"Life and Debt," Directed by Stephanie
Black and "Africa," Eight-Part Series
on PBS
by Esther
Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic
Talk
about "Life and Debt" and other movies! Click here.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon, the best TV news shows have gone beyond our
borders to give viewers some much needed background. They've
shown dire suffering in other parts of the globe, the U.S.'
role in that suffering and the resulting antipathy sometimes
directed toward us, and the world order this country controls.
Now comes a timely new documentary that examines how the island
nation of Jamaica is being strangled by globalization and $7
billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank. In "Life and Debt,"filmmaker Stephanie
Black deftly shows how policies designed to lift people out
of poverty have the opposite effect. The country, which won
its independence from Britain in 1962, winds up paying off debt
rather than providing even basic needs for its people.
Without
being didactic, preachy or whiny, "Life and Debt"
offers a devastating analysis of how capitalism works for wealthy
Western nations, but often not for the former colonies that
make up most of the world. Slave labor and free natural resources
from colonies were used, starting centuries ago, to crank the
capitalistic engine of today’s wealthy nations. Now those same
former colonies are told to run behind the car and catch up.
With their new freedom, countries like Jamaica must now compete
on a supposedly even playing field with their former rulers
who control banks and banking rules. Black manages the complexity
of the topic by juxtaposing White tourists in a resort with
the life and work of the country’s largely impoverished Black
population.
She
mixes up a personal narrative written by author Jamaica Kincaid,
news show talking heads, interviews with native farmers and business
owners. Haunting images of the island’s beauty and degradation and
poetic visual effects are interfused with the island’s reggae rhythms
and voices.
Africans around the globe are forced routinely to absorb stories
and histories told by those outside our world. "Life and
Debt," which is playing in select cities around the country,
is a rare and fine accomplishment (Theater listings can be found
at lifeanddebt.org.
Against the odds, it manages to give space to another history.
It challenges not only the usual histories, but also how we
are living.
***
I
can't think of another series that has shown the motherland
so startlingly beautiful as "Africa," which is in the midst
of an eight-week run on PBS, Sunday nights through Oct. 28.
Eight one-hour episodes carry the viewer through the vast continent,
from the horn to the cape, from the Sahara to the rainforests,
from Lake Victoria to the Sahel.
Cinematographers
have turned a loving eye toward their subject matter, which includes
some of the last remaining unspoiled landscapes on earth. lush hills
in steep, carved mountainsides in Ethiopia, a beautiful Fulani woman
in the Sahel with gold and jewels woven through her hair, a shoe-billed
stork in Tanzania that looks like a direct descendant of the pterodactyl.
A particular joy is shown in the wide, open skies. So wherever we
are in this Africa, and whatever episode you watch, you will see
a mini-show overhead. In elapsed time, fat clouds pirouette across
the blue backdrop; purple clouds hover over dense foliage in the
Congo basin.
Presented
by National Geographic, Nature and Thirteen/WNET New York, the
series' tone is similar to that of traditional nature shows,
but the approach is not academic, dry or ethnocentric. Each
show focuses on two close-up stories of individuals within their
family and community. These stories, mostly about men but including
some women, do not frame African lives wholly within contexts
of war, famine, political crises or disease, as is so common
to Western media. Also, they lack the type of historical anchoring
that includes the great social upheavals that have decimated
the continent, including slavery and colonialism. Depending
on your view, these omissions might be either a relief or highly
suspicious.
After
wrestling with this question of viewpoint, I feel confident recommending
these shows as inoffensive, thoughtful and meaningful documents
of how life is lived in little pockets all over Africa. Added to
the spectacular scenery, extended sequences about wildlife and dramatic
storytelling is a soundtrack filled with indigenous music that contributes
to the poetic texture of the project. To top it off, our Forever-Brother-from-Another-Planet,
Joe Morton, is the narrator.
Esther Iverem's reviews also appear on the lifestyle
and movies pages of BET.com
Without
being didactic, preachy or whiny, "Life and Debt"
offers a devastating analysis of how capitalism works for wealthy
Western nations, but often not for the former colonies that
make up most of the world. Slave labor and free natural resources
from colonies were used, starting centuries ago, to crank the
capitalistic engine of today’s wealthy nations. Now those same
former colonies are told to run behind the car and catch up.
She
mixes up a personal narrative written by author Jamaica Kincaid,
news show talking heads, interviews with native farmers and business
owners. Haunting images of the island’s beauty and degradation and
poetic visual effects are interfused with the island’s reggae rhythms
and voices. 
I
can't think of another series that has shown the motherland
so startlingly beautiful as "Africa," which is in the midst
of an eight-week run on PBS, Sunday nights through Oct. 28.
Eight one-hour episodes carry the viewer through the vast continent,
from the horn to the cape, from the Sahara to the rainforests,
from Lake Victoria to the Sahel. 
Cinematographers
have turned a loving eye toward their subject matter, which includes
some of the last remaining unspoiled landscapes on earth. lush hills
in steep, carved mountainsides in Ethiopia, a beautiful Fulani woman
in the Sahel with gold and jewels woven through her hair, a shoe-billed
stork in Tanzania that looks like a direct descendant of the pterodactyl.
A particular joy is shown in the wide, open skies. So wherever we
are in this Africa, and whatever episode you watch, you will see
a mini-show overhead. In elapsed time, fat clouds pirouette across
the blue backdrop; purple clouds hover over dense foliage in the
Congo basin. 
Presented
by National Geographic, Nature and Thirteen/WNET New York, the
series' tone is similar to that of traditional nature shows,
but the approach is not academic, dry or ethnocentric. Each
show focuses on two close-up stories of individuals within their
family and community. These stories, mostly about men but including
some women, do not frame African lives wholly within contexts
of war, famine, political crises or disease, as is so common
to Western media. Also, they lack the type of historical anchoring
that includes the great social upheavals that have decimated
the continent, including slavery and colonialism. Depending
on your view, these omissions might be either a relief or highly
suspicious. 
After
wrestling with this question of viewpoint, I feel confident recommending
these shows as inoffensive, thoughtful and meaningful documents
of how life is lived in little pockets all over Africa. Added to
the spectacular scenery, extended sequences about wildlife and dramatic
storytelling is a soundtrack filled with indigenous music that contributes
to the poetic texture of the project. To top it off, our Forever-Brother-from-Another-Planet,
Joe Morton, is the narrator. 
