500 Years Later

500 Years Later
Directed by	Owen 'Alik Shahadah
Produced by	Owen 'Alik Shahadah Ako Oseyaba Mitchell M. K. Asante, Jr.
Written by	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.
Music by	Tunde Jegede Ocacia
Studio	Halaqah Media Films Asante Productions
Distributed by	Codeblack Entertainment
Release date(s)	October 11, 2005
Running time	108 min.
Language	English
Budget	$1 million

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500 Years Later (፭፻ ዓመታት በጓላ 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 five international film festival awards (including UNESCO 'Breaking the Chains Award'^[1]) in the category of Best Documentary. 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 American television premiere on August 23, 2008 on TV One (Radio One), and Ethiopian Television premiere on October 27, 2007, and Bounce TV February 08,2012.^[2][3] In 2010, the sequel Motherland was released.

Plot

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

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

UNESCO Award and reception

500 Years Later was the first film to win a UNESCO award for documenting slavery. UNESCO subsequently funded a series of documentaries which would document slavery. When 500 Years Later was first sent to Channel 4 the commissioning editor documentaries, Danny Cohen said "It's an interesting idea but I'm afraid, with limited slots available, it's not one I feel strongly enough about to take forward."^[4] The producers complained about the racism involved in screening African-centred content and many in the African-British community saw this as part of the racism in the United Kingdom.^[5] Even California Newsreel who applauded the approach said "While we applaud your effort to present African and African American history in a new and more favorable light, we think that your innovative techniques and broad scope are too radical for our largely academic market." Despite this the film has be internationally recognized as the hallmark film on the legacy of slavery and used in universities and academic boards (e.g., Toronto school district) in the USA, UK, Caribbean and Canada.^[6][7]

See also

• Motherland
• List of American films of 2005
• American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)
• American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
• Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
• African holocaust
• Afrocentrism
• Maafa

References

External links

• Official 500 Years Later” homepage
• Motherland Film (sequel to 500 Years Later)
• Halaqah Films Halaqah Media
• 500 Years Later at the Internet Movie Database
• Owen Alik Shahadah - Official Site

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