AndualemX

“I am so tired of waiting, Aren’t you, For the world to become good And beautiful and kind?” — Langston Hughes

[andualemx]

Brilliant work from Heineken. Unlike the failed cringe-worthy #PepsiMoment ad by Pepsi, Heineken’s #OpenYourWorld ad actually nails it. If you haven't seen this, you should!

[ethiopienne]

‘Henrietta Lacks’ and the Limits of Well-Meaning Art

The Oprah-led HBO film is moving — but raises as many questions as it answers

The Lacks’ story is at once singular — certainly, HeLa cells are unique in their massive application — and emblematic of a larger, shameful pattern: Black people have long served as unwitting, involuntary subjects for (sometimes violent) medical research. Whether from HeLa cells or the Tuskegee Experiment, a 40-year medical study in which hundreds of unconsenting black men were denied treatment for syphilis so researchers could study its effects, countless medical advancements have come as a direct result of materials or labor forcibly extracted from black bodies. That their families rarely see the fruits of the donors’ sacrifice — and that black people face unique barriers when trying to access healthcare — compounds the original exploitation.

Both the book and film version of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks grapple with Henrietta’s history, weaving together details of her short life and her family’s journey to uncover it with a deft, compassionate hand. In the process, the projects raise larger questions about ethics, discrimination, and erasure within the medical industry and the country writ large. The film is especially affecting: that the Lacks family never sees compensation for Henrietta’s gift to modern science feels viscerally wrong; seeing their anguish embodied drives home the magnitude of that intimate injustice. But just as it’s easier to identify racism than racists, so too does The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks stop short of directly indicting specific parties on the family’s behalf. The resulting film is moving and accessible, but it offers no absolution. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks — and the circumstances around its production, which mirror the film’s central issues — instead poses the question of whether justice for the Lacks family is even possible.

[dj1996]

[sarraounia]

Some of Ousmane Sembène’s notables movies. His full filmography can be seen here.

Faat Kiné tells the story of a single, independent mother of two, and successful businesswoman. She raises her two children alone after the fathers ran away from their responsibilities. She faces pressures from people around her who find it problematic for a woman, especially a mother like her to remain unmarried: even her children try to set up dates for her.

Xala is about a man of influence who decides to take a third wife. During the wedding night, he is unable to consume the  marriage and decides to seek the aid of marabouts as he believes that he’s the victim of a curse to make him impotent (at first, he suspects his two wives). He also faces problems in his professional life and starts to lose his “wealth” . Xala is an image to criticize the uselessness of African leaders who look up to the former colonial powers even years after independences.

Guelwaar is a story of a man who opposes French colonialism and its remains, firmly believing that issues such as corruption faced by the people of Senegal come directly from their willingness to accept foreign aid. He dies one day and at the time of his funeral, his family finds out that his body has disappeared. They later find out that Guelwaar’s body was accidentally buried in a Muslim cemetery which causes troubles as Guelwaar was Catholic and they want his body to give him a proper burial.

Thiaroye Camp is based on the true story of the Thiaroye massacre during which soldiers and prisoners of war from francophone west and central Africa were killed by French officers after they asked for their compensations and complained about the discrimination they face. They served alongside the French army during the War of Liberation and the rights they were promised to them were later denied. It was censored in Senegal and was banned in France for several years.

La Noire de…tells the story of a Senegalese woman who moves to France to work as a maid for a family that exploits her. She works overtime, has to do everything her employers desire and is isolated. She becomes so desperate that one day she decides to pack her bags to escape but she “opts” for suicide, at the last time.

Moolaade depicts a village that becomes divided after a group of girls flee a female genital mutilation ceremony to seek refuge in the house of Collé Ardo, a woman who managed to save her own daughter from the practice. Collé efforts to protect young girls from mutilation and her overall stance against FGM pit her against the villagers.

Borom Sarret is a horse cart driver in Dakar. He expects to be paid for his services in order to support himself but he isn’t vocal about it and most people can’t afford to pay him anyway, as they are in the same situation.

[andualemx]

Some amazing works by the late Ousmane Sembene. These are absolutely hands down some of the greatest movies of all time.