5 Free to Stream Doccies on Africa to Put Your ‘Woke’ Game on 100%

137 0

AfriDocs is a platform exclusively for African and international documentaries to audiences anywhere in on the continent. Fans of African cinema can watch some of the best documentaries from across the continent and beyond anytime from your computer, laptop, or from any mobile device. With a growing catalogue, it’s like having a film festival on your screen; giving you access to powerful, quality, award-winning documentaries that have shown at some of the most prestigious festivals in the world.

AfriDocs Executive Producer Don Edkins explains,

“The launch of AfriDocs Anytime heralds a new era of distribution for the continent, with the combination of a prime-time broadcast opportunity, followed up a by a free online streaming mechanism, means new opportunities for filmmakers, as well as the chance to develop audiences for the best in African film.”

This month-catch a range of new titles now available to stream for free, anytime, anywhere via www.afridocs.net. Many of these films have never been available to stream before and reflect a range of stories from across Africa and beyond. Here are five that are both exciting and intensely woke, great sources of introspection and cocktail small talk, you’re welcome!

Ethiopiques – Revolt of the Soul | Maciej Bochniak | Ethiopia | 2017 | 70 min

A film about the rise, fall and redemption of a group of spectacular Ethiopian Jazz musicians who in the swinging 60’s ignited an explosive cultural revolution in Addis Ababa. Their music was sublime but this golden era was brought to an end by the military regime that took over the country and forced the musicians into exile and jail. Now, after many years, they are back on a world stage, making up for lost time and still swinging. Our film follows the inspirational figures whose amazing life stories illustrate music’s power of redemption in the face of war and heartbreak.

Punishment Island | Laura Cini | Uganda | 2017 | 56 mins

In remote South-Western Uganda, women who broke the taboo of premarital sex were abandoned on a tiny island to die. About to submerge beneath the waters of surrounding lake Bunyonyi, the island’s last wish is to find survivors before “her” story becomes but a myth.

Ladies Turn | Hélène Harder | Senegal | 2012 | 52 min

In 2009, in Senegal, where “football is king,” a women’s football street tournament is organised for the first time by the association Ladies’ Turn. Despite the passionate commitment of Seyni, the former captain of the women’s national team, and of the women and men that fight at her side, the game is far from won.  Defying taboos and prejudices, the girls play on the fields for a growing audience. Will they be allowed to go all the way and play the game they love?

Light Fly, Fly High | Beathe Hofseth, Susann Østigaard | India | 2013 | 80 min

Thulasi is a young Indian girl who is literally willing to fight for the right to be herself. Coming from a poor background, Thulasi’s life is in many ways pre-determined. Her family wants her to get married, her chances of getting a decent job are slim and being an untouchable, she has to accept her position at the very bottom of the social ladder. But Thulasi is different. She wants to be in control of her own destiny and live life her own way. She wants to be someone. She wants to be a boxer.

Scarred: The Anatomy of a Massacre | Judy Kibinge | Kenya | 2015 | 60 mins

In 1984, Kenyan Security forces rounded up 5000 men in a remote part of Northern Kenya, herded them onto a deserted airstrip. Over four days, they were tortured, maimed and killed. Three decades later, scarred survivors narrate the story of their ordeal the country’s first Truth and Justice and Reconciliation Commission travelling all the way to the capital city of Nairobi to see the government administrators they hold responsible also standing to testify. Will justice be served to a community that’s waited three decades long for it?

Happy viewing!

Stephing Out Loud

Stephing Out Loud

Sometimes I write, sometimes I say things. More often, I do them.

Leave a Reply