500 Years Later

Infobox_Film
name = 500 Years Later


caption =
writer = M.K. Asante, Jr.
starring = Kimani Nehusi
Molefi Kete Asante
Maulana Karenga
Muhammad Shareef
Paul Robeson, Jr
Francis Cress Welsing
Amiri Baraka
Bill Cosby
Hakim Adi
Khaleel Muhammad
Mighty Gabby
M.K. Asante, Jr.
director = Owen 'Alik Shahadah
producer = Owen 'Alik Shahadah
Ako Oseyaba Mitchell
M.K. Asante, Jr.
distributor = Halaqah Media Distribution Co.
released = October 11 2005
runtime = 108 min.
language = English
budget = $1 million
music = Tunde Jegede
Ocacia
awards = 4
imdb_id = 0444593

"500 Years Later" ( _ge. ፭፻ ዓመታት በጓላ "transl|gez|500 ʿamätatə bägwala") is the title of an independent documentary film directed by Owen 'Alik Shahadah, written by M.K. Asante, Jr. released in 2005. It won 5 international film festival awards (including UNESCO 'Breaking the Chains Award' [http://www.ziff.or.tz/details/winners.htm] )in the category of Best Documentary, it has been heralded as one of the most powerful African and African-American documentaries of this centuryFact|date=February 2007. "500 Years Later" has received praise as well as controversy, both for the genre of the film (creative documentary), and the social-political impact of the film as it relates to race study. The film opened on February 28, 2005, at the Pan-African Awards (PAFF) and won Best Documentary at its premiere. The film made its television premiere on August 23, 2008 on TV One (Radio One).

Synopsis

Crime, drugs, HIV/AIDS, poor education, inferiority complex, low expectation, poverty, corruption, poor health, and underdevelopment plagues people of African descent globally. 500 years later from the onset of slavery and subsequent colonialism, Africans are still struggling for basic freedom. Filmed in five continents, and over twenty countries, "500 Years Later" engages the retrospective voice, told from the African vantage-point.

Music: African Classical

This soundtrack offers a glimpse into the worlds and landscapes that make up the music of the African Diaspora. The breadth of this rich cultural legacy that often has to exist within the limited confines of the genres defined and created by others outside of itself. But, it is only when we see this legacy in its entirety that we can begin to appreciate and understand its magnitude and see why it has been, and continues to be, one of the most influential forces within music and culture.

Cast Note

The cast features key figures from the African American academic world.
*Maulana Karenga
*Francis Cress Welsing
*Paul Robeson, Jr
*Andrew Muhammad
*Kimani Nehusi
*Hakim Adi
*M.K. Asante, Jr.
*Molefi Kete Asante
*Muhammed Shareef
*Esther Stanford
*Nelson George
*Bill Cosby (voice only)
*Amiri Baraka

Awards and nominations

* 2007 Winner, UNESCO/Zanzibar International Film Festival, "Breaking the Chains" award
* 2007 Nominated, FESPACO, Paul Robeson award "Best of the Diaspora"
* 2005 Winner, Pan-African Film Festival, Best Documentary PAFF
* 2005 Winner, Bridgetown Film Festival, Best Documentary
* 2005 Winner, Berlin Black Film Festival, Best Film
* 2005 Winner, Harlem International Film Festival, Best International Documentary

Trivia

* The documentary does not use any narration which is rare for a feature length film; it uses the interviewees in a unique way to create a seamless transition from topic to topic
* The film uses a mixture of quotes and statistics, as well as sound bites to support its claims
* '500 Years Later' uses chapters to divide the topics.
* One of the only documentaries made in line with the politics of the African Code.
* The film was the first mainstream Western documentary to use Ge'ez characters for the film title, _ge. ፭፻ ዓመታት በጓላ ("transl|gez|500 ʿamätatə bägwala") . The script also appears in the trailer and promotional material of the film.
* Features Bill Cosby Pound Cake Speech

ee also

*American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)
*American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
*Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
*African holocaust
*Maafa

References

External links

* [http://www.500yearslater.com Official "500 Years Later” homepage]
* [http://www.halaqah.com/ Halaqah Films Halaqah Media]
*imdb title|id=0444593|title=500 Years Later
* [http://www.asante.info M.K. Asante, Jr. - Official Site]