Africa: Revealed Through Literature: DVDs

An empty Coke bottle drops from the sky near Xixo, an African San hunter, but after it causes trouble to the group, he tries to return the bottle to the gods who must have dropped it.

Based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a five-star-hotel manager who uses his wits and persuasion in striving to save more than 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus from being massacred by the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 Rwandan conflict.

In 1994, having been released from his long imprisonment, Nelson Mandela is elected as the first president of post-apartheid South Africa. Racial tension runs high, even in the president's offices, and especially among the members of his half black, half Afrikaner security team. As hosts of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, South Africa's low ranked national team, the Springboks, have a berth in the tournament. Mandela begins makeing public appearances supporting the team, and meets privately with captain Francois Pienaar, encouraging him to inspire his teammates to victory. The Springboks' new slogan is "One team, One nation." President Mandela is betting that if they win the Cup, it might even be a bit true.

In a fictional African country, a rich, self-made businessman and member of the post-colonial ruling elite takes on a third wife to show the world his wealth, only to be stricken by a curse resulting in impotency. His efforts at getting cured lead to disasterous yet comical results.

DVD release of episodes from the television program, Nightline, originally airing March 8-10, 2000. Describes the harsh reality of the AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe, the hardest hit by the disease in Africa.

Employes a mixture of interviews, slave narratives, and dramatization. Tells the story of the impact of the Atlantic slave trade. Takes the viewer from the House of Slaves on Goree Island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, to the village of Juffere on the Gambia River.

"A documentary about how rapid, voluntary immigration from Africa and the Caribbean is transforming the "African-American" narrative." -- Movie trailer.

"Christianity, Islam, and a broad range of indigenous religions coexist side by side in Africa, in many cases blending into unique hybrids. This program--an inquiry into the nature of the continent's spiritual practices--spotlights the Reverend Pastor Benoît D. Agbaossi, supreme head of the Celestial Church of Christ, in Benin, and footage of an exorcism and The Ceremony of the Infertile Woman; the village of Kukoe, Ghana, where women accused of witchcraft find welcome and sanctuary; the Rifai Sufis of Cairo, who provide insights into the meaning of Sufism; Yin believers of the Niger River, who venerate water spirits, and footage of the Holey Horey Ceremony; and a pilgrimage to the Sof Omar Cave, in Ethiopia, where a blend of Christianity, Islam, and animism is practiced"--Container.

"On the eve of the year 2000, Abderrahmane Sissako, a Mauritanian filmmaker living in France, goes home to visit his father in a small village in Mali. At the post office, he encounters a young woman. A relationship develops, while on the streets of the village, daily life goes on peacefully and unchanged as a new millennium arrives"--Container.