Sathima's Windsong

Mountains of the Moon

February 1990 •English

The story of Captain Richard Francis Burton's and Lt. John Hanning Speke's expedition to find the source of the Nile river in the name of Queen Victoria's British Empire. The film tells the story of their meeting, their friendship emerging amidst hardship, and then dissolving after their journey.

100 Seconds to Beat the World

July 2014 •English

The story of Kenyan athlete David Rudisha, the greatest 800m runner the world has ever seen, and his unusual coach, the Irish Catholic missionary Brother Colm O'Connell.

Blue Note - A Story of Modern Jazz

October 1997 •English

"It must schwing!" was the motto of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jewish immigrants who in 1939 set up Blue Note Records, the jazz label that was home to such greats as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. Blue Note, the most successful movie ever made about jazz, is a testimony to the passion and vision of these two men and certainly swings like the propulsive sounds that made their label so famous.

King of the Hill

August 1993 •English

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.

Tajouj

March 1977 •Arabic

The film is set a hundred years back in the eastern part of Sudan in a place of total isolation. Tajouj is the beautiful cousin of a young tribal man who is deeply in love with her. He publicly declares his love for her in a song. The traditions of the tribe denounce such an act and as a consequence his uncle refuses his proposal of marriage. But after the young man departs and declares his repentance, the marriage is finally allowed. In the meantime, however, another man has staked his interest in Tajouj, which drives the young man to jealousy. This sets the stage for a series of transgressions which will result in tragedy and send the young man into exile as a wandering bard of the deserts.

Naked Spaces: Living Is Round

October 1985 •English

Shot with stunning elegance and clarity, NAKED SPACES explores the rhythm and ritual of life in the rural environments of six West African countries (Mauritania, Mali, Burkino Faso, Togo, Benin and Senegal). The nonlinear structure of NAKED SPACES challenges the traditions of ethnographic filmmaking, while sensuous sights and sounds lead the viewer on a poetic journey to the most inaccessible parts of the African continent: the private interaction of people in their living spaces.

Mabu: Saving the Secret Forest

July 2024 •English

We follow a team of scientists on a gruelling expedition into a remote rainforest in Mozambique. They're hoping to prove that Mount Mabu's animals and insects are unique and in need of official protection.

Fort Saganne

May 1984 •French

In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.

The Color Purple

December 1985 •English

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

Finding Fela

August 2014 •English

Fela Anikulapo Kuti created the musical movement Afrobeat and used it as a political forum to oppose the Nigerian dictatorship and advocate for the rights of oppressed people. This is the story of his life, music, and political importance.

Bob Denard, Profession Mercenaire

April 2005 •French

Johnny Mad Dog

May 2008 •English

A cast of unknown performers are used in this drama about child soldiers fighting a war in an unnamed African country.

White Man with Black Bread

January 2007 •German

Christof Wackernagel, best known in Germany as an actor and former member of the Red Army Faction ("RAF") lives in Mali. In his compelling portrait, Jonas Grosch shows a man who simply cannot stand still if he senses injustice. The courage to stand up for one’s beliefs coupled with vanity? However one chooses to look at it, it is easy to imagine what made him connect with the "RAF". With his irrepressible will for freedom, Christof Wackernagel gets entangled in the horrors of day-to-day life in Africa.

Io sono nata viaggiando

November 2013 •Italian

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.

Back To Africa

April 2008 •English

Gorillas in the Mist

September 1988 •English

The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

Der lange Weg ans Licht

February 2008 •German

Frauen, Masken und Dämonen

June 1948 •German

Documentary about Africa that includes footage from Hans Schomburgk's numerous African expeditions. The film footage was shot between 1913 and 1932.

TAÏ: 33 days in the last primary West African forest

June 2024 •French

After having discovered the TAÏ forest 6 months earlier , The exporer Nico Mathieux promised himself that he would be comming back to try and be the first ever to traverse the very last primal forest of west africa from north to south

British Settler Life in Kenya

September 1944 •English

This 1944 black and white silent film provides brief glimpses of the lifestyle among Kenya's white/European settlers during the Second World War.