Documentaries about Africa.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Quite a specific but also quite a broad request I guess. I watched a couple of Panorama films today, one was about the conflict in Somalia and the other was about immigration, which showed some of the ways immigrants get into Britain - it was fascinating but also very harrowing. I would particularly reccommend the Panorama film about immigration to people, it should be available on BBC iPlayer.

Anyway, I'm up for seeing some more films about Africa in general really, the whole continent leaves me fascinated. I wonder if there's anything about Ethiopia and the famine (the documentary Starsuckers has a bit in it about Ethiopia and how Live Aid actually helped to worsen the problem - I would definitely reccommend this film in general and its actually worthy of its own thread), as that is of interest to me. Also, Somalia is of interest but indeed if any comrades can reccommend docs about Africa, its nations and its struggles, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

Another documentary I'd like to reccommend is Invisible Children. Its an amateur production by 3 American students that went to Uganda. The film looks at the war in Uganda, how children have been dragged into the violence and how this has affected them and all the rest of it. It was very harrowing and did bring me to tears but it taught me a lot about the conflict there too.

[bailey_187]

go on Al Jazeera' s website, it has a series u can watch online called about some African states history since formal indepedence. its really interesting IMO. Theres only about 5 African states in the series though

[Rakhmetov]

Good Guys Bad Guys Cold War In Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inRpIPR9md0

Cuba Africa Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8nfQX5znuY

[brigadista]

good documentary about the colonisation of Congo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9gaxNPMmFA and follow the links

its in 10 parts

Also
http://www.sprword.com/africa.html

the great african scandal is good

[North Star]

I think there is a stream of this somewhere out there but Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man is a great film.

[bcbm]

i just watched the vice guide to travel: liberia, which was pretty depressing

[praxis1966]

Well, there's Black Gold, which deals with the economics of the coffee trade and how it affects African farmers (particularly in Ethiopia)... And yes, it discusses what a sham fair trade labeling is. It originally aired as part of PBS's Independent Lens series, but I think you'd either have to buy it or DL from someplace since it wasn't actually a PBS production (all of their original programming is usually viewable on their website for free). Info page for the film here.

Then there's also The Devil Came on Horseback. Of course, some might view it as condescending since it's all done through the eyes of an American former marine who was sent in as a military observer by the African Union who kinda gets made some kind of hero by the filmmaker, but it does a decent job of documenting the atrocities in Darfur.

EDIT: Almost forgot, PBS also did a decent job covering South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in a two hour documentary called Facing the Truth. It seems they don't have that video up either...