The joyous and vibrant sound of rai -
a centuries-old Algerian folk music known for its often racy and politically
charged lyric, and influenced over the years by flamenco, jazz and, most recently
rap-gorgeously suffuse 100% Arabica’s culture-clash
story.
The mystery and wonder of modern-day Haiti come alive in this two-film set based on the work of writer-director Dany Laferriere with the two films How to Conquer America in One Night (96 mins) and On the Verge of a Fever (88 mins).
GREAT AFRICAN FILMS, VOLUME 2: Tasuma / Sia, the
Dream of the Python -
The second installment in this series of award-winning
films from Africa includes Kollo Sanou's Tasuma, the Fighter (2003, 90 minutes, French
and Jula with English subtitles), a comic look at the impact of French colonialism
on Africa; Retired from the French army, Burkinabe soldier Sogo Sanou waits patiently
for his pension, which he plans to use to build a grain mill for the women of
his village - Next is Dani Kouyate's Sia, the Dream of the Python (2001,
96 minutes, Bambara with English subtitles), a modern adaptation of a seventh-century
African legend: A poor village decides it must make a human sacrifice to a mystical
snake god to guarantee a better future; Sia, the most beautiful woman in the
village, is chosen for the ritual, but she runs away in revolt - 186 minutes.
