Sankofa Film Review

...

their homeland, enslaved and therefore dispersed throughout the world. So, in all sense of the word, “Sankofa” is deeply spiritual. As a symbol, a person, an idea, a thought, it is in every way spiritual. It is a sense of spirituality that runs deep through the veins of all who come from African decent. It is a spirit that has been through many trials and tribulations, and yet, it drives all that it inhabits to remember where they come from and to work towards avenging all who have been lost throughout history.

At the very opening of the film, there is a voice chanting and calling to the, “spirit of the dead”. This is, in a way, Sankofa. The spirit of those slain that fuels their descendants in this day and age. In Mona’s case, Sankofa for her may be seen as the spirit that takes her back to the past. It may simply be seen as the spirit within her that resides in all people of African descent. For her, Sankofa could be in the form of Shola. Mona’s alter ego, Shola, is her gateway to how life was in the past for Africans. She is the way Mona becomes connected with her heritage. Once again, this is a deeply spiritual facet.

Sankofa, though deeply rooted in the African heritage, can also be used for discussion about non-Africans. It suggests that all people can forget where they come from. All people can have a “forgetful remembrance” of their past and their people’s history. Sankofa can not only represent the spiritual bond within all Africans, but all the people, from different heritages around the world. In this way, men and women from across the globe are even connected. All people are connected. On one level, it’s simple biology. On another, it’s a deep matter of spirituality.

Sankofa is an interesting and compelling film because it holds so many points that we discuss in Africana Studies. We see a model named Mona get transported back to the past, dawn the identity of a house servant named Shola and experience the life of an African slave in the southern rice fields in back in the time of the Atlantic slave trade. We see her learn her true identity as an African woman as her transformation is influenced by the characters Shango, Nunu, and Joe. And ultimately, we see the different forms of “Sankofa”. It can come in the form of the symbol, which is in the shape of a bird, the presence of the spirit in all people of African descent or the spiritual man named Sankofa who is seen early on in the movie. Overall, Sankofa may be seen as the spirit that binds all people of the world together. This film, though hard to watch at times, is a picture that shows the history of the African heritage and how the African people lived so many years ago.