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hndth
and inter-
v in th li oft ho ch to' n1
According to the film Sankofa, it' by
through 0 of our own, a ch n person n
rti t, a poet, a pirituall dr, ore n piritual
drummer-one ho h been called on to s
from hi, ul and deliver it' .messazes
We call thi person "divin ly inspired" and his
m is often powerfully profound as if he is
inging the songs of our very own souls, and per-
haps he . . He mo u, touches us, makes
think. He lifts us up spiritually and emotionally
to a higher perspective, so we can (if we choose)
return to our pat and find our way home.
For many of us ho have seen the film "Sank-
of a" this may not be the underlying m of it'
plot, but quite possibly the source of it's creation-
a divin m ge from a divine m
pi n-born Howard Unive ity prof;
director Hail Gerim .
I caught up with Gerima in W hington, D.C.,
his hom for the past twenty-odd years ince leav­
ing his nati Ethiopia. He had re urned from
Ghana th night before where his film had opened
to standing-room-only cro , and yet his relaxed
dem nor put me immediately at e . Gerim ,a
man in his I te forti with a short, ilvering
beard, prefers to called by-hi first nam Haile
(pronounced Hi-Lay). He has an almost celestial
manner about bini, li e a person who hasjust been
meditating. Hi soft accent only adds to the eff
"YE ,THIS HAS been a very enriching
rience," he sid, referring to th making of Sank-
Shola (Oyafunmike Ogunlano) "Mother" Nunu
(.f.Jexandra Duah) for advice.
In a racially-mixed suburb on th outskirts of
Richmond, Virginia, a city that once fought to it's.
death for the cause of slavery, I met with
Shirikiana Aina, co-producer ofthe film Sankofa.
She was standing behind a table in a shopping­
mall movie th ter, talking with moviegoers and
folding Black T-shirts printed with th name of
the film. To be hon t, I was a little urprised to
see her the wife of the film' . director and
co-producer of the film herself. lling T- hirts
and handing out flyers. But, I was soon to
discover, Aina and her husband Haile Gerima are
travelling around the.country distributing Sank­
ofa themselves.
Why!
According to .Aina, skitti h Hollywood had
thought th ir film "too Black" and not "commer­
cially viable" , and when they did finally offer to
distribute, after Sankofa had pro i If by
winning veral awards and rave revi , th
terms were not tisfactory. So Gerirna and Aina
declined their offers and blazed-out on th ir own
inst d.
Since then, th two Howard Univ ity profes-
sors ha become overnight he . Tbey ha
been interviewed by doze of magazi and
newspape and have appeared on countl T.V.
hows around th country.
Sankofa, which has a new tan ard for
independent films, h grown from a single show­
ing at a rented Washington, D.C. movie th ter,
I than a year ago, to filling theaters in the
SHIRIKlANA AINA
Co-Produc r of San ofa.
S , E\U'O ,and Africa. Currently it
ling 'ty by city round country, top-
ofa. "Th piritual force behind it had n v ry
evident in my mind from the b ginning. E n
before e ot in Jamaica, for m n
initially, without even havingplanned it, nded up
pouring libations before fired the first fram , ..
h 'd.
A(XX)rding to cti
throughout Afri m
tim formal, mony here you pour a little bit
of whatever you re drinking on th ground in
memory of your a o.
"The drummer in tb film [Kofi Ghanaba], who
is also a spiritual drummer in 1 life, ould do
this for in a very profound y," he . d. "He
would make ch calling on the piri to guide
us and to make the filming that day or harmo-
"We call thi per on
t divinely in pired t
and hi me sage is
often powerfully'
profound as if he is
singing the songs of
our very own souls,
and perhaps he is."
HAILE GERIMA
Writer, Director, Proucer and Editor of.
San Of8.
nicusly."
Gerima zplain that no of thi
planned, and that th spirituality of the film
med to evolve naturally from the script.
"Initially there were other considerations in
making Sankofa," said Gerima. "We were focused
on telling a tory, the history, etc. But I think
while going through the journey of trying to pro­
duce the film, new things began to emerge. The
realities of the locations themselves, th tings
where the given histories and events had taken
place, I think they literally induced some of th
images. Even during the location hunting while
trying to decide where to shoot, the locations pro­
vided me with certain images that I could grasp,
and then translate onto the film. "
"For example, the dungeon [in the opening
scenes of the film] is a place where literally mil­
lions of Africans were deported from; and it still
has with it the stench of the event. You can feel it
while walking through there," he said. It jumps
ping in every town wh re there' any audience.
It is due to hit the W C t by mid-fall. Sank­
ofa is being called a " healing film " and according
to Gerima audience membe have come up to
him after th movie crying, and thanking him for
Sootbingtheirold ounds. It gi n all Ameri-
cans a chance (for once) to e lavery
from an African-American pe
out of the walls at you. I would sit th re for hours
just looking and sm Bing the pla nd the
images would come to m ."
GERIMA THAT the dramatic nature
of the film was a tim being dedicate by th
locations, and by th idual memories left there
by p t events. ,
ki of J h t
ere film ,
to it around m tim tarting t o clo in t
morning to h un ris ; And while sitting th re
lone, i w so pitch dark that I was ble to
th eyes staring at me through th can fi lds." H
was referring to the ey of long-dead slaves.
"I believ that when you sit silently and pen­
sively, reflect in moments of introspection, your
mind-oryour antennae if you haven't cut it off­
is capable of receiving this information, like tele­
grams from th soul or from the past," he added.
"When you are younger, you tend to believe tha
all you do is your will," he id. "But as you age,
you begin to realize that certain parts of life are
meant to be, and that most of the time you are j t
a vehicle for spiritual ide "
If you would like to bring ankofa to your local
theater call Ada Babino at (202)529-0220.
- J remy Aach r
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ancestors
"Only th n," .
com our tru 1
di i n
Ail ,"do we gin to ov r­
id mov forw rd in iii
- J r my F1scher