Song from the Forest

25 years ago, Louis Sarno, an American, heard a song on the radio and followed its melody into the Central Africa Jungle and stayed. He than recorded over 1000 hours of original BaAka music. Now he is part of the BaAka community and raises his pygmy son, Samedi. Fulfilling an old promise, Louis takes Samedi to America. On this journey Louis realizes he is not part of this globalized world anymore but globalization has also arrived in the rainforest. The BaAka depend on Louis for their survival. Father and son return to the melodies of the jungle but the question remains: How much longer will the songs of the forest be heard?

Baobab Play

Children and teenagers throw sticks, berries, and leaves at each other from perches in a large baobab tree.

René Vautier, le maquisard à la caméra

Oscar

Brilliantly mixing animated sequences and archival footage, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre paints a touching portrait of virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson.

Komeda, Komeda...

A feature- length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda.

The last Balafon Master

N/um Tchai: The Ceremonial Dance of the !Kung Bushmen

Tchai is the word used by Ju/'hoansi to describe getting together to dance and sing; n/um can be translated as medicine, or supernatural potency. In the 1950's, when this film was shot, Ju/'hoansi gathered for "medicine dances" often, usually at night, and sometimes such dances lasted until dawn.

N!owa T'ama: The Melon Tossing Game

Women from three separate Ju/'hoan bands have gathered at a mangetti grove at !O to play an intense game in which under-tones of social and personal tensions become apparent.

Earl "Fatha" Hines - Blues Alley, Washington DC

A 1975 documentary on the great Blues pianist Earl Hines, one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano.

Daniel Timsit, l’Algérien

Daybreak Express

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

Le point de vue du lion

British Settler Life in Kenya

This 1944 black and white silent film provides brief glimpses of the lifestyle among Kenya's white/European settlers during the Second World War.

Finding Fela

Fela Anikulapo Kuti created the musical movement Afrobeat and used it as a political forum to oppose the Nigerian dictatorship and advocate for the rights of oppressed people. This is the story of his life, music, and political importance.

What Difference Does It Make?

A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.

Brief Tender Light

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

Welcome to Babel

Chinese-Australian artist Jiawei Shen's plans to create an epic work depicting his homeland's tumultuous recent history.

Coach Zoran and His African Tigers

Documentary following Serbian football coach Zoran Đorđević as he helps form South Sudan's first national football team.

James Brown Soul Brother No. 1

The James Brown Story

Step N' Soul