite related in this culture). There is the story of why women get only one third of the property is domestic disputes and divorce and others about love, life, and home. It is a loving and gracious film, totally lacking in condescension to these handsome, intelligent peoples.
Notes: The storytellers are: Arthur Besy, Ignace Paul, Ambarazaly, Avimar, Velonandapa, Fototosolo, Ernest Rakotosalama, Patrice Samuel Ralaitafika, Randimby, and Randriamatsiaro some in Malagasy dialect others in French. Photographed by Cesar Paes. Songs "Zanamalala" by Jean et Manuel and by "Biby Aombe" and "Manina Anao" by the Carson Rock Rangers. The film won the top award for Best Documentary a the 30th Dei Popoli Festival.


ANGEL THAT STANDS BY ME.
198-. 29 minutes. (V1809).

"Minnie Evans is the embodiment of the visionary artist. She is an 88 year old Black painter of Wilmington, N.C., who has created a world of mythical animals, religious symbols and natural beauty. The film explores the sources of Minnie Evans' art--Airlie Garden, with its magnificent azaleas and swans, where Minnie worked as a gate keeper for 27 years and where she did most of her paintings. Scenes of a service in her African-Methodist church draw the connections between her religious fervor and her art. She tells about her mystical visions and traces her slave ancestry to her great grandmother's grandmother who was brought from Trinidad and sold as a slave in North Carolina. We see Minnie with her 101 year old mother and at the Evans' family reunion of six generations.


ANTHEM.
1991. 10 minutes. [Approx].
African-American Directors. Gay Cinema. Queer Cinema. Black Homosexuals.. Directed by Marlon Riggs.

Visual poem, about sexual freedom and expression by gay African-American males. Riggs' film is a tone poem -- readings, photographic images, and dance are used as a form of militant self expression of sexuality. This is the most polemical work in the collection. Edited and co-directed by Christiane Badgley. Poetry performance American Wedding by Essex Hemphill and Unfinished Work by Colin Robinson. Contributing poets include Reginald T. Jackson, Steve Langley and Donald Woods. Video photography by Badgley, Riggs and others. Cast includes the Bella Boys, Bernard Branner, Brian Freeman, David Kirkland, Willi Ninia, Tim Riera, and Marlon Riggs.


ARE UNIVERSITIES IN AMERICA "POLITICALLY CORRECT"? .
1991. 120 minutes. (approximate) (V3151).
Multiculturalism -- Politically Correct.

Segments of the PBS news program The McNeil-Lehrer Report this program is a debate and detailed discussion of the rising issue of multicultural education in major American Universities. Noted American academics interviewed and debating the issue on this program include Russell Ellis, John Searle, Margaret Wilkerson, Vincent Sarich and Nancy Scheper-Hughes from Berkeley who discuss the controversy on Berkeley's campus over a mandatory course/curriculum called the American Cultures Program. Other issues addressed -- "the Big Chill" the conservative belief that liberal powers in the major universities stymie real free speech with rules that try to legislate against hate crimes and messages -- The altering of the basic curriculum at universities to adapt to some kind of multicultural basis of intellectual studies by including a broader culture spectrum in literature, history, and the humanities.
Notes: Also interviewed are Molefi Asante of Temple University; Dinesh D'Sousa (author of Illiberal Education); Stanley Fish of Duke University; Donald Kagan of Yale; Catherine Stimpson of Rutgers; and Lynn Cheyney of the NEH.


ARE YOU DEAD.
1996. 59 minutes.
Lecture. Bill Cosby. African-Americans and Leadership. Seminars. C-SPAN.

"As part of a Howard University leadership seminar. Bill Cosby spoke to the students about taking responsibility in their lives. He spoke about rock music lyrics, gangs, drugs, sex, values, leadership and action. He continuously urged students not to be passive in response to the music, words and actions of those to whom they listen. He asked rhetorically: "Are you dead?" His talk contained many humorous and mocking references to current political and cultural figures."
Notes: Broadcast at Howard University on 4/8/96. Produced by Purdue Research Foundation and C-SPAN.


ARE YOU WALKING WITH ME?
1990. 30 minutes.
Documentary. Southern Folklore Studies. Thea Bowman. African-American Culture, Alabama. Black Catholics. William Faulkner. Holy Child Jesus School, Canton, Mississippi. Subtitled Sister Thea Bowman, William Faulkner, and African-American Culture.

A biographical study of Sister Thea Bowman, a native of Mississippi who became a Franciscan nun after her experience in the Holy Child Jesus School in Canton, Mississippi, her home town. The school existed as a beacon for black children in the unfavorable environment of 1940s and '50s Mississippi. She obtained her educational degrees and became a great proponent of introducing black culture in to the educational mainstream. Her devotion to the study of Faulkner and what she felt was his genuine understanding of his black characters is the central theme of this celebratory video produced after her death in 1990.
Notes: Produced by Lisa Neumann Howorth. Edited by Lee Dean. Videography by Lee Dean and Eddie Gray. Narrated by Billie Jean Young. Among those interviewed are Margaret Walker Alexander, Mary L. Hart Canton resident; Ann J. Abadie, Assoc. Director, Center for the Study of Southern Culture; Richard H. King, University of Nottingham; Evans Harrington, Emeritus Professor, U. of Mississippi. Martha Ruth Wells, Holy Child Jesus School; and CBS Newsman Mike Wallace. Produced under the auspices of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi.


AT THE RIVER I STAND.
1993. 56 minutes.
Documentary. Civil Rights Movement. Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968. Martin Luther King. Directed by David Appleby, Allison Graham, Steven John Ross.

This film "reconstructs the two eventful months in the Spring of 1968 which led to the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights Movement. As the story begins, Memphis' black community rallies behind a strike by 1300 sanitation workers and their slogan, "I am a man." Soon Dr. King joins their struggle to his growing, nation-wide Poor Peoples Campaign. During the bitter 65 day strike, his non-violent strategy is sorely tested and on April 4, he is assassinated. Four days later people from around the country mobilize in Memphis for a non-violent demonstration. The city council capitulates to the strikers; the sanitation workers have successfully challenged the white power structure in the South."
Notes: Narrated by Paul Winfield. Videography by David Appleby and Tom Dean. Special consultant, Joan Turner Beifuss, author of At the River I Stand. Historical consultants, David J. Garrow and Kenneth W. Goings. Among those interviewed Jerred Blanchard, Bill Lucy, Coby Smith, Lewis Donelson, Robert Beasely, Taylor Rogers, Clinton Burrows, Bill Ross, Rev. Frank McRae, bob James, Rev. Harold Middlebrook, Rev. James Orange, Rev. Joseph Lowery, and Rev. Billy Kyles.


ATHLETICS AND ACADEMICS.
1991. 89 minutes.
Panel discussion. College Athletics.

A panel discussion on the scope of the issues facing college athletics. A number of issues are raised and debated by the participants of the panel. Footage of Washington Redskin football player Dexter Manley's emotional testimony before a Senate panel about his inability to read even though he graduated high school and four years of college and Steve Corson, an ex-football player whose body is deteriorating from excessive use of anabolic steroids. Among the panel: Joe Paterno, Penn State University; Steve Robinson, Sports Illustrated; Sam Rutigliano, Liberty University; Wade Houston, University of Tennessee; Hunter Rawling III, President of the University of Iowa; Eamon Kelly, President of Tulane University; Margaret Bridwell, University of Maryland; Eleanor Holmes Norton, Georgetown University Law; James Brown, CBS Sports; Tom McMillen, U.S. Congress, Maryland; Merrily Dean Baker, Executive Director, NCAA; Petrina Long, Associate Athletic Director, Columbia University; Creed Black, ex-editor Lexington, Kentucky Express; and Leonard Koppett, New York Times sports.
Notes: Produced by Jay Ward Brown and Abigail Pogrebin. Directed by Joseph Camp.


THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN.
1974. 120 minutes.
Directed by John Korty.

This is an excellent dramatization of Ernest Gaines' novel about a black woman, born in slavery, who lives through the history of Black Americans from the end of slavery through the turbulent Civil Rights decades. The story is of family, hope, pride, and an individual's coming to grips with a world that changed radically during her life time. Cecily Tyson's performance is one of the finest on film in recent memory. With: Odetta, Josephine Premice, Ted Airhart, Sidney Arroyo, Michael Murphy, Richard Dysart, Rod Perry, and Collin Wilcox Horne. Note: Teleplay by Tracy Keenan Wynn. The program won nine Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama and outstanding actress (Tyson).