Sankofa

Na mate, in my usual style, I won't touch on the plot, characters etc .. This is about me and 3 brothers who went to see this film. Some of us were West African, some Horn African (Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia etc), some Caribbean etc.

These usual jovial, come let we make jokes, guys went to see this film. Throughout the entire film we did not look at each other ONCE, at the end we avoided eye contact as we filed out. My jaw was aching from how hard I must have had it clenched to prevent it from opening and releasing floogates of emotions. Those emotions... man, that film showed me just how much pain there is in us, which we have not faced up to (before we were not allowed, but now we can if we are Lion enough to). I'd like to say we all got a wake up call from that film, and went on to find out more about the middle passage which was whitewashed outta of our schooling. But no, interestingly enough unlike the film's shallow model who does face up to the enslavement past, and grows from it. Some of my friends did the opposite and remain just like the model was like in the begining of the movie. And After watching the film -- again and again -- I can understand why.

This movie best depicted conditions of slavery that I have ever seen. Hearing so many things in books and from school teachers dillutes the mind a little and makes it feel very mild from the way they speak. I was especially in awe how they made it so real yet didn't even hardly show blood at all. I watched it a second time to make sure; it doesn't!

If you are going to watch this on your own accord (i.e.- not in a class where you can't get another copy), PLEASE watch it more than once. I've heard this so many times about so many other movies, but it's awesomly true in this case! 'You can not POSSIBLY get everything w/ one viewing'.

I'm off to write a paper about this movie, but I think I must rent it once more before I get done with the paper to get even more info; there's just that much.

Most older movies and many movies in general like "Song of the South" and "Gone With the Wind" depicted Slavery as an okay instuition. In those films Slaves are depicted as Happy in that institiution, but in this film you see how Slaves really felt. Also you can see their humanity and knowledge where in older films they were depicted as ignorant.

This film is really, really neat for an independent film, and it shows a real slave castle in Gahana. Sankofa is a term that... Well, get the movie and you will learn more about it.

It does a good job of taking you through the film from a slaves point of view. The film uses that interesting "lens" to illustrate just how wrong slavery was. It also gives insight into the family unit among slaves, which may explain the black family today in America. Understanding the history of black families during slavery may be used to help understand the black family today in it's struggles to have cohesiveness.

A very compelling story of what slavery was really like. The sometimes graphic but honest images left a very strong impression on me. No happy go lucky Uncle Toms willing to cater to the Master in all things. This film is one of my alternative favorites but is very hard to find. It should be required viewing for American history courses.

This movie is so complex. Never before had an African writer/director ventured into such unknown territory. This movie is incredible! A black fashion model, who is posing for a fashion shoot amidst the beautiful scenery of Africa, is transported back in time through an African slave trade castle. Great cinematography and artistic creativity. This movie is not only entertainment, it is an experience!