Sankofa is an Akan word that means, “Go back and reclaim or fetch.” Written, directed and produced by Ethiopian-born filmmaker Haile Gerima, Sankofa is a powerful film which is focused on the Maafa - the African holocaust. Written from an African/African-American perspective, this story is vastly different from the distorted representations of African people that Hollywood generally provides. Through the perspective of “Mona”, an African-American woman who visits Ghana, her ancestral experience magically emerges on a new world plantation as the servant “Shola.” We share the life she endures as a slave and experiences her growing consciousness and transformation in that environment and context. There is no other film produced by an American director that can compare to the craft & significance of this film.
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