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Mama Africa (2002)
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Reviews Counted:9
Fresh:4
Rotten:5
Average Rating:5.5/10
Theatrical Release:Jun 7, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: MAMA AFRICA combines three short powerful films about young people in modern Africa. The films were directed by African women. Rapper and actress Queen Latifah introduces the films. UNO'S WORLD,... MAMA AFRICA combines three short powerful films about young people in modern Africa. The films were directed by African women. Rapper and actress Queen Latifah introduces the films. UNO'S WORLD, from Namibia, tells the tale of a young woman, Uno (Sophie David), whose poor judgment leads to an unplanned pregnancy. While her mother watches her baby, Uno pursues the father, becoming involved with a drug dealer in order to track him down. HANG TIME, from Nigeria, opens with a kinetically filmed basketball game. Kwame (Brian Biragi) is a talented young player who can't afford a decent pair of shoes. With a college scout coming from America to watch him play, the desperate Kwame goes to work for a local gangster to earn the money for his shoes. In the final film, RAYA, from South Africa, the title character (Rehane Abrahams) is a former drug dealer getting out of prison after five years. Unable to reconcile with her conservative Muslim mother, she takes her young daughter and goes to live with a member of her old gang. MAMA AFRICA poignantly depicts family dynamics and gives the audience a view of contemporary urban Africa rarely seen on the screen. [More]
Starring: Sophie David, Brian Biragi, Rehane Abrahams, Elia Jack Nakalemo
Starring: Sophie David, Brian Biragi, Rehane Abrahams, Elia Jack Nakalemo, Muhindua Kaura, Brian Bovell, Elizabeth Mathebula, Hilja Lindsay-Parkinson, Ayesha Meer Krige, Denise Newman, Oscar Petersen, Esi Shimming-Chase
Director: Bridget Pickering, Ngozi Onwurah, Zulfah Otto-Sallies
Director: Bridget Pickering, Ngozi Onwurah, Zulfah Otto-Sallies
Screenwriter: Bridget Pickering, Ngozi Onwurah, Zulfah Otto-Sallies, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Brian Tilley
Studio: Wellspring
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Reviews for Mama Africa
Well-intentioned though it may be, its soap-opera morality tales have the antiseptic, preprogrammed feel of an after-school special.
It understands, in a way that speaks forcefully enough about the mechanisms of poverty to transcend the rather simplistic filmmaking.
Each story is built on a potentially interesting idea, but the first two are ruined by amateurish writing and acting, while the third feels limited by its short running time.
Mama Africa pretty much delivers on that promise. It does give you a peek. The main problem being that it's only a peek.
A worthy idea, but the uninspired scripts, acting and direction never rise above the level of an after-school TV special.
The impulses that produced this project ... are commendable, but the results are uneven.
The warnings to resist temptation in this film ... are blunt and challenging and offer no easy rewards for staying clean.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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