October 14

Lumo
Directors: Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Nelson Walker III
2006, 72 minutes

Lumo is an intimate look into a woman’s tragedy and healing process, and, by extension, into the scourge of rape that marks the war-torn politics of central Africa. Lumo is also the story of a remarkable African hospital that works tirelessly to restore the physical and mental health of women suffering in an epidemic of fistula caused by rape. The hospital’s self-called “Mamas,” African women who work tirelessly as healers, even flout traditional prejudice and government policy by leading a march in defense of women’s human rights. But Lumo remains most of all Lumo Sinai’s story as she struggles through four failed surgeries and searches for strength to face the future – whatever the outcome of one more surgery by the hospital’s dedicated doctors.

Milking the Rhino
Director: David E. Simpson
2008, 83 minutes

Milking the Rhino examines the deepening conflict between humans and animals in an ever-shrinking world. It is the first major documentary to explore wildlife conservation from the perspective of people who live with wild animals. Shot in some of the world’s most magnificent locales, Rhino offers complex, intimate portraits of rural Africans at the forefront of community-based conservation: a revolution that is turning poachers into preservationists and local people into the stewards of their land.

End of the Rainbow
Director: Robert Nugent
2007, 83 minutes, in English, Mandinke, and French with English subtitles

End of the Rainbow provides a concise, in-depth look at the impact of global extractive industries on local populations, their economy, their traditions and their environment. It depicts in striking details the confrontation of two cultures, one indigenous the other a unique reflection of the age of globalization. The film uses a gold mine in Guinea to explore whether concessions granted to transnational corporations are in the interest of the companies, the governing elite or the local community.

Films screenings are at 7 pm in the Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue.
Admission is free and open to the public.