Dr. Ralph H. Wolfe Viewing Center

Call Number: DVD00232

by Cheick Oumar Sissoko; Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux; Sotigui Kouyaté; Bala Moussa Keita; Salif Keïta; Fatoumata Diawara; Kino International Corporation.; Kora Films (Firm); Centre national de production cinématographique du Mali.;

Format: DVD

Language: Bambara with English subtitles,

Publisher: New York : Kino on Video, 2003.

Notes: Originally released in 1999 (102 mins.);

Summary: Based on chapters 33-37 of Genesis told from an African perspective, the film portrays the bitter rivalry between the brothers Jacob and Esau.

Also: Available on VHS (VHS00316);

OCLC #: 53401408

Call Number: VHS00335

by Cheick Oumar Sissoko; Ibrahima Toure; Idrissa Ouedraogo; Kora Films (Firm); Centre national de production cinématographique du Mali.; Direction de la production cinématographique du Burkina-Faso.; Westdeutscher Rundfunk.; California Newsreel (Firm);

Format: VHS

Language: Bambara and Peul with English subtitles

Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : California Newsreel, 1995.

Notes: Originally released in 1995 (94 mins.);

Summary: A tyrant throws his city into conflict and chaos when he allows his randy, dwarf son to reject an arranged marriage to the slim local beauty in order for him to pursue the girl’s larger, married mother. The tyrant then sets his own eyes on the girl, making the situation even worse. An epic set in the legendary past of Mali (West Africa) to provide a biting allegory of present-day African politics. Through the story of the downfall of Guimba the tyrant, the filmmaker foretells a similar fate for the many dictators who still pillage the continent. He frames his film with the appearance of a griot, a traditional African storyteller who passes down the “wisdom of the ancestors”, looking to the values and legends of the African past for inspiration and guidance in reconstructing well-governed, self-sufficient nations.

OCLC #: 36446384