Film 1: Documentaries

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Description for Program

BLACKsmiths of Morocco
Filmmaker: Henry Drewal
Country of Origin: USA/Morocco
SYNOPSIS: Most Moroccan blacksmiths claim roots in Black Africa. For centuries, their enslaved or conscripted ancestors traveled the trans-Saharan caravan routes from West Africa to the fabled fortified city of Sijilmasa in present-day Morocco., and from there to many other places in northern Africa and beyond. Today blacksmiths forge all manners of tools and architectural works -- window grilles, doors, hinges, locks, knockers, and elaborate keys -- with consummate skill.

TAMBU
Filmmaker: Laurie Lambert
Country of Origin: USA/Jamaica
SYNOPSIS: The word “tambu” is used throughout the African Diaspora to describe various drumming traditions and styles. TambuFest is a day-long celebration of diasporic practices of drumming and dance in Jamaica, highlighting cultural groups from Kingston, Port Maria, Islington, Manchioneal, Charlestown, and St. Thomas. “Tambu” is a short film that combines footage from this festival, with archival photographs, to explore how these drumming and dance rituals remember Jamaican histories of slavery, indenture, and survival. Through music and movement, the performers honor and communicate with their ancestors, making these performances a way of sharing ancestral knowledge.

BLACK LIVES MATTER IN BRAZIL
Filmmaker: Gladys Mitchell-Walthour
COUNTRY: USA/Brazil
SYNOPSIS: This documentary includes footage of protests to combat police brutality and harassment of Afro-Brazilians and interviews with key leaders and scholars in the fight for human rights in Brazil. It also includes interviews with scholars and activists from Peru and Argentina as well as experts on Latin America located in the USA. Dr. Gladys Mitchell-Walthour discusses the history of Black resistance since the time of enslavement as well as the need for Afro-descendants to come together to strategize methods to combat racism as a collective.

Sub Unit

• ASWAD

Presenters

• Henry Drewal, UW-Madison

• Laurie Lambert, Fordham University

• Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, North Carolina Central University