Haile Gerima Sankofa Movies
Powerful, moving and highly acclaimed, director Haile Gerima’s Sankofa is a masterpiece of cinema that has had a transformative impact on audiences since its.
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(August 2012) Haile Gerima Born ( 1946-03-04) March 4, 1946 (age 71), Nationality Occupation, Years active –present Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian who lives and works in the. He is a leading member of the film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have received wide international acclaim. Since 1975, Gerima has also been an influential film at in Washington, DC. He is best known for (1993), which won numerous international awards. Contents. Early years Haile Gerima was born and raised in, Ethiopia.
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His father was a dramatist and playwright, who traveled across the Ethiopian countryside staging local plays. He was an important early influence. Gerima emigrated to the United States in 1968 to study theatre. He enrolled in acting classes at the in.
'When I was growing up,' he told the, 'I wanted to work in theater—it never occurred to me I could be a filmmaker because I was raised on Hollywood movies that pacified me to be subservient. Film making isn't encouraged or supported by the Ethiopian government.' He felt limited by theater and was resigned, notes Francoise Pfaff, to 'subservient roles in Western plays.'
In 1970 he moved to California to attend the, where he earned Bachelor's and Master's of Fine Arts degrees in film. He was part of a generation of new black filmmakers who became known as the, along with ( ), ( Penitentiary), ( I and I), and ( ).
Film career 1970s By the time Gerima graduated in 1976, he had already made four films: Hour Glass (1972); Child of Resistance (1972); (1976); and (also known as Harvest: 3,000 Years; 1976) Gerima's 1976 portrays the travails of Black life and culture, Gerima namedrops his film with hopes to reach a deal for blockbuster hits during this period such as (1972) and (1976), but was laughed at by fellow critics. The film is the story of Dorothy and her husband T.C., a discharged Vietnam veteran who anticipated a hero's welcome on his return. Dine o weather bureau sa. He is arrested and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Theirs is a world of welfare, perennial unemployment, and despair. The film has stark black-and-white photography, but its message is moving and distinct.
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It addresses issues of institutionalized racism, police brutality, and poverty; these remain pertinent. For the production of ( Harvest: 3,000 Years) Gerima returned to his native Ethiopia. It is an account of a poor peasant family who eke out an existence within a brutal, exploitative, and feudal system of labor. His (1978) explores racism and the shortcomings of the criminal justice system in the United States by examining the history of the nine Black men and one white woman who became known as the. 1980s The travails of Black urban life in the United States are explored in the two-hour (1982), the story of a moody and disillusioned Black veteran of the. Gerima discusses his movie Ashes and Embers in an interview, “presented in collaboration with ARRAY, the rebirth of the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement(AFFRM)” at the.
He states that Hollywood has produce an, “Anglo-Saxon dictatorship and culture housed in the mainstream cinema that dictates.” Which he responds with, “responsibility the film makers have to the language of cinema because their language, their accent has to come into cinema. In African cinema this accent is local Senega, Burkina, Faso, etc. ” made these films to honor the struggles of his ancestors and to make names known throughout histor y. Gerima’s films show the concept of identity and independence.
He wanted to use, “his work as a critical lens for personal growth and creative development” (1985) is a documentary about the notable Black American poet. 1990s Gerima is perhaps best known as the writer, producer, and director of (1993). This historically inspired dramatic tale of African resistance to slavery won international acclaim: awarded first prize at the African Film Festival in Milan, Italy; Best Cinematography at Africa's premier ; and nominated for the Golden Bear at the, where it competed with Hollywood films. The film attracted huge audiences across the United States, many of whom waited in long lines and filled theaters for weeks on end. The film subverted a notion that only mainstream could attract audiences for filmmakers.
Guided by an independent philosophy, Gerima practiced an innovative strategy in distribution whose success remains unprecedented in African-American film history. The film opens with the statement: 'Spirit of the dead, rise up and claim your story!' It presents a brutally realistic portrayal of African slavery.
The story is revealed through the eyes of Mona, a modern-day woman who is possessed by spirits and transported to the past as Shola, a house slave on the Lafayette in. The savagery and violence of the evil institution are clearly disturbing and go far beyond the safe and conventional images of slavery presented by Hollywood. In Sankofa, we hear the chilling sound of human flesh as it is seared with a hot branding iron and see the barren faces of the human cargo; women are stripped of all dignity and subject to the continual sexual exploitation of their owners; human necks are enclosed in iron shackles; and rape is used as a tool of terror and domination. Some critics panned Gerima for excess brutality, but the Black community responded positively and enthusiastically.
The film was well received and played to full houses for many weeks in major cities. (1994), commissioned by the, explores the political and psychic recovery of the Ethiopian people after the political repression or 'red terror' of the military junta of. The filmmaker suggests questions about the direction of the succeeding government and the will of the people in creating institutions guaranteeing their liberation. (1999) is a documentary drama of the history of the, which concluded the war in which the Ethiopian people united to defeat the Italian army. Gerima used images of paintings and rare historical photographs, sound, music, and interviews of elders, who recall the details of the story of the battle.
It concludes with a dramatic recreation of the final battle. Teza Gerima's most recent film is (2008). Set in Ethiopia and Germany, the film chronicles the return of an Ethiopian intellectual to his country of birth during the repressive Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam and the recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness at the dissolution of his people's humanity and social values. After several years spent studying medicine in Germany, Anberber returns to Ethiopia only to find the country of his youth replaced by turmoil. His dream of using his craft to improve the health of Ethiopians is squashed by a military junta that uses scientists for their own political ends. Seeking the comfort of his countryside home, Anberber finds no refuge from violence. The solace that the memories of his youth provide is quickly replaced by the competing forces of military and rebelling factions.
Anberber needs to decide whether he wants to bear the strain or piece together a life from the fragments that lie around him. Independent distribution and Mypheduh Films Inc. To gain more independence, Gerima and his wife (who is also a filmmaker) in 1984 established a distribution company: Mypheduh Films Inc., for low-budget, independent films. They relied on this for his film Sankofa (1993). Sankofa Video, Books and Cafe He founded a bookstore/cafe/film center, located in the heart of the African-American community at 2714 Georgia Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC, named for his film.
It is directly across the street from Howard University. Filmography. 1972 -. 1972 -. 1976 -. 1976 - (also known as Harvest: 3,000 Years).
1978 -. 1982 -.
1985 -. 1993 -. 1994 -. 1999 -. 2009 - Further reading. Cham, Mbye Baboucar (1984). 'Art and Ideology in the Work of and Haile Gerima.'
: Revue Culturelle du Monde Noir/ Cultural Review of the Negro World, vol. 1, pp. 79–91. Alexander, George, and Janet Hill, eds. Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema.
New York: Harlem Moon. Awards, nominations and distinctions. Main article: Over the course of his career, Gerima has received numerous in. 1976 - Grand prize / Silver Leopard for - Locarno.
1982 - Grand Prix Award for Ashes and Embers-Lisbon International Film Festival. 1983 - FIPRESCI Film Critics Award for Ashes and Embers-Berlin International Film Festival. Outstanding Production Ashes and Embers - London Film Festival. 1984 - Tribute Festival De la Rochelle, France.
1987 - Long Metrage De Fiction-Prix de la Ville de Alger for Ashes and Embers. 1993 - Best Cinematography Award for Sankofa, FESPACO, Burkina Faso. 2003 - Lifetime Achievement Award, 4th Annual Independence Film Festival, Washington D.C.