African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: Q

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QUARTIER MOZART.
1992. 80 minutes In French with English subtitles.
African Cinema. Cameroonian Youth. Comedy/Drama. Cameroon. Directed by Jean-Pierre Bekolo.

"Quartier Mozart uses traditional Cameroonian folk beliefs to explore the sexual politics of an urban neighborhood. Queen of the Hood is a proud young girl who doesn't want to be taken advantage of by men. She befriends a local sorceress who helps her enter the body of a young man, My Guy. The sorceress, Maman Thekia, takes the form of Panka, a comic rural character who has his own way of humbling arrogant men. My Guy tries to seduce Samedi, the daughter of a local police chief Mad Dog, who is taking a second wife. By the time My Guy and Panka leave, the neighborhood will never again be the same." The above description is from the introductory reel of the film. Cast includes Sandrine Ola'a as Samedi, Serge Amougou as Montype, Essinbi Mindja as Atango, Jimmy Biyoungas Chien Mechant, Atebass as Capo, Seidou Atacha as Panka, Genevieve Nog Tnamack as Sytialla, and Madeleine Messengue as Kongessa.
Notes: Awarded Afrique en Creation Cinema Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Photography by Regis Blondeau. Original music by Philip Hikwe. Written and produced by Bekolo.


A QUESTION OF COLOR.
1992. 58 minutes.
Race Consciousness, Black Americans. Color Consciousness.

This film "is the first documentary to confront 'color consciousness' in the black community. It explores the devastating effect of a caste system based on how closely skin color, hair texture and facial features conform to a European ideal. It provides an unique window for examining cross-cultural issues of identity and self-image for anyone who has experienced prejudice. Scores of African Americans of all shades about their experience with the 'color question:' - from New York City to Alabama, form teenagers to a 96 year old great grandmother. We experience the psychological and emotional turmoil that the issue engenders in a college president, a mayor, a TV anchorwoman, young rappers and others - including the filmmaker herself." The film travels to different communities in America to investigate the issue -- Tuskegee, Alabama; Crown Heights in Brooklyn; and Howard University.
Notes: Directed by Kathe Sandler. Among those interviewed are: Benjamin Payton, President of Tuskegee University; Johnny Ford, Mayor of Tuskegee. Written and produced by Sandler. Co-Writer and chief consultant, Luke Charles Harris. Edited by Kate Davis and Lucy Winer. Cinematography by Michael Chin and Robert Shepard. Original Music composed and performed by Jason Hwang, Latteta Theresa, Talib Kibwe, and James Weidman.


THE QUIET ONE.
1949. 65 minutes. (657)
Cinema Verite Drama. Abused Children. Directed by Sidney Meyers.

A quasi-documentary film about an abused child. An experimental film made in the 1940's. The film is done in the style similar to Robert Flaherty's Louisiana Story -- fictionalized realism. The film is shot in grainy, realistic black and white. An interesting cinematic artifact, depicting life outside the mainstream of '40s America. With: Donald Thompson, Paul Baucum, Clarence Cooper, Sodie Stockholm.
Notes: Commentary by James Agee. Narrated by Gary Merrill. Edited by Helen Levitt.


QUILOMBO.
1984. 120 minutes In Brazilian with English subtitles.
Historical Drama. Slavery in Brazil. Slave Rebellions. Directed by Carlos Diegues.

In 17th century Brazil, while the Portuguese engaged in conflict with the Dutch, a rebellion by the repressed and brutalized slaves of central Brazil rise in rebellion. Diegues has painted an almost dreamy, fairy tale like world in recreating the events of the Quilombo slave rebellions. The story is of how the slaves create a benign republic of their own and defend it valiantly until the forces of the colonial government are too overwhelming. It is a film about the epic fight for freedom among the earliest black population of Brazil, a story of historical and mythic scale. It is a fascinating film, if a little undernourished in its narrative. With: Antonio Pompeo as Zumbi, Zeze Motta as Dandara, Toni Tornado as Ganga Zumba, Vera Gischer as Ana de Ferro, Antonio Petanga as Acaiuba, Mauricio do Valle as Domingos Jose Velho.
Notes: Musical Direction by Gilberto Gil. Camera by Lauro Escorel Filho, Pedro Farkas. Songs by Gil with lyrics by Walid Salomao.