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Poster for Sankofa

Sankofa

1993 · 2h 4m · N/A Drama, Fantasy, History, Science Fiction
Directed by Haile Gerima

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Overview

On a photo shoot in Ghana, an American model slips back in time, becomes enslaved on a plantation and bears witness to the agony of her ancestral past.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
93%
Tomatometer
Rotten

While there's no doubting the sincerity of writer/director Gerima's film, one can't help sensing more than a little deja vu in his account of the manifest evils of slavery.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh

[Gerima's] film is ambitious in its depiction of slavery and accomplished in its visual command, from the bright red scarves of the rebellious slaves to a fire they set in the fields.

Caryn James, New York Times
Fresh

The exciting thing about Haile Gerima's lush, wide-screen folkloric feature about black slavery is its poetic conviction, backed up by a great deal of filmmaking savvy.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Fresh

The Ethiopian-born Gerima... has brought a distinctive style and an often raw but always authoritative command of his medium to confront the horrors of slavery and its persisting significance, perhaps as no other filmmaker has.

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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