Writing
Black Deutschland is a made-for-television documentary film, directed by Oliver Hardt and produced by de-Arte. The documentary is filmed in different cities in Germany and features people from all across the black diaspora who reside in Germany.
The story of Sport and Spoon - two young hustlers who attend the eponymous convention, only to get tangled up in a financial disagreement that leads to a shootout, police chase and finishes with Sport on death row, weighing up what it all means. Taking its title from the album, the film blends archive photos with interviews and uses unique animated sequences set to the album. It portrays Hustlers Convention in its wider social context and Jalal's personal story as one of rap's undisputed pioneers.
A dark political satire about how Sammy Davis, Jr. caused Watergate. Equal parts "Dr. Strangelove," "Zelig," and "Network," "Sammy-Gate" takes you on a psychedelic trip into the 1970s polyester heart of darkness. On a USO tour of Vietnam, Sammy Davis Jr. stumbles upon a CIA-sponsored plot to smuggle heroin into the United States. Through comic ineptitude mixed with noble intentions, Davis triggers a chain of bizarre missteps by the FBI, the Mafia, and the Nixon administration that result in the Watergate scandal.
The documentary explores how African-based spirituality has informed Americas popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests in turntable wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, performances and rituals. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, the documentary draws a picture of a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality
