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028 52 1139653|bKanopy
035 (OCoLC)908378039
040 CaSfKAN|beng|erda|cCaSfKAN
043 e-fr---
245 04 The Father.
264 1 [San Francisco, California, USA] :|bKanopy Streaming,
|c2015.
300 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 29 min.) :
|bdigital, .flv file, sound
336 two-dimensional moving image|btdi|2rdacontent
337 computer|bc|2rdamedia
338 online resource|bcr|2rdacarrier
344 digital
347 video file|bMPEG-4|bFlash
500 Title from title frames.
518 Originally produced by California Newsreel in 2000.
520 Three dramatic shorts from Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia
take a critical look at the relationship between fathers
and their children in contemporary Africa. Each film from
Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia offers a critical look at
the relationship between fathers and their children in
contemporary Africa. Surrender shows the traditional face
of paternal tyranny, a father controlling his son's life.
In contrast, A Barber's Wisdom satirizes a modern father
who compromises his children in his relentless pursuit of
money. In The Father, the patriarch in question is
ultimately the military dictatorship which terrorized
Ethiopia in the '70s and '80s. The critique of fathers in
these three films is reminiscent of the blistering
indictment of patriarchy in post-independence Africa at
the center of Ousmane Sembene's newest film, Faat Kine.
Surrender Amri, the son of a merchant, and Moshua, a poor
fisherman, are inseparable friends. Although they are
clearly in their 20s, they spend their days at play on the
white sand beaches of Zanzibar. Amri's father is
distressed that his son is so reluctant to assume his
adult responsibilities as a father and businessman. He
arranges a marriage to a friend's daughter, Zaitun, and is
outraged when Amri announces that he finds her boring and
unattractive. He bars Amri from their house and warns
Moshua not to speak to him. Isolated, Amri surrenders to
the demands of paternal authority, marries and produces
the grandson his father wants. But in the last shot, we
see him walking with Moshua beside the turquoise water. In
the West, Amri and Moshua's close relationship would be
immediately interpreted as homosexual. Although Amri's
father clearly regards his son's relationship with Moshua
as unhealthy, in this context there is no suggestion that
it is anything but an excessive prolongation of childhood.
Sex and marriage are not expected to result from romantic
desire or psychological urges but from participation as an
adult in the larger community. The film's tone and rhythm
are determined by the formalities which dictate every
aspect of daily life, including Amri's relationship with
his father. The film is punctuated by the daily ritual of
prayers, a central structuring feature of Islamic life.
Only his friendship with Moshua seems to exist
spontaneously outside these constrictions. In the end,
society's expectations are the "father" to which Amri must
surrender. The Father The Father is set during one of the
darkest periods of Ethiopian history - the terror
following the 1974 deposing of Haile Selassie launched by
the new military regime, the derg. Alazar is an apolitical
painter looking forward to marrying Rahel, his model and
girlfriend. His best friend, Yonas, a political radical,
takes refuge in Alazar's house, causing them both to be
captured and tortured by the military. Rahel bribes the
major in charge with money and by submitting to his sexual
advances. Alazar is allowed to escape the firing squad --
but only if he will shoot Yonas. Seven years pass, and
Alazar has made an uneasy peace with the regime and with
himself. He is chosen to paint a portrait of the national
leader, showing "that he is the only man who can lead the
country." But an unexpected reunion with Yonas' sister,
Tingist, stirs old memories; he begins to suspect that his
wife was raped as part of the price for sparing him and
that the real father of his seven-year-old daughter may be
the torturer who forced him to shoot his friend. Enraged,
he defaces the painting of the leader with the same slogan
Yonas used years before: "Death to the Military
Dictatorship." When we see Alazar for the last time, he is
fleeing the country in disguise. The Father is an
impassioned political thriller which argues that past
injustices will inevitably return to haunt the present and
that one must never accommodate oneself to political
oppression. A Barber's Wisdom A Barber's Wisdom is a short
farce showing what Nigerian filmmakers can do when not
restricted by commercial concerns; the cinematographer is
the director of our other new Nigerian release,
Thunderbolt. In contrast to Surrender, the father here is
ridiculed not for being too traditional but for not being
traditional enough, for failing his responsibility to
protect his family and uphold morality. Amadou is a barber
whose business is so slow his formidable wife, Stella, has
had to become the primary breadwinner by selling grilled
fish. After a visit to the city, Amadou decides to
modernize his shop to attract the hip younger generation.
Apart from rap music, the principal new attractions are
his two daughters, provocatively dressed like Lil' Kim and
Jennifer Lopez. Stella is outraged that he is in a sense
pimping his own daughters but Amadou will do anything to
make money. He only sees the light after one of them tells
him that she has become pregnant. When we last see him, he
is burning the city clothes and the women are again in
traditional dress. Unlike Zanzibar in Surrender, the
society depicted in A Barber's Wisdom is rushing headlong
toward modernity; references to a global television
culture abound, and the pursuit of profit has encroached
on every other value. The film's humor stems from the
contrast between Amadou's presumptions of patriarchal
authority and his craven exploitation of his own family.
Behind this, one feels, is a more general indictment of
Nigerian society, its often corrupt leaders and its
"anything goes" economy. "What is especially incredible
about this film (The Father) is that despite its brevity,
it possesses a complete epic quality." - Gaylene Gould,
Planet Africa, toronto International Film Festival
"Assured directorial touches, narrative economy and wit
make A Barber's Wisdom a perceptive parable about
conflicting values, shifting gender roles and generational
tensions." - Jude Akudinobi, University of California-
Santa Barbara.
538 Mode of access: World Wide Web.
650 0 Social history|y1960|vDrama|zAfrica.
650 0 Patriarchy|zAfrica|xFathers|y1960|vDrama.
655 7 Feature films.|2lcgft
655 7 Short films.|2lcgft
700 0 Ermias Woldeamlak,|efilm director.
710 2 Kanopy (Firm)
914 kan1139653
