Produced by
National Educational Television, American, 1954 - 1970
Directed by
Morris, Jim
Edited by
Holmes, Samuel B.
Leslie III, Mack L.
West, Vernon
Directed by
Patrick, Carlos, American
Edited by
Sims, Winston
Williams, Christopher
Date
1968
Medium
acetate film
Dimensions
Physical extent (film): 400 ft
Duration: 11 min.
Caption
'Biafra' and 'The Bandits' are two short dramatic films produced in the late sixties by the National Educational Television's Broadcast Training School. Both short films aired on NET's Black Journal television series.
Description
16mm black and white film of two short dramatic films produced by the National Educational Television's Broadcast Training School for Episode 3 of the Black Journal television series.
"Biafra" is a short dramatic film produced by the National Educational Television's Broadcast Training School directed by Jim Morris. The film opens up with African drum music playing over a shot of a young African American girl playing on a slide in an outdoor park, children playing in the pool, and a group of teenage boys playing at the outdoor basketball court. This is followed by handheld shots of an outdoor market on a city sidewalk. The camera pans some of the merchandise on the tables. The music fades out during a transition to a wide shot of a group of men and women walking in a field. Many of them are wearing dashikis or other clothing with African motifs. They form a circle, and a close-up shot reveals a gun in one of their hands. They form two straight lines and face each other. In a series of medium and over the shoulder handheld shots, they each shoot another and pass the gun to the next person in line. Eventually, everyone is laying on the ground pretending to be dead. Audio of a crying baby begins to play as the last person is shot. An ending title card reading "BIAFRA CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE" appears before the ending credits.
"The Bandits" is a short dramatic film produced by the National Educational Television's Broadcast Training School, written and directed by Carlos Patrick. This film begins with a car pulling up to the curb and parking. Two men exit the car and try to pay the meter with no success. One of the men hit the meter out of frustration before both men walk away. A narrator begins to dramatically inform the viewer about the effect of small time "bandits" in American cities. The following footage consists of a montage of scenes showing the two men trying to purchase things from various types of vending machines with no success. Each time the vending machine fails one of them, they hit the machine and walk away. The film concludes with the two men noticing two parking tickets underneath their windshield wipers, and the narrator saying "How much did they take you for today?" The ending credits play.
Place filmed
New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted
Nigeria, Biafra, West Africa, Africa
Collection title
Pearl Bowser Collection
Portfolio/Series
Black Journal
Classification
Time-based Media - Moving Images
Type
sound films
black-and-white films (visual works)
16mm (photographic film size)
Topic
Activism
Africa
Children
International affairs
Public television
U.S. History, 1961-1969
Urban life
Violence
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser
Object number
2012.79.1.57.1a
Restrictions & Rights
© National Educational Television
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5395c227b-7b8d-472a-b12b-37da42a602df

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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