Critically acclaimed director Charles Burnett's latest film follows the legend of Samuel Nujoma (Carl Lumbly), Namibia's first president and prominent leader in the struggle for independence from apartheid South Africa. The film opens when Nujoma is 16 years old, the country is under constant oppression from South Africa, and the young man learns that he is the direct descendant of royalty. He sets off as a young man to live with an aunt, and befriends a religious man (Danny Glover) who has maintained a low profile after legal troubles stemming from a staged 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. Later on, a boycott and massacre of protestors turn up the heat, forcing Nujoma into exile.



Charles Burnett, Namibia, 2007, 161m. In Oshi Ovambo, Oshi Herero, Damara/nama, Afrikaans, German, Russian, Chinese and English.


2008 | 15th New York African Film Festival | NEW YORK, Usa | APRIL 9th to MAY 26th | www.africanfilmny.org |
> Selection
New York Premiere