From deep in the heart of Texas at the Aint It Cool News compound Father Geek is here once again to re-introduce you to our regular week ending edition of the Africa-AICN Column. Although our ace analysist Rigobert Song has taken a vacation this week into the darkess recesses of the wild unexplored bush our Editor on the local African scene Dr. SOTHA has filled in wonderfully with a timely and indepth look at the great film LUMUMBA, an absolute must read on a must see film for all African Film fans, and non-fans alike.

Now here's the good Doctor and his report for this "President's Day" holiday weekend...

DR.SOTHA here for another Africa-AICN.

Question? Why is it that when I tell people about my inventions they’re barely able to stifle a giggle? Is there something I’m missing. For the better part of 10 years I’ve been experimenting with DNA strands from all animal life, and as a result have cured such lethal diseases as sprained pinky, cartilage neurosis, and chest denial. You think I’m making this up? Why don’t you pull out the bestseller ‘Deadly Doctors – Projections 7" and read it for yourself you cynical and suspicious bastards. It’s all there in print.

For those with only good things to say about me, email My Super Secret South African Labs right away!

Rigobert Song has taken a well deserved break this week, but will be back next week for your pleasure.

SOUTH AFRICA

* When it comes to choosing the best documentaries of 2001, the Directors Guild of America has drawn up a list of nominees that differs significantly from the choices offered earlier this week by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Although the DGA nominated one docu that was up for an Oscar last year none of this year's Oscar nominees made the DGA list. The other films nominated by the DGA are Chuck Braverman's "Rocky and Roland," the story of two teenagers whose lives are controlled by the L.A. court system, produced by Tralfamador Corp.; Chris Hegedus and Jehane Nujaim's "Startup.com," a look at one company caught up in the dot-com bubble, produced by Pennebaker Hegedus Films; Steven Ives' "Amato: A Love Affair With Opera," a portrait of a family-run opera company, produced by Insignia Films; ! and Martin Spinelli's "Life on Jupiter," a portrait of maverick conductor Jens Nygaard, produced by Interaction Media

* Mukunda, new commercials director on the local scene, has just shot Felix Leband's latest music video for flighting on MTV. The video from the album, Thin shoes in June (African Dope Records) is apparently a showcase for the creative style of this new director. Mukunda's video was shot in association with Krishna Smiles - Flowers Bloom and Surburban Films. Mukunda has also just finished shooting work for Ogilvy & Mather in Cape Town. Catch a sneak preview of the Thin Shoes video at JoBurg Bar, 218 Long Street, Cape Town on 27 February at 8.00pm. Felix Leband plays live after the screening.

* Ocean's Eleven, the latest film from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh, went straight to the top of the South African box office in its first week, making a whopping R4 193 446 (about the price of a taco chip in North America – DR.SOTHA). Hardly surprising, considering that this light-hearted "heist" film is filled to the brim with stars - Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia and Elliott Gould (Who writes these things, can it ‘be’ more cornier – DR.SOTHA). However, Leon Schuster's Mr Bones is maintaining its hold on the local box office after 10 weeks. It is at number two, followed by the Tom Cruise / Penelope Cruz / Cameron Diaz love mystery Vanilla Sky, Lord of the Rings and new release, 13 Ghosts.

NORTH AFRICA

* "Our wounds are too fresh and painful for us to erase them from our memory," Patrice Lumumba.

In the U.S.A Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought their battles for civil rights; and thanks to the power of American media and popular culture, they also became symbols of liberation for people of African descent around the world. In contrast, the heroes of Africa's own decolonization movement have been largely forgotten, their early idealism long since buried in bitter legacy of dictatorship, violence and poverty. Patrice Lumumba is one such hero, victim of an insidious imperialist plot.

In one of the most significant theatrical releases of an African film ever seen in South Africa, Film Resource Unit (FRU) in collaboration with Ster-Kinekor Pictures will release the award winning political thriller titled 'Lumumba' on February 22nd. Best Film, Pan African Film Festival LA 2001, Paul Robeson Award, Fespaco 2001, Best Film, Santo Domingo Internatio! nal Film Festival 2001 - Audience Prize, Best Actor, Jury Prize, Grand Prize OCIC, 11th African Film Festival, Milan Italy 2001, Best Film by A Foreign Director, Acapulco Black Film Festival 2000. A definite must see, for all in South Africa. One of the most accomplished historical films to be made about a genuine African icon. Finally, a movie about African politics that doesn't condescend to audiences by placing a sympathetic white African at the center.

Patrice Lumumba was a man whose career had the trajectory of a skyrocket. He became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo in June 1960 at the age of 35. Two months later he was out of power, six months after that, he was dead.

In Haitian film guru Raoul Peck's ‘Lumumba', one of the continents most promising and charismatic leaders is brought to life on celluloid by the intensely magnetic and mesmerizing Congolese actor Eriq Ebouaney. "Lumumba" begins at the end of the man's history, with th! e deposed Prime Minister, handcuffed in the back of a car, being driven to his execution site. The rest of the film plays as a masterminded flashback as Lumumba' s voice speaks from the grave…

"Even dead I was a threat to them… I came 50 years too soon. History will have its say someday." Lumumba's death has remained a mystery for over 40 years, the repercussions of his assassination, still influences and informs the dynamics of present day Congolese politics. Roland Lumumba (43), the nationalist leader's youngest son, last year brought legal action against Belgium, several Belgese individuals and a CIA officer, in an attempt to establish the truth about his father's death. Embarrassed by the media interest, Belgium set up a parliamentary commission last year to examine the various claims that it had ordered and carried out the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

The Belgian commission of inquiry into Lumumba's death completed its work last month with Belgian Fo! reign Minister Louis Michel expressing "sincere regrets" on behalf of his government for Belgium's role in the murder of Patrice Lumumba. Reuters reported him as saying, "The government feels it is pertinent and right to present to the family of Patrice Lumumba and the Congolese people its profound and sincerest regrets." Belgium is setting up a Patrice Lumumba Fund, worth over $3m, in what correspondents describe as an effort to make amends for Belgium's "moral responsibility" to the people of the Congo. The fund is aimed at assisting Congo's democratic development by financing conflict prevention, legal support and youth projects.

Francois Lumumba, Patrice Lumumba's, eldest son has welcomed the "sincere regrets" expressed by Belgium. "This recognition by Belgium is a determining step, a sign of political courage that must be congratulated," he told reporters. "We believe the film shows that although colonial authorities succeeded in assassinating Lumumba, they did ! not succeed in silencing him. His ideas of African peace, unity, and prosperity live in the hearts and minds of his people across the whole continent and worldwide" Says Lebone Maema - Campaign Coordinator at the Film Resource Unit.

Filmed in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Belgium Lumumba is an incredible socio-political thriller that embraces all the characteristics of true crime fiction: bandits, thieves, genuine and phony policemen, spies, missionaries, adventurers and opportunists, racist explorers, great intellectuals, journalists, etc. The film will open on 22 February 2002 at Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank, Johannesburg, as well as at the Cinema Nouveau at Cavendish in Claremont in Cape Town. Audiences in Durban will have to wait for late March to see the film at the Gateway Cinema Nouveau. The Waterfront in Cape Town and as well as Brooklyn in Pretoria will also screen the film in March and April respectively.

The film release plan is unique in that it embraces a! mainstream (conventional), tertiary (educational) and community (township based) distribution approach. The French embassy has committed to flying in the filmmaker (Rauol Peck) and principal actor to South Africa for the launch and nationwide tour of universities and colleges. As part of the 'Lumumba' publicity campaign, FRU is presently screening a documentary version titled: "Lumumba: Death of a prophet" at all Gauteng-based tertiary institutions. Other campaign efforts will include a national radio and print competition culminating in a Grand Prize giveaway of a fully paid trip to the annual Zanzibar International Film Festival 2002.

"This film presents an opportunity all South African audience, to begin to engage the wealth inherent in films from the continent. Lumumba is a significant work given the strategic relevance of SA's peacekeeping efforts in the Congo, it provides a potent example of an African hero and giant, a true role model for African youth of our ! time. FRU will stop at nothing in its efforts to deliver the film to all possible audiences in South Africa, said Mike Dearham - CEO of Film Resource Unit. ''Our wounds are too fresh and painful for us to erase them from our memory,''

* Although TV news organizations have stepped up their coverage of international terrorism since Sept. 11, many world hot spots continue to go unreported, principally because of the high cost of covering them, TV Guide columnist J. Max Robins observed on the magazine's website. A striking exception is ABC's ‘Nightline’ which recently produced a week-long series of reports on the complicated wars in the Congo. "To do something like that easily costs us more than twice the $25,000 to $30,000 a typical Nightline edition costs," Nightline anchor Ted Koppel told Robins, adding, "Besides the expense, those kinds of stories can be incredibly dangerous to do. ... But the Congo series drew a strong audience." Nevertheless, one network news producer said that Nightline and, to a lesser extent, 60 Minutes have always been exceptions to the rule. All the other primetime news magazines, the producer maintained, churn out "a steady diet of murder, mayhem and sex, with a multiple! birth or adoption on the side." (Nightline and 60 Minutes I salute you, the rest need to open their eyes! – DR.SOTHA)

AFRICAN AMERICAN

* African-American leaders on Tuesday hailed the nominations of Will Smith (ALI) and Denzel Washington (Training Day) in the best actor category not just in movies but in life."

* Outspoken actress Angela Bassett has joined American preacher Jesse Jackson in branding the Academy Awards racially lopsided. Angela has launched her attack on the Oscars in the first year to see two black men – Will Smith for ALI and Denzel Washington for Training Day simultaneously nominated for best actor. Bassett says, "There's just not a great deal of diversity in the voting ranks for the Academy Awards, and that has a great deal to do with who wins. If 80 per cent of those who vote are male and white and over 60 years old, that's not a lot of diversity." Academy communications director John Pavlik has responded angrily to the allegations, insisting Academy members are not required to reveal their race for official purposes. Pavlik fumes, "Anybody who comes up with a figure like that is guessing, because something like that can't be determined."

* Jada Pinkett Smith is nursing a bruised head after almost knocking herself out upon hearing husband Will Smith is an Oscar nominee. The actress and her husband were asleep Tuesday morning when Smith's publicist called in the early hours to tell his client he'd been nominated in the Best Actor category. A delighted Smith says, "The telephone rang, and Jada answered the phone, and it was my publicist letting her know that I had received the nomination. She proceeded to jump out of the bed, in the dark and hit her head on the door." Smith admits he's particularly proud to be playing such a big part in such an historic Academy Awards for African-American stars. He and Denzel Washington are both nominated as Best Actors for Ali and Training Day respectively - the first time two African-Americans have ever stood together. He adds, "I heard the statistics – Sidney Poitier was the last black man to win, and that was 28 years ago. This year, Denzel and I ! and Halle Berry are all nominated in major categories. The work is undeniable, and I'm really honored and excited to be a part of this point in history."

* The Swiss director of new movie Monster's Ball insists the film's long and explicit sex scene is "vital" to the plot (I agree wholeheartedly – DR.SOTHA). Director Marc Foster knew he was courting controversy with the movie, which tells the story of an affair between a racist prison guard, played by Billy Bob Thornton and a black woman, played by Halle Berry, whose husband is in his jail. Forster says the graphic nature of the scene had required some sharp cutting to get past the American censors, even though he tried to keep it intact. He says, "I had to cut a minute to get the rating. I tried to convince them the scene was vital. It seems you can't have too much thrusting. We cut some out." Gorgeous Berry, meanwhile, loved the chance to escape her usual eye-candy roles, and to lose herself in a different sort of character. She says, "I could leave my physical self in Los Angeles. We filmed in New Orleans. She cared little about herself. I didn't! work out. I lost weight. I was rather waif-like. I didn't care about my body."

* Columbia Pictures and Winchester Films have teamed to acquire the pitch "Lil' Homies" from writing trio Freddie Gutierrez, Wesley Johnson and Scott Taylor, with "Love and a Bullet" director Ben Ramsey on board to produce along with Zide/Perry Entertainment. Columbia will take domestic rights on the project, with Winchester handling foreign territories. The deal is low- against mid-six figures. The action-adventure comedy is described as "Goonies" set in Harlem. The pitch follows a group of four ethnic kids who find a treasure map leading them to crisscross New York in an attempt to find the treasure. Gutierrez, Johnson and Taylor, repped by Original Artists' Matt Leipzig and Zide/Perry, wrote the comedy "Get It On," set up at MGM.

* Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has found his next project in Paramount Pictures/MTV Films' "The Fighting Temptations." There is no director on board, but the project is aiming to go into production in the summer. The project reunites Gooding with the same studio with whom he collaborated on the comedy "Rat Race." "Temptations" is described as "Soul Food" meets "The Full Monty." It tells the story of a Los Angeles hip-hop producer who travels to a small Southern town to collect an inheritance. As stipulated in the will, he must create a gospel choir and lead it to success before he can cash in.

* Catch 23 Entertainment has acquired feature film rights to Alex Simmons' graphic novel series "Blackjack" from Beverly Hills-based Platinum Studios. Catch 23 will co-produce the project with Platinum through the company's newly launched urban entertainment division, Alter Ego Entertainment, headed by senior vp Darryl Taja. Michael Jai White ("Exit Wounds") is in early negotiations to star in the project, about the exploits of black soldier-of-fortune Arron Day as he roams the globe in search of a life of adventure and danger. Blackjack is eventually thrust into the middle of political warfare in China to protect the life of an important Chinese dignitary.

* Rocker Sheryl Crow was on the verge of checking into rehab last summer but was put off by Mariah Carey’s breakdown. Crow, who has a history of depression, admits she was so low she sought professional help last year, but when Carey's exhaustion led her to hospital and the whole thing blew up in the press, Sheryl knew therapy sessions weren't for her. Instead she turned to pals Stevie Nicks and Kid Rock, insisting their combined efforts helped get her well again. Crow says, "There's no handbook on becoming famous and successful and I'm a person who had this overwhelming need to be right with the world and make sure everyone is happy with me. I became totally sick of myself, I got tired of seeing myself. I got tired of feeling that if I wasn't in a magazine that interest in me was waning. Fame is a weird trip. It was really a mindblower. It took a few trips to Mount Sinai for some psychiatric help. I'm not joking. Had Mariah not had the incident that she had I would have ! fully checked myself in but I just didn't want the press. In a funny way, visiting Kid Rock was an important turnaround for me. I went to Detroit and it was so much fun. It totally reminded of what it was like growing up - it was all about Lynyrd Skynyrd and trucks and Budweiser and hanging out with your friends and it was like, 'I remember now who I am.' Stevie was also instrumental. She has been an awesome friend and influence on my life. There's nobody like her. I feel really blessed." (Ahhh, makes me go a big rubbery one – DR.SOTHA)

* Denzel Washington’s harrowing new movie John Q is doubly-upsetting for director Nick Cassavetes - he's actually living the hell his lead character is in real life. In the film, Washington plays a desperate dad who takes over a hospital when he's told his insurance policy won't help his son get the heart transplant he needs to live. And in real life, filmmaker Cassavetes is enduring the real-life nightmare as his daughter Sasha, 14, awaits a vital transplant. The director, 42, says, "Without a transplant very soon, Sasha only has a couple of years life expectancy." But while Washington's character simply can't afford a transplant operation, Cassavetes can't find a suitable donor. He says, "The reason I got involved with this movie is because I know what it's like to have a sick child. I wanted to get that feeling every parent has across - that feeling when you know your child is sick and you would do anything to save your child."

DR.SOTHA REVO & OUT