Hawai‘i Pacific University Viewpoints Films Available for Classroom Use Fall 2004–Spring 2010 Compiled by Phyllis Frus Note: Films with titles not bolded are related to Viewpoints but were not shown as part of the weekly series.
AFRICA Chocolat (1988, 106 min) PCH 773 Dir. Claire Denis. A young woman raised in a French colony (now Cameroon) returns for a visit and remembers her childhood in a flashback, focusing on the relationship between her mother and Protée, the family’s loyal servant. Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998, 70 min) PKI 863 Dir. Michel Ocelot. Animated film recounting the tale of a clever, courageous boy born in an African village under a terrible curse. Moolaadé (2004, 124 min) PMO 860 Set in Burkina Faso, this feature film by famed Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène tells the story of a woman who takes on the village elders to oppose female circumcision. Throw Down Your Heart (2008, 97 min) MTH 032 Dir. Sascha Paladino. Follows American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little-known African roots of the banjo and record an album. This boundary-breaking documentary celebrates the beauty and complexity of an Africa that is rarely seen in the media today. Tsotsi (2005, 94 min) PTS 859 Dir. Gavin Hood. Winner of the Oscar for best foreignlanguage film, Tsotsi depicts a homeless South African boy’s journey after he commits a violent crime. Although it is based on Athol Fugard’s only novel, written in English, Hood chose to film in Tsotsitaal, a hybrid patois widely spoken in South African townships, which he calls “ghetto” or “gangster” language. War Dance (2007, 105 min) BWA 185Dir. Sean Fine and Andrea Nix. Three children living in a displacement camp in northern Uganda compete in their country’s national music and dance festival.
ANIMÉ Grave of the Fireflies (See films about War.) Kirikou and the Sorceress (See films about Africa.) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (See Dystopian Visions.) Persepolis (See films about Iran.) Scanner Darkly, A (See Dystopian Visions.)