Father Geek here, posting another fine column from Dr. SOTHA, Rigobert Song and crew.

Take it away Doc...

DR.SOTHA here, and it's quite simple - if you slice before you gouge, you're
bound to fuck up. It's a cardinal rule. One that Miss Shelly Santiago has
failed to follow. I'll go on record and say she killed an amphibian's life
in a vessel removal operation. She won't like that it has been made public,
but how else can we avoid disasters like this in the future? If you can't
take the heat get out of the kitchen Miss Santiago.

You can send your angry thoughts on the frog's death to
africaaicn@hotmail.com and I'll forward it on to her incompetent publicist.

Miss Hollis, I know nothing of a love/hate relationship.

SOUTH AFRICA

* Earth is under threat from Aliens again - The War Of The Worlds is being
remade with an all star cast headed by Michael Caine. The movie is being
shot with a $42 million budget and is due to be released on Halloween 2002
to mark the 64th anniversary of the famed Orson Welles radio broadcast.
Pendragon Pictures are producing H.G. Wells's epic tale of monstrous
invaders from the red planet Mars, the first big-screen adaptation since the
Oscar-winning 1953 version. It will star Katie Tomlinson and Harry Jay
Knowles and Pendragon has also approached Michael Caine, Matthew
McConaughey, and CHARLIZE THERON for the project which will be directed by
Bug Wars' Timothy Hines. Hines says, "The known talents we are talking with
right now are Sir Michael Caine, Matthew McConaughey and Charlize Theron. We
want the best actors possible." He adds, "This won't be from gore and
violence, which goes along with the territory in War Of The Worlds, but from
the sheer psychological terror that the script invokes - I intend to cut the
film as NC-17 and resubmit until the ratings board allows an R."

* Singer Miriam Makeba is the winner of the Arts and Culture category of
the premier accolade for achievement by women in the country, the Shoprite
Checkers/SABC 3 Woman of the Year Award. Known to millions worldwide as
"Mama Africa", Makeba accepted her award in Cape Town on 1 August 2001.
Makeba started singing in the 1950's and still continues to sell out at
concerts worldwide. Her appointment as Goodwill Ambassador by President
Thabo Mbeki is the latest in a long list of accolades.

* We're in on the joke Mr. South African Box Office: Two new entries on the
South African cinema circuit have gone straight to the top of the local box
office in their first week of release. They are Swordfish and Along Came A
Spider. Next up is Dr Dolittle 2, Shrek and Tom Cats. Pearl Harbor is
currently at number 10, having made R12 628 664 (about the price of a loaf
of potato bread in North America - DR.SOTHA) since its release on 1 June.

* Media for Development Trust in Harare, Zimbabwe has just completed an
evaluation study on its recent feature film, Yellow Card. Some 614 youths
were interviewed in Chitungwiza, a high-density neighbourhood of low-income
households during June 2001. The goal was to determine the accessibility of
the film to Zimbabwe's youth, and their understanding of its messages.
(Yellow Card deals with teenage sexuality.) The study was carried out by
Stephen Mueller, a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. An amazing 74% of those interviewed
had seen the film, many had seen it several times. They generally not only
found it enjoyable, but also meaningful and educational. The results also
showed that television was the ideal medium through which to reach low
income youth. Latest news is that Yellow Card will be cable-cast nationwide
in the USA on Starz Encore as a part of its African Film Festival,
commencing 15 August.

NORTH AFRICA

* The cast and crew of Will Smith's new Muhammad Ali biopic Ali are smarting
after being robbed repeatedly while on location in Africa. Shooting moved to
Africa for the legendary Rumble In The Jungle fight scenes, but, according
to actor Mykelti Williamson, who plays Don King in the movie, being robbed
by locals spoiled what would otherwise have been an ideal working trip. He
says, "The anticipation was high for all of us to go to Africa - we shot in
South Africa, Mozambique and Ghana - and once we got there, we were all very
sad. We experienced tremendous theft. Anything you left in your room
disappeared, even small things like toothbrushes and Q-tips. I'm really
having a hard time admitting it, but I can't just say, 'Africa was
wonderful.' People have starved, they've not been given access to things for
so long, this kind of behavior is entrenched. They need help. It's
heartbreaking." (I'm officially offended, you left out drug running, murder,
incense, petrol bombs and AK47's - DR.SOTHA)

* Rigobert Song with another clinical film review:

Hi readers, I continue with my exploration into African American cinema that
has made a difference in the public consciousness. I review another Marlon
Riggs masterpiece, you must track this man's work down. It is remarkable.
Remember to e-mail me at rigobertsong@hotmail.com with your African film
thoughts.

ETHNIC NOTIONS - Produced and Directed by Marlon Riggs - Narrated by Esther
Rolle -- 56 minutes

Ethnic Notions is Marlon Riggs' Emmy-winning documentary that takes viewers
on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the first time
the deep-rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice. Through
these images we can begin to understand the evolution of racial
consciousness in America. Loyal Toms, carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies,
grinning Coons, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies roll across the
screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs, minstrel shows,
advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, even children's rhymes. These
dehumanizing caricatures permeated popular culture from the 1820s to the
Civil Rights period and implanted themselves deep in the American psyche.

Narration by Esther Rolle and commentary by respected scholars shed light on
the origins and devastating consequences of this 150 yearlong parade of
bigotry. Ethnic Notions situates each stereotype historically in white
society's shifting needs to justify racist oppression from slavery to the
present day. The insidious images exacted a devastating toll on black
Americans and continue to undermine race relations. Ethnic Notions has
quickly become a mainstay of university, high school, and public library
collections. It is a basic audio visual text for American History,
Sociology, Black Studies, Anthropology, Social Psychology, Popular Culture,
and any training program concerned with stereotyping and cross-cultural
understanding.

Approaching a complex and delicate subject with great sensitivity, Ethnic
Notions equips viewers to view media and other cultural representations with
a more critical eye. It's a direct challenge to those who say, "It was just
a joke." Some quotes of the film: "Riggs packs enough in one hour to fill a
documentary three times its length.Hearing the songs, watching the films and
seeing all the artifacts are what make Ethnic Notions roll with the power of
a juggernaut. It's nothing short of astounding." --New York Post --
"Disturbing but absorbing. With no rancor and considerable scholarship it
lays out how stereotypes helped white society justify slavery, segregation
and even lynchings." --Los Angeles Times

* The upcoming Fespam 2001 in Congo Brazzaville - the largest Pan-African
music festival - boasts some of the world's finest musical artists including
Mama Senegal, Coumba Gowlo and Mali's chief whip Salif Keita, to hip-hop
Africa Bisso Na Bisso, Angola's Barry White, Bonga Kwenda, Brenda Fassie and
Pierette Adams. The event is sponsored by the African Union with its "ideals
of peace, unity and the power of knowledge using music to entrench the
African millennium". For more info visit www.afribeat.com

AFRICAN AMERICAN

* It's a casting story that might one day inspire a biographical feature
film itself. Newcomer Derek Luke, discovered working in the gift shop on the
Sony Pictures lot, has nabbed the coveted lead role in Denzel Washington's
directorial debut, the Fox Searchlight biopic "The Antwone Fisher Story."
Shooting is scheduled to start Sept. 24 in Cleveland and later in San Diego.
After auditioning hundreds of actors for the role, producers chose Luke to
play the title character based on the life of the film's writer Antwone
Fisher, a former security guard on the Sony lot. Luke was first discovered
by Fisher, now a working screenwriter, when Fisher dropped by the gift shop
on the Sony lot where Luke has worked for nearly four years. Fisher then
brought Luke to the attention of the film's producers -- Washington, Randa
Haines and Escape Artists' Todd Black -- who met with him several times
before making their final decision. Black and Washington then surprised Luke
at the gift shop to offer him the role.

* In their first deal together, Momentum Pictures has bought four titles
from Intermedia, headlined by the tentatively-titled Plague Season, Ron
Shelton's story of LA police in the run up to the Rodney King riots. The
acquisitive Momentum also bought all UK rights to Wisegirls, starring Mariah
Carey and Mira Sorvino, dark comedy Clay Pigeons and hip hop documentary
Scratch. All four tiles are to be released next year. Star of the package,
the high-profile Plague Season also bears the distinction of coming from an
original screenplay co-written by crime novelist James Ellroy and David
Ayer, whose credits include U-571 and The Fast And The Furious. The thriller
stars Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames and Scott Speedman.
Potential titles that have reportedly been considered for Plague Season
include 04-29-92, the date of the trial where King's police assailants were
found not guilty and the riots which erupted immediately after.

* Actor Chris Tucker has passed over Mariah Carey for a role in his comedy
Double-O Soul. The Rush Hour 2 comedian, who is being paid $7 million to
star in the Antwone Fisher movie, has denied reports that the troubled
singer will be appearing in the movie. He says, "I'm not sure if Mariah will
be in it. I think we're casting someone else." However Carey's spokeswoman
argues the prospect of Mariah starring in the movie, "died a couple of years
ago. It never got off the ground." (would you stay out of the news Mariah,
you're giving me a headache - DR.SOTHA)

* Here he is again: Chris Tucker is pining to work with Hollywood
heavyweights Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg and Martin
Scorsese. The actor, 29, already commands $20 million per picture but wants
to take his art to the next level - dramas. Tucker cites one of the reasons
he hasn't acted at all in the three years since the original Rush Hour is
because he's usually offered "stupid ideas." "I had so many basketball
scripts, you wouldn't believe," he complains. "I'm like, 'I'm not doing a
basketball movie.'" But the picky star says he will consider Forrest Gump or
The Color Purple type dramas. "When people get tired of seeing you make them
laugh, then you can switch over and do a little drama," Tucker reasons.
"It's just mixing it up. You can always renew yourself." (You gotta stop
hanging out with Tom Hanks - he's a bad influence - DR.SOTHA)

* Whitney Houston has signed a new exclusive long-term recording agreement
with Arista Records, label president and CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid said
Thursday. The deal is valued at more than $100 million, with $25 million of
it paid upfront. Exact details are difficult to ascertain because the deal
Houston had with Arista before Thursday's signing still has her committed to
at least six albums of new material plus two compilation albums. "It's a
combination of things," Reid said of the deal. "First off, Whitney Houston
is the queen of Arista Records. She really has earned this deal. But this
wasn't an exchange of money for guaranteed anything." Asked why he would
sign a new contract while the last one was still valid, Reid said, "Because
she deserved it. I want her to feel very inspired, very committed and very
happy to remain in her home." Despite Houston's long relationship with
Arista, there had been some question as to whether she would stay with the
label or join her mentor Clive Davis at his new label, J Records. Reid took
control of Arista from Davis in a very public and prolonged power struggle
slightly in May 2000.

* Twentieth Century Fox said on Monday that it has pushed back the release
of Mariah Carey's debut film Glitter to September 21. It had been scheduled
to open on Aug. 31. The studio made no mention of Carey's recent admission
to a hospital where she was said to be suffering "an emotional and physical
breakdown." Presumably Carey would be unavailable to promote the film for
the August date. (Doesn't that sound convenient - DR.SOTHA)

DR.SOTHA REVO & OUT