Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation
Saturday 20 February 2pm-5.00pm
BFI Southbank (near Royal Festival Hall)
Belvedere Road SE1
Tube: Waterloo.
Tickets ₤5, best to book early
Phone 0207 928 3232
www.bfi.org.uk/southbank
Never before seen blockbuster movie about African indepedence filmed from an African perspective !
From the director that brought you “Killer of Sheep,” and “To Sleep with Anger.”
Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation tells the story of Sam Nujoma, the first president of Namibia, who fought for his country's Independence from South Africa. Burnett uses a visionary cinematic language to present sixty years of African history through the eyes of an extraordinary man. This daring film is the first to be produced by the government of Namibia, a remarkable economic effort and and a gamble on African cinematography.
Charles Burnett's Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation tells the rise to power of Nujoma (Carl Lumbly), a prominent leader in Namibia's struggle for independence from South Africa, and that country's first president. Opening when Nujoma was 16 years old and the country is under constant oppression from South Africa, the young man learns that he is the direct descendant of royalty. He sets off to live with an aunt, and befriends a religious man (Danny Glover) who has maintained a low profile after legal troubles stemming from a suspicious car accident. Eventually Nujoma, in the face of severe racism, forms the SWAPO political movement that, with the assistance of some foreign governments, eventually earns Namibia its independence.