From February 12 to March 25, every Thursday evening at 7pm, Films from the African Diaspora from the Penn Library's video collection will be shown in the Van Pelt Library's Film Studies Classroom, room 425 (4th Floor). The screenings are sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies, Latino and Latin American Studies, and the University of Pennsylvania Library.

February 12, 2004 JAMAICA:
The Harder They Come
(1973, 103 min)
A rural Jamaican musician journeys to Kingston in search of fame and fortune. Pushed to desperate circumstances by shady record producers and corrupt cops, he achieves notoriety as a murderous outlaw. This became a cult movie favorite and its release coincided with the increasing acceptance of reggae music in Europe and the United States. Reggae star Jimmy Cliff acts and is one of the musical performers in what is an extraordinary soundtrack.

February 19, 2004 BRAZIL:
Black Orpheus / Orfeu Negro
(1959, 107 min)
Marcel Camus's French-Italian production sets the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice against the colorful background of the carnival in Rio de Janiero. With spectacular photography and a magnificent soundtrack, this film helped popularize bossa nova outside Brazil. It also popularized images of black Brazil and the favelas of Rio that persisted for decades.

February 26, 2004 BRAZIL:
Orfeu
(1999, 112 min)
This Carlos Diegues reworking of "Orfeu Negro" is updated to reflect the violence and danger of a 1990s favela, but it also offers great music and the exuberance of carnival. Caetano Veloso makes a cameo appearance.

March 4, 2004 MARTINIQUE:
Sugar Cane Alley / Rue Cases-Negres
(1984, 107 min)
This tale about French colonial exploitation during the 1930s focuses on a young boy who manages to escape poverty through intellectual pursuit and the aid of his indomitable grandmother.

March 18, 2004 CUBA:
The Last Supper / La Ultima Cena
(1976, 110 min)
This Tomas Gutiirrez Alea historical drama is based on a true incident from Cuban history: a slaveowner in the late 18th century decides to instruct his slaves in the tenets of Christianity by inviting twelve of them to a reenactment of the Last Supper.

March 25, 2004 TBA

Except for "The Harder They Come," all films are in the vernacular with English subtitles. All films begin at 7 p.m. in
the Film Studies Center of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, fourth floor west. Admission is Free. Photo ID is required for admission to the library.

For more information:
Ancil George
Joseph Holub