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From: Anna Livia
< livia@sirius.com <mailto:livia@sirius.com>
<mailto:livia@sirius.com <mailto:livia@sirius.com> > >
Further to discussion of availability of Sembene films:
I own two films by Sembene, on videotape: _Borom Sarret_, and _Xala_. I
bought them from Facets Video Catalogue, who acquired them from the BFI
(British film Institute). They cost about $85 each. The only problem with
them is that they are in PAL VHS format (NOT compatible with American
VHS-though fine for European viewers). I had to organise a special session
at my university (Illinois, Champaign) since my usual classroom is not PAL
equipped. For me, this was not especially difficult, just required extra
planning, but for scholars not attached to large universities, it might pose
quite a problem, or for grad students who don't have faculty privileges. I
did email the BFI asking for permission to transfer the tape to American VHS
but never heard back. Our language lab cannot legally transfer videos which
are under copyright (as the Sembene films are). You can get them transferred
in commercial outfits, but it costs about $50 a film and is of doubtful
legality.
I would like to add that a) these two films are well worth the money and b)
if anyone has contacts at the BFI, it might be nice to suggest they also
produce an American VHS version.
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Anna Livia livia@sirius.com <mailto:livia@sirius.com>
<mailto:livia@sirius.com <mailto:livia@sirius.com> >
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