Sankofa

Sankofa, from the Akan word meaning “one must return to the past in order to move forward,” tells the story of Mona, a self-possessed African American woman sent on a spiritual journey through time to experience the pain of slavery and the discovery of her African identity.  Written, directed and produced by Ethiopian-born filmmaker Haile Gerima, Sankofa is a powerful film about Maafa, the African holocaust.

“Haile Gerima's poetic and precisely detailed film takes its audience into its heroine's life and mind as her moral sense is challenged and changed. No viewer can avoid the discomforting questions the film so eloquently raises.” – New York Times

(1994, 125 min, 35mm print courtesy of Mypehduh Films)