Event

"Senator Obama Goes to Africa"

Description
Barack Obama returns to his family's roots on an emotional journey to Africa in this new documentary by Bob Hercules and Keith Walker, the producers of Forgiving Dr. Mengele.

Part personal odyssey and part chronicle of diplomacy in action, this timely and poignant documentary follows Senator Barack Obama as he travels to the land of his ancestry. From Nelson Mandela's prison cell in South Africa to Kenya to a Darfur refugee camp in Chad, Obama explores this vast continent drawing enthusiastic crowds wherever he goes.

The heart of the film is Obama's emotional homecoming to Kisumu, Kenya - his father's home - where thousands of people turn out to greet him. It was completely overwhelming, says Michelle Obama, the Senators wife. Its hard to describe unless you were thereto see hundreds and thousands of people lining the streets of this very small town to greet my husband.

In South Africa we follow Senator Obama on a trip to Robben Island - the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 21 years. Obama talks about how his own political activism was sparked by the U.S. anti-apartheid movement. Here, Senator Obama and Michelle took an AIDS test in public as a symbolic gesture to encourage others to follow suit. They also visited several CARE facilities and ended the trip at the Senators grandmothers house in Siyaya.

Throughout it all, Senator Obama narrates the film, giving his own perspective on the journey and the significance of Africa to U.S. interests.