West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979)
Original title: West Indies ou les Nègres marrons de la liberté
Date: Saturday, July 13, 2024
Time: 7pm-9pm
Details: Mauritania; Algeria | 110 minutes | In French with subtitles
Cost: $10 general admission | $5 student | Member benefits do not apply | AFLCR membership does not apply
Location: Screening Room @VTIFF, 60 Lake Street, 1st floor, Burlington, VT
Info: Visit the VTIFF page here.
Med Hondo’s 1979 film West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty is a landmark in the history of African cinema. It dramatizes 400 years of French colonialism on the continent . . . through song and dance. Though the story crosses oceans, the film was shot entirely on a massive replica of a slave ship built in an abandoned factory in Paris.
West Indies is a sui generis amalgam of historical epic, Broadway revue, Brechtian theater, and joyous agitprop. On the enormous mock slave ship, it mounts intricately choreographed reenactments and dance numbers to investigate a relentless parade of imperialist oppression. No mere extravaganza, West Indies is a call to arms for a spectacular yet critical cinematic reimagining of an entire people’s history of resistance and struggle.
On its release in 1979, its explosive subject matter and presentation alienated the mainstream. Few saw West Indies, even though most critics loved it. It has recently been restored and is currently having a revival. New Yorker subscribers can read a recent review here.