In 1896, Ethiopia, an African nation, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized Italian military bent on colonization.
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
Sir David Attenborough presents and narrates this wildlife series, a visual encyclopedia of the natural world. This episode looks at the fast, sleek and elegant cheetahs - supreme athletes and hunters of the animal world. Also the leopard, another deadly hunter, is observed in its natural habitat.
25 years ago, Louis Sarno, an American, heard a song on the radio and followed its melody into the Central Africa Jungle and stayed. He than recorded over 1000 hours of original BaAka music. Now he is part of the BaAka community and raises his pygmy son, Samedi. Fulfilling an old promise, Louis takes Samedi to America. On this journey Louis realizes he is not part of this globalized world anymore but globalization has also arrived in the rainforest. The BaAka depend on Louis for their survival. Father and son return to the melodies of the jungle but the question remains: How much longer will the songs of the forest be heard?
Festival panafricain d'Alger is a documentary by William Klein of the music and dance festival held 40 years ago in the streets and in venues all across Algiers. Klein follows the preparations, the rehearsals, the concerts… He blends images of interviews made to writers and advocates of the freedom movements with stock images, thus allowing him to touch on such matters as colonialism, neocolonialism, colonial exploitation, the struggles and battles of the revolutionary movements for Independence.
How African artists have spread African culture all over the world, especially music, since the harsh years of decolonization, trying to offer a nicer portrait of this amazing continent, historically known for tragic subjects, such as slavery, famine, war and political chaos.
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
A moving recording of the late writer and renowned jazz singer Abbey Lincoln is captured in this new film from Brooklyn-born director Rodney Passé, who has previously worked with powerhouse music video director Khalil Joseph. Reading from her own works, Lincoln’s voice sets the tone for a film that explores the African American experience through fathers and their sons.
Athletes and fans explore the impact of sports on the lives of Americans.
60 years ago, almost nothing was known of elephants in the wild. But then one young Scottish biologist changed that forever. In 1965 Iain Douglas-Hamilton arrived in Tanzania to live alongside African elephants. Later joined by his wife Oria and daughters Saba and Dudu, elephants became central to their lives with matriarch Boadicea and gentle young mother Virgo cherished like human relatives. But this garden Eden was short-lived as an ivory poaching epidemic swept across Africa forcing Iain to switch from pioneering scientist to maverick conservationist. He became a lone crusader against the international Ivory trade which was finally banned in 1989. Now back in the field and revealing even more about the fascinating world of elephants, Iain’s work continues alongside a new generation of Kenyan conservationists. This inspiring documentary combines stunning wildlife imagery with the story of a remarkable life showing how sometimes you have to stand alone to protect what you love.
Mountain Gorilla takes us to a remote range of volcanic mountains in Africa, described by those who have been there as ""one of the most beautiful places in the world"", and home to the few hundred remaining mountain gorillas. In spending a day with a gorilla family in the mountain forest, audiences will be captivated by these intelligent and curious animals, as they eat, sleep, play and interact with each other. Although gorillas have been much-maligned in our popular culture, viewers will finally ""meet the legend"" face to face, and learn about their uncertain future.
A journey back through Dacia Maraini's and her trips around the world with her close friends cinema director Pier Paolo Pasolini and opera singer Maria Callas. An in-depth story of this fascinating woman's life. Maraini's memories come alive through personal photographs taken on the road as well as her own Super 8 films shot almost thirty years ago.
A look at the Brazilian black movement between 1977 and 1988, going by the relationship between Brazil and Africa.
A feature length documentary film about one man's journey to find the perfect set of feet
This shocking documentary reveals the plight of young Nigerians branded as witches.
Many geneticists and archaeologists have long surmised that human life began in Africa. Dr. Spencer Wells, one of a group of scientists studying the origin of human life, offers evidence and theories to support such a thesis in this PBS special. He claims that Africa was populated by only a few thousand people that some deserted their homeland in a conquest that has resulted in global domination.
An epic journey along Africa's Great Green Wall — an ambitious vision to grow a wall of trees stretching across the entire continent to fight against increasing drought, desertification and climate change.
In Kenya's Rift Valley province, giraffes have been reintroduced as part of a project, but animal rights activists, veterinarians and community representatives have to help the small herd when problems arise.
Barely visible to the human eye, a truly fascinating universe lives in the bush and savannas of Africa. Here, creatures small, smaller and nearly invisible share a world with gigantic animals. Usually overlooked, often feared and despised, theirs may be a small world, but it's an important one.
Photographer Ami Vitale follows a global effort to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. With only two surviving females, a team of scientists races to create the world’s first surrogate rhino pregnancy. The fate of the species now rests in the hands of the teams who are devoted to saving it in this hopeful, urgent film