African Studies

Examines the plight of tens of thousands of children in South Africa who, driven by poverty and dysfunctional family lives, struggle to live on city streets.

Features interviews with young people in South Africa, both white and black, who fought on opposing sides during the country's era of apartheid rule, from youthful cadres engaged in the liberation struggle and members of black township self-defense units engaged in guerrilla war, to the white conscripts in the South African Army's border war and young Afrikaners fearful of social change.

This video traces the undulating route of the River Niger throughout West Africa, from its source in the Republic of Guinea to Nigeria, and discusses how this majestic waterway, as an essential communications and transport link, has molded the history and culture of the region.

This video explores the vitality of ancient African traditions regarding the links between life and death.

Examines the West African religious institution of trokosi, where young women are chosen to serve an indefinite period of servitude for crimes committed long ago by their grandparents and even great-grandparents.

Examines the social and political struggle of South Africa's black community today, when they must deal with the after-effects of decades of apartheid rule.

This video portrait of John "Bob" Stockwell, the son of Protestant missionaries, a former Marine Corps officer and corporate manager, reveals the planning and shaping of a CIA covert operation by focusing on his efforts to overthrow the newly-installed MPLA government in Angola in 1975.

Chronicles the controversial history of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which almost from its inception was characterized by management's political censorship of the Documentary Department and the TV News Department's complicity with the National Party and government security forces.

Examines the educational crisis in South Africa, where the apartheid regime for decades maintained two separate and unequal educational systems, one white and one black, with the consequent miseducation of successive generations of black youth and the destruction of untold human potential.

Examines the Anti-Apartheid Movement at the University of California at Berkeley during 1985-86, which led to similar student protests nationwide.

This docudrama explores the little known situation of African slaves in Latin America in the 19th century, depicting life in runaway slave communities.

This provocative documentary blends interviews with young black people in New York City and in Soweto, South Africa, focusing on the similarities and the contrasts between the lives of black teenagers in both countries.

Examines the rapid spread of the AIDS epidemic in Africa, focusing on the small nation of Rwanda.

Examines the role played by South African photographers in the struggle to end apartheid, featuring interviews with these professionals who talk about their work and aspirations.

Portrays the aesthetic development of twelve artists in Eritrea, whose contemporary art movement was born during the Eritrean People's Liberation Front's thirty-year war against Ethiopian control.

Showcases the view of African life featured in the paintings, drawings and etchings of Betty LaDuke, one of America's most accomplished multicultural artists.

This video follows the world-famous Chicago Children's Choir on their 1996 tour of South Africa and shows how music can convey a message of peace.

This video portrait of Chinua Achebe, one of Africa's greatest authors, examines how the Nigerian-born writer-and modern Africa itself-were shaped by a history of racism and colonialism. Achebe, best known as the author of Things Fall Apart (1958), the first great African novel in the English language, has also written other novels, poetry, children's stories, and criticism.

Examines the cultural roots of traditional dance in Guyana and how numerous cultural influences have been blended in this multicultural society.