Africa's Great Civilizations Explained

Genre:Documentary
Director:Virginia Quinn
Mark Bates
Presenter:Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Composer:Tom Howe
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:6
Producer:Virginia Quinn
Mark Bates
Cinematography:Graham Smith
Duane McLunie
Jim Bishop
Gary Clarke
Eli Gamson
Nic Hofmeyr
Tom Pridham
Editor:Guy Scutter
Doug Howarth
Daniel Garcia Robles
Anthony Willis
Runtime:52–53 minutes per episode
Company:Inkwell Films
McGee Media
Kunhardt Films
WETA
Network:PBS

Africa's Great Civilizations is a PBS six-hour television series hosted and written by Henry Louis Gates Jr.[1] [2] It aired on PBS in the United States in February 2017.[3]

In the series, Gates chronicles African history starting with the birth of humankind to the start of the 20th century. The show portrays 200,000 years of Africa's history and touches on subjects from the arts to writing and the dawn of civilization to the 21st century.[4]

The series' six episodes are:

  1. "Origins" (Omo River, Mitochondrial Eve, Nubian pyramids, Bantu expansion)
  2. "The Cross and the Crescent" (Yeha, North African Christian theologians, Islam in Africa, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Lake Tana)
  3. "Empires of Gold" (Fez, Timbuktu, University of al-Qarawiyyin, Mali Empire)
  4. "Cities" (Kilwa, Great Zimbabwe, Benin, Gondar)
  5. "The Atlantic Age" (Kingdom of Kongo, Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, Ouidah, the Atlantic slave trade)
  6. "Commerce and the Clash of Civilizations" (Zulu Kingdom, Zanzibar, the Scramble for Africa, Ethiopian Empire)

On April 26, 2017, Gates introduced the series at the United Nations. The event was spearheaded by the Africa-America Institute. The series was released on both Blu-ray and DVD on May 16, 2017.[5]

Reception

The New York Times praised the series, but said it would have been good if it made more connections between the civilisations of the past and modern Africa.[6] Multifaith website Spirituality & Practice called the series "ambitious and poignant;"[7] while the UK Independent called it "Endlessly enthralling and tremendously dramatic."[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: What to Watch: Black History Month Specials, Movies and Documentaries. Nick. Caruso. February 1, 2022.
  2. Web site: Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s "Africa's Great Civilizations" Shows a Continent's Great Sweep. The New York Times. 2 May 2017. 28 February 2017.
  3. Web site: 'Africa's Great Civilizations': Henry Louis Gates on Why Understanding Africa's History Is More Vital Than Ever. 27 February 2017. 27 April 2017.
  4. Web site: Africa's Great Civilizations. Africa's Great Civilizations. 27 April 2017.
  5. News: 'Africa's Great Civilizations' on DVD & Blu-ray. 9 March 2019. ShadowAndAct.com . Shadow & Act. 4 May 2017.
  6. News: Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s 'Africa's Great Civilizations,' Shows a Continent's Grand Sweep. Neil. Genzlinger. The New York Times . February 28, 2017.
  7. Web site: Africa's Great Civilizations | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice. Henry Louis. Gates. www.spiritualityandpractice.com.
  8. Web site: Africa's Great Civilisations, TV review: Endlessly enthralling and tremendously dramatic. https://web.archive.org/web/20180704043907/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/africas-great-civilisation-review-tv-bbc4-a8426981.html . 2018-07-04 . limited . live. July 17, 2018. The Independent.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Africa's Great Civilizations".

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