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NFB Abroad: Africa On Screen
Discover a selection of NFB films made across Africa that illuminate the continent and its people, arts and culture, in addition to Canadian intersections with Africa over the years.
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The Perfect StoryMichelle Shephard 2021 1 h 13 minThe Perfect Story offers a riveting, intimate look at the ethical and moral challenges sparked by the relationship between a foreign correspondent and a young Somali refugee. By revealing the boundaries of journalism and filmmaking, the film questions what stories are told, why, and who gets to tell them. -
The Girls of MeruAndrea Dorfman 2018 1 h 27 minOver five years, acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Dorfman follows the heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the girls of Meru and their brave steps toward meaningful equality for girls worldwide.
In Kenya, one in three girls will experience sexual violence before age 18, yet police investigations are the exception. In The Girls of Meru, a multinational team led by Canadian lawyer Fiona Sampson and Tumaini Shelter head Mercy Chidi Baidoo builds the case of 11 girls to pursue an unheard of legal tactic. Together they created legal history. -
Gun RunnersAnjali Nayar 2016 1 h 29 minFor years, Julius Arile and Robert Matanda thrive among the bands of warriors that terrorize the North Kenyan countryside. Stealing cattle, raiding and running from the police is the only life they know. So when both warriors suddenly disappear from the bush, many assume they are dead or have been arrested. Instead, they trade in their rifles for sneakers—in the hopes of making it big as professional marathon runners.
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Nollywood BabylonBen Addelman & Samir Mallal 2008 1 h 13 minA feature documentary on Nigeria’s successful movie industry. The creative duo of Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal – the same team who made Discordia – profile the Lagos-based dream machine. Operating on low budgets and tight schedules, “Nollywood” specializes in a unique form of African B-movie that draws upon both traditional voodoo stories and contemporary urban themes.
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Oliver Jones in AfricaMartin Duckworth 1990 53 minOliver Jones, one of Canada's foremost jazz pianists, tours Nigeria with his bassist and drummer, discovering in Africa the roots of much of today's music. Hearing and absorbing the musical sources of blues, spirituals, calypso rhythms and more, he reflects that for a Black jazz artist, a trip to Africa is a voyage home.
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War HospitalDavid Christensen & Damien Lewis 2005 1 h 29 minShot in cinema-vérité style, this feature doc immerses us in the sights and sounds of the world's largest field hospital, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan. The ICRC allowed filmmakers David Christensen and Damien Lewis unprecedented access to the surgical hospital and local medical staff as they care for wounded Sudanese soldiers and women and children, all casualties of the civil war.
With no narrator and minimal explanation, War Hospital simply and powerfully captures the joy and sadness of life and death. -
KOROMOUSSO: Big SisterHabibata Ouarme & Jim Donovan 2023 1 h 16 minWith candor, humour and courage, a group of African-Canadian women challenge cultural taboos surrounding female sexuality and fight to take back ownership of their bodies. Combining her own journey with personal accounts from some of her radiant, endearing friends, co-director Habibata Ouarme explores the phenomenon of female genital mutilation and the road to individual and collective healing, both in Africa and in Canada.
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A Time There Was: Stories from the Last Days of Kenya ColonyDonald McWilliams 2009 1 h 27 minThis autobiographical documentary revisits the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s. More than 50 years after the conflict, in which the director participated as a young British soldier stationed in Kenya for his national service, he confronts his past with audacity and unflinching self-inquiry.
Combining McWilliams' own photographic record of the times with original animation and archival imagery, A Time There Was crafts a thoughtful account of the Mau Mau Rebellion – one of the most contentious episodes in Britain’s imperial endgame. -
The Magic LionCharles Githinji 2004 6 minThis animated short is about a Kenyan boy who goes on a quest to save the life of his sick grandfather. In his search for healers in a mysterious village, he encounters a strange lion caught in a trap. Upon being freed, the lion gratefully takes the boy on an adventure.
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The Lost Pharaoh: The Search for AkhenatenNicholas Kendall 1980 56 minThis feature documentary tells the story of Akhenaten, an ancient pharaoh who was almost lost to history. The film follows Canadian archaeologist Dr. Donald Redford, who uncovered the foundation of one of the pharaoh’s many temples, in his attempt to finally piece together this great Egyptian ruler’s enigmatic story.
Viewer Advisory: This film contains scenes of animal slaughter. -
The PeacekeepersPaul Cowan 2005 1 h 23 minIn this documentary, Paul Cowan delivers unprecedented access to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping, and the determined and often desperate manoeuvres to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC). The film cuts back and forth between the United Nations headquarters in New York and events on the ground in the DRC. We are with the peacekeepers in the 'Crisis Room' as they balance the risk of loss of life on the ground with the enormous sums of money required from uncertain donor countries. We are with UN troops as the northeast Congo erupts and the future of the DRC, if not all of central Africa, hangs in the balance. As Secretary General Kofi Annan tells the General Assembly at the conclusion of The Peacekeepers: "History is a harsh judge. The world will not forgive us if we do nothing." Whether the world's peacekeeper did enough remains to be seen.
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Hand of God, Hand of the DevilYvan Patry , Sam Grana , … 1996 50 minIn April 1994, the international community sat by and watched while a million Tutsi men, women and children were massacred in the central African nation of Rwanda. Hand of God, Hand of the Devil, the second volume in the three-part Rwanda series, explores Canada's role in the development of the genocidal ideology that took root in Rwanda, which was considered the "jewel" of Canadian aid in Africa. This video focuses on the murder of two Canadian missionaries, killed for having protested against corruption and human rights violations. Brother François Cardinal, who worked at the controversial Rwandan college, funded by Canadian aid money to the Rwandan president's advisors. Like countless others in Rwanda, his killers were never found. Father Claude Simard, the only Canadian to have stayed in Rwanda during the 100 days of genocide, was murdered in 1994--after the regime responsible for the massacre of Tutsis had been overthrown. Since Simard had risked his life to rescue Tutsis, the Canadian government concluded that his killers must have been Hutus who feared being identified for their crimes. However, the video uncovers evidence that Simard died at the hands of the new government, upset by the Canadian priest's objections to its reprisal killings of innocent Hutus. Hand of God, Hand of the Devil raises disturbing questions about Canada's role in Rwanda. Having assisted the former regime, will Canadian aid now sow the seeds for a new crop of killers? Volume 1 of the series.
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Sitting on a VolcanoDanièle Lacourse 1996 55 minOnly fifty years after the Holocaust, the world has allowed another genocide to take place, this time in Rwanda. In April 1994, the international community sat by and watched while a million Tutsi men, women and children were massacred in the central African nation. Sitting on a Volcano, the first volume in the three-part Rwanda series, follows the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Hutus who fled Rwanda to take refuge in neighbouring countries. One year after the slaughter, they find themselves trapped beween gangs of Rwandan war criminals in control of the refugee camps and their country's new masters, who show little interest in reconciliation. Sitting on a Volcano criticizes the international community, which continues to feed the killers in the refugee camps and refuses to acknowledge human rights violations in Rwanda. The video makes a strong case that until those responsible for the genocide are brought to justice, Rwanda cannot begin to heal itself. Volume 2 of the series.
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Once ... AgadirJacques Bensimon 1971 27 minThis short-length documentary takes us to Agadir, a city in Morocco that was struck by an earthquake in 1960. The film, made by an expatriate Moroccan who lost family and friends in the disaster, is a memorial to that tragedy and to the past he left behind when he came to North America. Partly allegorical, it employs varying techniques to offset reality from fantasy sequences.
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Four Women of EgyptTahani Rached 1997 1 h 29 minThis feature documentary invites you to partake in a discussion between 4 Egyptian women of different political and religious stripe. Amina, Safynaz, Shahenda and Wedad are Muslim, Christian, or non-religious, but they are first and foremost friends. They listen to one another's views and argue openly, without ever breaking the bond that unites them. How do we get along with each other when our views collide? A timely question, and a universal one. Four Women of Egypt takes on this challenge, and their confrontation redefines tolerance.
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WaitingMarie-Claude Harvey 1996 32 minThis short documentary zooms in on the Dinka population of Alek, South Sudan, during a period of famine. The Dinkas are an extremely patient people. With empty stomachs, they await the next harvest. For the last 40 years, an intermittent state of civil war has divided the country in 2. This time, the population has requested aid. Sacks of grain are dropped from planes, but to prevent rioting, distribution is delayed until the arrival of reinforcements. During this week of waiting, we witness the true face of hunger.
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Mozambique: Building a FutureCharles Konowal 1987 27 minDiscover a unique coop program in which students from Mozambique are taught dentistry techniques in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in this short film from 1987. For many of us, dental health programs are something we take for granted, but in some regions of the world, they're considered a luxury. With this program, the Mozambique students are taught the skills they need to take back to their communities.
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Not Far from BolgatangaMichael Rubbo & Barrie Howells 1982 28 minThis short documentary demonstrates how international aid works, or fails to work, in the transfer of technology from a more to a less industrialized society. In the late 1970s, the government of Ghana, with the help of the Canadian International Development Agency, drilled wells and installed hand-operated pumps in many of the African country’s villages in an effort to provide a clean and convenient water supply. The film explores the relationships between people, environment, technology and nations of varying levels of industrialization from a decidedly Western perspective.
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You Don't Back DownDon Owen 1965 27 minThis short documentary follows a young Canadian doctor serving in a local mission hospital in Nigeria. Stationed abroad under the Canadian University Service Overseas Plan, Dr. Alex McMahon and his schoolteacher wife encounter new challenges every day throughout their rewarding experience.
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Nigeria: Giant in AfricaRonald Dick 1960 58 minThis feature documentary vividly recounts Nigeria's history from pre-European times to the mid-20th century. The film explores the political maturing of Africa's most populous country and depicts the various African cultures that make up the Federation of Nigeria.
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Black and White in South AfricaJohn Howe & Ronald Dick 1957 29 minThis 1957 documentary short offers an analysis of South Africa's acute race problem, an issue that causes dissension not only within its borders but within the Commonwealth and beyond. In South Africa, a country of 14 million people, 4 out of 5 people are black. The film gives a dispassionate appraisal of the motivations behind the policy of apartheid and of whether the practice of segregation provides a satisfactory, long-term solution.
