Documentary Educational Resources - Geography / Africa / Zimbabwe / All Films

Machanic Manyeruke

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 10:13:33 GMT

This is a feature-length ethnographic film on the life of Zimbabwe’s gospel music legend, Machanic Manyeruke, considered by many the “father” of gospel music in Zimbabwe. An intimate film about family, faith, culture and music exploring the sources of Manyeruke’s persistently popular music, its impact in contextualizing Christian faith in local Shona culture, and how his music, and his very person, reflect fundamental forces of Christian growth in Zimbabwe and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Selected Screenings & Awards

IndieFEST Film Awards, USA, 2023

Faith in Film: Int’l Film Festival, USA, 2022

Africa World Documentary Film Festival, USA, 2022

Amsterdam Int’l Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2021

Religion/Faith, Docs Without Borders Film Festival, USA, 2022

Selected, feature documentary, Detroit Trinity Int’l Film Festival, USA, 2022

Accolade Global Film Competition, USA, 2022

Bright Future Independent Film Festival, Sweden, 2021

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Democrats

Tue, 9 Oct 2018 15:11:00 GMT

Democrats
Buy Now: $340.00

In the wake of long-time leader Robert Mugabe's contentious 2008 presidential win, Zimbabwe took a historic step forward by convening a bipartisan constitutional committee as the country tried to evolve past its years of corrupt, authoritarian leadership. Two men from rival political parties were appointed to the committee: Paul Mangwana and Douglas Mwonzora, opposites in politics and personality, but both passionate and united in their ambition to deliver a historic new foundation for a reformed nation. Should they fail at securing maximum influence for their respective parties on the provisions in the new constitution, dire consequences loom for each. Democrats was filmed over the course of three years with unprecedented access to the two political rivals overseeing the committee, offering a rare, first-hand account of a country's first steps towards democracy.

Following a bitter war of liberation, Robert Mugabe became president of Zimbabwe in 1980. Under his leadership, the country made educational and economic progress until Mugabe evolved into a more dictatorial leader as opponents were put down and civil rights restricted. In 1999, in light of rising demands for reform, a new party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), rose up to challenge Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. After a decade of strife, in 2009 the two parties formed a coalition government with Mugabe agreeing to share power with the leader of the MDC, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. It was up to the rival parties? two representatives, Mangwana and Mwonzora, to rise to the daunting challenge of creating a constitution to lead their nation to prosperity and freedom. But with Mugabe increasingly stubborn about stepping down and both constitutional leaders facing death threats, will the nation move forward or erupt into chaos?By documenting the contentious process of drafting a new constitution, Democrats offers a fascinating glimpse at the political mechanics of a modern African country struggling toward democratic change.

“Even the slyest political satire couldn't outdo this riveting docu study of Zimbabwe's troubled coalition government.”
— Variety

“Outstanding, urgent, vivid… Finally a film that deserves to be called necessary.”
— New York Times

“As excellent a documentary about politics as you will ever see.”
— Village Voice

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Feature Length Film, Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival, USA, 2016

Best Documentary Feature, Tribeca Film Festival, USA, 2015

Best Director, One World Human Rights Film Festival, Prague, 2015

Reel Talent Award, Special Jury Mention, CPH:DOX, 2014

Nominee, Best Feature Documentary, Best Production, Cinema Eye, 2015

Audience Award, Budapest Documentary Film Festival, 2015

Best International Documentary, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, USA, 2015

Freedom Award, Tel Aviv Docaviv Int'l Documentary Film Festival, 2015

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One Man's Journey series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

One Man's Journey series
Buy Now: $705.00

One Man's Journey is a three-part series featuring naturalist/explorer/filmmaker Robert Perkins paddling his canoe through his personal and geographic journeys. All three films were broadcast on WGBH in the winter of 2005.

“One Man's Journey... is an adventure story, but not the kind with bravado or derring-do. Instead, it's the contemplative, solitary kind... Much of the film consists of radiant nature shots narrated by Mr. Perkins as he reflects on the meaning of life... the movie is also unexpectedly stirring, informed by Mr. Perkins's considerable, if dark, charm, and the beauty of the remote landscapes he is drawn to. (The film's) meditative style becomes hypnotic...”
— New York Times

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One Man's Journey, Part III

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 13:51:00 GMT

One Man's Journey, Part III
Buy Now: $320.00

The Crocodile River explores how crossing international borders and emotional boundaries enables two people of vastly different cultures - one American and one African - to find common ground. The film begins when Perkins embarks on a ten-week exploration of the Limpopo River in southern Africa with Bonus Lunga, a Zimbabwean man who had never left his small village on the shores of Lake Cariba. Perkins' initial goal is to investigate the Africa behind the headlines, but he soon finds himself challenging his own assumptions and stereotypes about Africans. Both travelers come to unique discoveries about the river, its region, its people and each other. The result is a remarkable tale of friendship and the discovery of joy, resilience, and human connection amidst political and economic suffering. About the One Man's Journey series One Man's Journey is a three-part series featuring naturalist/explorer/filmmaker Robert Perkins paddling his canoe through his personal and geographic journeys. All three films were broadcast on WGBH in the winter of 2005.

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African Christianity Rising

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 13:30:00 GMT

African Christianity Rising
Buy Now: $320.00

Christianity's explosive growth in Africa was totally unexpected at the dawn of independence from colonial rule and is part of a startling reversal in world history. Christianity is no longer the religion of the West. Over two-thirds of the world's Christians now live in the global South — with Africa growing the fastest.

With guidance from leading scholars, these films document the vitality and changing nature of Christianity in Africa. They explore the ways in which it is has become increasingly popular by becoming increasingly African — that is, by becoming rooted more authentically in local cultures. In Ghana and Zimbabwe, where we did our principal filming, we saw that this means emphasizing healing, for instance, or dancing as spiritual discipline, or addressing the multiplicity of spirits that are part and parcel of the world most Africans know.

The films include the personal dramas of ordinary people wrestling with unmistakable, and at times gripping, human problems: a young Pentecostal woman struggling to overcome bitterness toward her mother, or a teenager wracked by poverty, depression and guilt, who has been persuaded by a traditional healer that hateful relatives have placed a curse on her life. Her Methodist pastor brings in the church's "prayer group" to pray against any spiritual powers that she, and they, suspect might be at work.

Such stories are illuminated by leading thinkers on the subject, like Archbishop Peter Sarpong of Ghana, a pioneer in introducing African cultures into Christian worship, and Kwame Bediako, one of Africa's leading theologians. Furthermore, filming characters on routine "missions" to North America points to the impact African Christianity is having in the West, at a time when African congregations are taking over old churches in Holland, Norway and Sweden, for example, and the ten largest churches in Britain are African.

The Complete Educational Edition includes 23 Educational Extras providing biographical sketches of key commentators, more detailed portraits of specific church communities, and the daily work of a traditional obosum priestess in Ghana competing for business with a prophet-founded church nearby.

Part One: Stories from Ghana (77 min, 2013)

Educational Extras: Ghana (126 min, 2013)

Part Two: Stories from Zimbabwe (74 min, 2013)

Educational Extras: Zimbabwe (99 min, 2013)

“The most penetrating and informative material I have ever seen on African Christianity, bringing out its vitality & variety without ever sensationalizing or exoticizing.”
— Terence Ranger, Professor of African History, Oxford

“Striking, powerful and clarifying. These films pack more information and present it more tellingly than would vast areas of print.”

—Andrew Walls, Founder, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, Univ. of Edinburgh, & The Journal of Religion in Africa

“Teaching how Africa’s world religions intersect with indigenous belief systems pose daunting pedagogical challenges, especially in the West. Ault’s impressive documentaries effectively challenge the sensationalism notoriously persistent even among intelligent lay learners . . . and are essential teaching tools in African studies.”
—Olufemi Vaughan, Professor Africana Studies, Bowdoin College

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