FILM-"CUBA: AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY" on SUNDANCE CH. TODAY, both central time 7:25 am and 3:30pm

[magbana]

I have the DVD of this film and it shows some terrific footage of Kwame Nkrumah, Amilcar Cabral, etc.

----- Original Message -----
From: Art Heitzer
To: nlgcuba
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2009 6:53 PM
Subject: Cuba: An African Odyssey on Sundance Mon. May 4, am and afternoon


Cuba: An African Odyssey, documenting Cuba's role in defeating colonialism and white supremacy rule in Africa, will be shown on the Sundance Channel on Monday, May 4th. (This is free with basic cable packages on Warner Cable, in Milwaukee on ch. 440.)

Made by an Egyptian filmmaker, listed as a French production, this full length (2 hour) documentary has been hailed as "enthralling" by Chicago Public Radio. It is shown twice on Monday, Central start times are 7:25am and 3:30pm, add one hour for EDT, subtract 2 hours for Pacific... see http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500324989



a.. CUBA: AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY (Clip)
a.. Castro

Cuba: An African Odyssey
2007117 minsColor and B&W
Jihan El-Tahri, Director

From Che Guevara's secret mission in the Congo to the end of South African apartheid, Cuba's pivotal military role assisting African independence movements remains largely unknown. With revealing archive newsreel footage and fascinating first-person interviews, Egyptian-French filmmaker Jihan El-Tahri chronicles the story of how Fidel Castro's small island became a central player in the African Cold War, as it aided struggling revolutionaries against colonial powers and covert American involvement. "Enthralling" - Chicago Public Radio.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Thanks! And for people who don't get a chance to DVR it, it most likely will be available

on the "movies-for-free" option for "Sundance Channel" I'll bet. (That's where I'll catch it, I'm hoping, since our DVR is completely filled and we have to wait to record more.) Also, remember, Sundance shows films in cycles, so it most likely will be back on a few more days, as well.

CAN'T WAIT to see this one.

I've seen that quote you have posted here by Nelson Mandela saying that when the Cuban soldiers go home from Africa all they will take away from Africa will be their dead soldiers. He never forgot the gratitude they felt for Cuba's contribution to their great struggle for freedom. It's because of his gratitude to Cuba, and friendship, that the idiots in Miami hate him with a purple passion, too. (You may remember that the Miami Cuban "exile," Jorge Mas Canosa chose to involve himself in that conflict, on the Jonas Savimbi CIA and apartheid-backed unita side!

You may be interested to hear that the Voice of America offered to help Cuba, as well!

• 3/21/81 6/21/81 Writing in Foreign Affairs, Kenneth Adelman proposes that VOA create a special program for Cubans, broadcasting "the casualty rates of Cuban troops in Africa and their discontent at being there, and the declining fortunes of Cubans at home." (Adelman, p. 932; CRS, p. 15)
  
  
• 8/9/85 President Reagan signs the FY 1986 Foreign Aid bill which contains a repeal of the 1976 Clark Amendment prohibiting U.S. military or paramilitary aid or operations in Angola. CANF is among the chief lobbyists which fought to overturn the nine-year ban on CIA support for anti-Communist rebels led by Jonas Savimbi. (***CITE***)
  
  
• 3/26/88 In the Miami Herald, Jorge Mas Canosa announces he will travel to Angola to meet with UNITA's leader Jonas Savimbi. Mas Canosa says he will address Cuban troops through the Voice of the Black Rooster, UNITA's radio service: "I will call for Cubans to surrender and to know that we Cuban-Americans will provide logistical support to incorporate them into Western society...The foundation would guarantee their physical safety." (MH, 3/26/88)
  
  
• 4/1/88 4/10/88 In the wake of successful lobbying efforts to secure $30 million in military aid to UNITA forces, Jorge Mas Canosa travels to Angola to meet with rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. He is accompanied by five directors of CANF, including Alberto Hernandez, Pepe Hernandez, Tony Costa, Jorge Rodriguez, and Feliciano Foyo. (MH, 3/26/88) They bring Savimbi tapes of Radio Marti to broadcast to Cuban troops fighting with the MPLA in Angola, which include encouragement for Cuban troops to defect. During their visit, the Foundation and UNITA sign a declaration of common cause, and CANF pledges financial and material support to UNITA. (MH, 4/6/88)

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_126-150/doc0146a.html

[magbana]

2. A Couple of endorsements of the film

Re: Cuba: An African Odyssey (documentary on cable TV)
Posted by: "Matthew Dubuque" [e-mail] mdubuque
Mon May 4, 2009 5:56 am (PDT)


I saw this via Netflix. It's absolutely incredible, an exhaustive and wonderful look using priceless archival footage retrieved from various African countries showing the central role Cuba played in liberating the continent, from Lumumba to Mandela.

A must see.

Matt Dubuque

I just rented this documentary on dvd - 3 hours long there - and it is fabulous! Incredible footage of Che in Africa and later Fidel, interviews with Fidel and some Cuban and MPLA fighters as well as Soviet advisers on one side, UNITA and apartheid-era leaders and US diplomats on the other. Cuito Cuavanavale is not so much portrayed as a Cuban victory, as much as Cuba's ability to create a stand-off against South Africa, the US, and UNITA. Cuba was able to gain a seat at the negotiation table and Pik Botha says it was he who approached the head of the Cuban delegation with a win-win solution: South Africa leaves Namibia so Cuba claims victory for that; Cubans leave Angola, and South Africa claims victory for that. Ahhh, diplomacy. The South African and US diplomats seemed to have great admiration for the Cubans but head to keep an eye to their domestic populations The date on the dvd is 2007, so how did I miss this??? Amazon is selling this as a two-dvd set for $26.

[Judi Lynn]

15. I saw more of the documentary tonight. You might remember feeling a bit of surprise

hearing an American man from the State Department, specializing on Africa say that the Cuban ending to their participation in Africa showed great responsibility and maturity, and should have deserved an appropriate gesture from the United States, instead of their choice to ignore it all. He genuinely sounded disappointed in how that administration handled it. I wouldn't have expected an acknowledgement of respect from someone in the State Department like that.

Loved the story that Fidel Castro sent Agostinho Neto a box of cigars to celebrate, and Neto had never smoked, and when the box arrived, his room was full of men who saw him open the box, struggle to light a cigar and amaze them by smoking, saying "Fidel Castro sent them." Very interesting.

Also interested in learning that from the day Che Guevara landed near Lake Tanganyika to the day the Cubans left Cuba, exactly one quarter of a century, one year, one month, and one day passed. I don't think most people realize how long they were there.

Very glad to have been able to see this documentary. Thanks, a lot.

[Mika]

3. Thanks. The doc confirms the USA's constant agitation against freedom & for corporate rule.

It continues to this day. Even this sparse Latin America forum reveals just that.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Just dumped a movie I had to make room for this Cuba documentary this afternoon.

Sure glad I had a way to work this out.

Thanks so much to magbana for the information getting out soon enough it was possible to get it.

[Mika]

5. Judi, let us know what you think of it.

Very interesting expose of some of the little known international machinations involved.

:hi:

[magbana]

6. If anything, the film does not provide adequate context for some of the

bigger moments such as the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale where Cuban and Angolan defeated the South African Defense Forces. I think the director let the availability of video footage govern what what and how he covered certain topics. but, it has some incredible, not seen before, footage and for that I give him a big attaboy!

[Mika]

7. magbana, a quick thought on your sig line and the doc.

"The Cuban combatants are ready to sacrifice their lives to free our countries, and in exchange for that aid to our freedom and the progress of our peoples, the only thing they will take away with them are the combatants that fell in the fight for freedom". . . Amilcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissau

I wish that was true. The Cubans did take something home with them - HIV/AIDS. That was the start of a whole new battle on a whole new front - one that Cuba made great strides in overcoming.

Cuba has faced a serious uphill struggle since the Revolution, and they have struggled nobly.

[magbana]

9. Help me out, Mika. The Cubans took home HIV/AIDS from

Guinea-Bissau? Or, Guinea-Bissau,the Congo and Angola? Help me out on what you know about the origins of HIV/AIDS in Cuba.

[Mika]

10. From what I've been told by Cuban Drs is that most likely Congo or Angola...

.. keeping in mind that the Cubans were traveling between all 3 nations, so its a chicken/egg theory of which came first.

Considering the international response of this recent "swine flu" pandemic threat, any study of Cuba and AIDS/HIV reveals that they performed a well reasoned & rational response to the threat of a (primarily) sexually transmitted pandemic.

[magbana]

11. Thanks, Mika. I had heard that Angola was probably the source

of HIV/AIDS for Cubans fighting in the war there. This makes the most sense for a couple of reasons: Angola was the last conflict that Cuba was involved in, mid-1970's, and closer geographically and time-wise to the dramatic rise in HIV/AIDS in the 1980's in South Africa. Also, other southern African countries such as Namibia and Zimbabwe were involved in liberation struggles of their own at the same time. It is claimed by Zimbabwe that the Brits unleashed anthrax to wipe out their movement. I don't think we can rule out South African Defense Forces as the origin for the HIV/AIDS in South Africa. With Afrikaners being such a teeny minority, there is no way they could hope to rule South Africa without SIGNIFICANTLY reducing the number of black Africans.

I doubt the Congo was a particular source because the Cuban mission was in the mid-1960's and from what I know about the mission, these guys did not roam far from camp because most of the time they were waiting in one place for a meeting with Laurent Kabila.

As for Guinea-Bissau, on the West coast of Africa, HIV/AIDS, has not been a significant problem.

The reason I wanted to have all this explained is that your initial comment did not specify where in Africa the Cuban soldiers picked up HIV/AIDS, but since you attached your comment to my quote from Amilcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau about Cuban soldiers, someone might have assumed it applied to Guinea-Bissau.

[Mika]

12. OK. Sorry if I confused the issue.

Cuba didn't bring anything home (as pay or bounty) from Africa except HIV, and the enduring friendship of many Africans.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Now I've got the documentary, but have to wait until we can arrange the time to see it together.

I went ahead and peeked at the beginning, to get a feeling for this, and it looks just like what the doctor ordered for people who haven't had the time or stirrings or awakening needed to move them to find out more about it until the recent past.

The unbelievable abundance of video film from that time is a complete luxury, adding so much more depth than a dry reading from any history book would offer. I only went in a few minutes, but can see they haven't cheated bascically "empty vessel" viewers on information, either. There's a lot to learn from it, and I'm so eager to finally get the chance to watch this once we can clear the deck and make sure we have enough quiet time to focus properly.

It won't spoil it for anyone to know that it opens with the information the first place Nelson Mandela went outside the country, once he was released from prison was straight to CUBA, to thank the Cuban people in person for their great gift in sharing in the fight against apartheid.

Thanks, magbana. This is a documentary anyone would benefit from seeing.

[Billy Burnett]

13. Here's a Youtube vid I have bookmarked, maybe you've seen it.

Quickly goes over the topic of the doc you mention. Some good footage also. :hi:

Fidel Castro in South Africa with Nelson Mandela
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tNF0YkRQjM

[Judi Lynn]

14. It wouldn't take a genius to see how he was loved by Mandela, and in their Parliament.

Surely that must have touched him so deeply. "Let South Africa be a model for a more human and just future."

The friendship between the two seems deep and joyous.

Great video. Thank you. :hi: