In the Footsteps of Bembeya Jazz(2007)

Running With The Beest(en)

Djembefola(fr)

African drummer leaves village, makes it big in the world. Great drumming!!

House of Children(en)

A glimpse of life as seen through young people at a Zimbabwean children's home.

Africa Blood and Guts(it)

A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.

Steve e il Duca(it)

In 1999, on the occasion of the centenary of Ellington's birth, Franco Maresco commissioned Steve Lacy to perform ten songs by the Duke, which were recorded and filmed in Palermo. In 2024, twenty years after Lacy's death and fifty years after that of Ellington, that unpublished material re-emerges from the archive of the great Sicilian director and becomes a documentary.

Pygmies: The Children of the Jungle(en)

The adventurer, Ivan Bulík, traveled all through Africa. However, one of his dreams still eluded him: He desired to capture the life and customs of the smallest people on Earth, to find the undisturbed civilization of Pygmies.

Land Rush(en)

A partnership between the Government of Mali and an American agricultural investor may see 200-square kilometers of Malian land transformed into a large-scale sugar cane plantation. Land Rush documents the hopes, fears, wishes, and demands of small-scale subsistence farmers in the region who look to benefit, or lose out, from the deal.

A Walk to Beautiful(en)

"A Walk to Beautiful" tells the story of five women in Ethiopia suffering from devastating childbirth injuries. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. The trials they endure and their attempts to rebuild their lives tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.

Let's Get Lost(en)

Documentary about jazz great Chet Baker that intercuts footage from the 1950s, when he was part of West Coast Cool, and from his last years. We see the young Baker, he of the beautiful face, in California and in Italy, where he appeared in at least one movie and at least one jail cell (for drug possession). And, we see the aged Baker, detached, indifferent, his face a ruin. Includes interviews with his children and ex-wife, women companions, and musicians.

Prophecy - The Africa of Pasolini(it)

Pasolini seeks in Africa the peasant and revolutionary authenticity he had sought in the Roman villages. This hope will end in a new disappointment: Africa is a reservoir of irremediable contradictions that will explode in the massacres of yesterday and today. It is an Africa that starts from the outskirts of Rome, but thousands of non-EU citizens flock to the sub-proletariat of the villages.

Yes-Ja! The Kwaito Documentary(en)

A musical trip through southern Africa to the tunes of the post-apartheid generation. Kwaito music originated in the 1950's in the dusty streets of South Africa's townships such as Sophiatown, Pimville and subsequently in Soweto. It is inseparable from the Pantsuela culture of the rebellious youth gangs during the Apartheid regime. Since there was no money for musical instruments or for extravagant costumes, they concentrated on their dancing and singing skills and, turning the streets into their stage. Currently almost fifty years later - Kwaito culture is experiencing a renaissance in a manner completely inconceivable in those days.

Red Light Solo(en)

A feature-length tour of Amsterdam's thriving jazz scene.

Frantz Fanon, trajectoire d'un révolté(fr)

Frantz Fanon alone embodies all the issues of French colonial history. Martinican resistance fighter, he enlisted, like millions of colonial soldiers, in the Free Army out of loyalty to France and the idea of freedom that it embodies for him. A writer, he participated in the bubbling life of Saint-Germain with Césaire, Senghor and Sartre, debating tirelessly on the destiny of colonized peoples. As a doctor, he revolutionized the practice of psychiatry, seeking in the relations of domination of colonial societies the foundations of the pathologies of his patients in Blida. Activist, he brings together through his action and his history of him, the anger of peoples crushed by centuries of colonial oppression. But beyond this exceptional journey which makes sensitive the permanence of French colonialism in the Lesser Antilles at the gates of the Algerian desert, he leaves an incomparable body of work which has made him today one of the most studied French authors across the Atlantic.

Die weiße Gefahr(fr)

How the Beatles Changed the World(en)

The fascinating story of the cultural, social, spiritual, and musical revolution ignited by the coming of the Beatles. Tracing the impact that these four band members had, first in their native Britain and soon after worldwide, it reappraises the band and follows their path from young subversives to countercultural heroes. Featuring fresh, revealing interviews with key collaborators as well as a wealth of rarely-seen archival footage, this is a bold new take on the most significant band in the history of music and their enduring impact on popular culture.

Dear Director(en)

During the summer of 1980, the American jazz concert pianist Kazzrie Jaxen writes a 16 pages long letter to director Ingmar Bergman. His film 'From the Life of the Marionettes' have sent her on a dramatic inner journey, making her realize that she is not alone in her own body.

White Man with Black Bread(de)

Christof Wackernagel, best known in Germany as an actor and former member of the Red Army Faction ("RAF") lives in Mali. In his compelling portrait, Jonas Grosch shows a man who simply cannot stand still if he senses injustice. The courage to stand up for one’s beliefs coupled with vanity? However one chooses to look at it, it is easy to imagine what made him connect with the "RAF". With his irrepressible will for freedom, Christof Wackernagel gets entangled in the horrors of day-to-day life in Africa.

Namibia: The Spirit of Wilderness(en)

With more than 300 days a year, the sun dominates this country so much that it’s even shining from their flag. It’s a barren land, sometimes it’s like it’s from another planet but still familiar. It is land of contrasts and colours with wide landscapes and fascinating deserts. Influenced by various cultures during colonization and now reborn from the shadows of Apartheid in 1990, Namibia gives a beautiful collage of culture, language, art, music and food. Everyone who loves an adventure should travel to Namibia, the precious corner of our world full of incredible natural wonders. The experience of endless landscapes and an unparalleled blaze of colour make Namibia unforgettable. NAMIBIA – THE SPIRIT OF WILDERNESS invites you on a trip whose fascination will never let you go: From the Namib Desert over the breath-taking Fish River Canyon to the spectacular Etosha National Park where you will see wild elephants, antelopes, giraffes, zebras and lions.

Return of a President(en)

In a fascinating geopolitical drama, Danish filmmaker Mik-Meyer closely follows Ravalomanana as he attempts to return from exile in South Africa to Madagascar, under the threat of arrest and bodily harm.

Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast(en)

In the late 1990s, iconic photographer Bruce Weber barely managed to convince legendary actor Robert Mitchum (1917-97) to let himself be filmed simply hanging out with friends, telling anecdotes from his life and recording jazz standards.