cary999

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

This played in UK recently. As a one time movie? As first part of a series? Anyone in the Motherland know?

regards - tom

sandi

ragsi - figured that's what happened. The names just ran together. I only commented so no one would be looking for the name you posted

I have the music from Out of Africa on all the time, when not listening to Andrea Boccelli!

HariS

ekscrunchy,

I second your vote for "place of reeds" by Caitlin Davies.

I need to read the Peter Godwin ones - have read some good reviews about them.

Jed

"Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness" from 1927 . Interesting view of what it was like before tourism.

CharlotteAnne

Thanks so much for all the great movie and book ideas! My favorite was Duma.
We watched it with my 7 year old grandson and he just loved it! I have read all the McCall Smith books about Precious and they are so good.
We are leaving on Thursday and I wish I could meet her...oh, that's right...she is just a book character!
Thanks again!

Leely2

Is this the new Africa films thread?

I just saw "War Dance" last evening (Netflix). It's a documentary about schoolchildren in a refugee camp in northern Uganda who go to compete in the country's national dance/music competition in Kampala. Very interesting, although of course heartbreaking.

JaneB

I second The Gods Must be Crazy--very funny movie about Botswana.

Tanya_in_Kenya

As a child, I was lucky enough to be on set during filming of "Out of Africa" and "Gorillas in the Mist". My father was Second Unit Director on both movies. For "Out of Africa" that meant he did most of the wildlife and scenic shots in the film but was also involved with many scenes involving the actors, such as the lion hunt, for example (where Meryl Streep and Robert Redford were charged by the lions) and various others. My Dad says it was a great movie to work on, not least because of the nature of Sydney Pollack who was an extraordinarily talented director, but nonetheless managed to remain humble and down-to-earth (may he Rest in Peace) and of course Meryl Streep was lovely too. I was a teenager at the time, and it was a real thrill to watch from behind the scenes and to know how the whole film was created. That movie did a fantastic amount of good for Kenya, in terms of boosting its international profile and - still to this day - attracting visitors to the country.

"Gorillas in the Mist" was also an incredible experience. My father's job was mainly to film the wild gorilla sequences in Rwanda, some with Sigourney Weaver herself right in amongst the wild gorillas, others using doubles. Again, I was extremely fortunate in being able to witness some of this, and to climb the mountains to see the gorillas in their incredible forest home - one of the defining moments of my life. After Rwanda, the movie shifted to Kenya, where all the scenes of "Dian Fossey's cabin" were filmed in the Aberdare Mountains...there were some amusing incidents with some very aggressive lions giving the film crew a few surprises as they walked between the set and their tented accommodation! Again, it was a real privilege, as a teenager, to be an observer of this iconic film being made.

Anyway, apologies, I digress: both these films were excellent but of course they are not set in Southern Africa where your safari is going to take you. Nonetheless, they do impart the magic of Africa...

Tanya
http://www.wildernessdiary.com
http://www.aeffonline.org

nancy1652

I realize the original poster has already gone on her trip, but this seems to be a very useful thread to continue. If people are interested in the politics of South Africa, there's no better book to read than Albie Sachs' "Soft Vengenance of a Freedom Fighter." I got it from my county library...might be hard to find otherwise. There is a wonderfully (heartbreaking) documentary on the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, but I'm sorry I don't have the exact name. Nadine Gordimer is also important to read for a sense of life in South Africa.

Pula

In the history-political-cultural book category, if that's a category, my vote goes for My Traitor's Heart by Rian Malan. Rian is a descendant of THE Malan family, among the earliest settlers of Capetown. It's a difficult, entirely gripping read of the violence and brutality that apparently continues into the present. Rian is a journalist by training and knows how to tell a story.

KIBOKO

The Color of Freedom (2007) is an excellent movie. The story of James Gregory who guarded Nelson Mandela for 20 years at Robben Island.

cj