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TERRE DI SCHIAVI {SLAVE LANDS} {ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES} (TV)

Summary

This documentary discusses the Africa-to-America slave trade, focusing on its history in Ghana as well as its ongoing effects there. Historian Irene K. Odotei talks about how there was never any freedom or justice to be had at Ghana's Elmina Castle, despite a coat of arms proclaiming both at the building's entrance. The narrator discusses Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery book "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and how it began the battle against slavery. Historian Alessandro Portelli details how Thomas Jefferson was hypocritical in writing that "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence. Historian Akoshua A. Perbi states that as many as twenty million Africans were brought from Africa to America as slaves. Meanwhile, the thoughts of former slaves are read. Historian Elikia M'Bokolo details the struggles America had in emerging from its history as a slave nation, with civil rights problems and racism still in full force in the 1960s. Portelli details how productions like TV's "Roots" helped to change thinking by exposing prejudice and dramatizing past injustices. The narrator then details the Atlantic trade and its three stages, as well as how much was paid for a slave. Krystal Gualde, Nantes Museum curator, discusses many archival documents at the museum that expose the slave trade's financial dealings. The narrator details how numerous European countries accrued fortunes via the slave trade. Local historian Jean Breteau discusses how France profited from slavery in the 18th century. Gualde details how Nantes in particular became wealthy from the trade. Gualde shows some artifacts used for slavery, including chains and collars. The narrator details that more than 27,000 trips were made between Africa and America and how only 9.5 million Africans survived the crossing, which lasted from one to three months. The program examines the kind of ships that would have been used for the journey. Gualde details what living conditions for the Africans on the voyage would be like. Portelli discusses how the Africans would have yearned for freedom the second they were loaded onto the crammed ships. The narrator goes through the typical daily schedule of the Africans aboard the ships. Gualde details what would happen to the slaves upon their arrival at ports. One such port was in the Gulf of Guinea, the coast of Ghana, at the city of Elmina. There, anthropologist Cesare Poppi talks about how he arrived in Ghana in 1982. He discusses the Portugese carvel ship and how it improved sea travel and added to an influx of Europeans in Ghana by the late 1400s. Guide Charles Adu-Arhim gives a tour of Elmina Castle, built by early Portugese settlers in 1482. Soon, other fortresses were built by Europeans in Africa. Abu-Arhim details how the fortresses had dungeons for the slave trade. Poppi discusses the trade that sprung up along the "Gold Coast." The Gulf of Guinea was renamed the Gulf of Slaves. Abu-Arhim shows off a "death cell" in the castle to hold pirates, then further discusses its separate male and female dungeons and the removal of corpses from them. Poppi tries to calculate how many slaves would have been traded in Ghana in the late-1700s. He further discusses how slave trading would have worked, as well as the goods -- such as weapons -- that would have been swapped. Next, Poppi follows the route the slaves took from the continent's interior to the coast, a journey that would have taken weeks. Poppi visits an ancestral graveyard, then discusses how the slaves would have been cleaned up at a "last bath" before being brought to market. From there, Poppi heads toward the territory of Ashanti, which became the dominant force in West African slave trade in the eighteenth century. A British fort in the city, now the Ghana Armed Forces Museum, is explored, along with artifacts from battles that marked the segue from slavery to colonialism. Ghana Armed Forces Museum manager Maxwell Ohene Tweneboa-Kodua produces a box containing a scrapbook about Sir Robert Baden-Powell's 1895 Scout expedition to Ashanti, the purpose of which was to block the expansion of the Ashanti empire. Soon, the slave trade had become more dominant there, continuing until the 1920s. The town of Salaga became the biggest slave market in the region. Kuaba, a friend of Poppi's, tries to perform a spiritual ceremony there. Kuaba is part of a secret society which Poppi joins, taking the name "the book man." At a society meeting, the members discuss Ghana's slave history and the origin of the term "slave." Kibasi, the Kpembewura of Salaga, the chief of the province, is asked by Poppi for permission to visit and film the slave market. There, various parts of the market are examined. The narrator explains how slaves were captured for the market. Poppi details when Ghana experienced the greatest demand for slaves. Next, the program heads to the tiny border village of Chereponi, one of the slave capturers' favorite hunting areas. There, a parade has been organized before Poppi meets with village chief Dawuda Nabah and another local chief, Ibrahima Nasona, to talk about slavery. Poppi offers some final thoughts, after which a ceremony is held at Elmina Castle for the many slaves that perished there.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by The New York Times Company Foundation.

Details

  • NETWORK: RAI TRE (Italy)
  • DATE: January 10, 2008
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:55:55
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:92654
  • GENRE: Documentary
  • SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection
  • SERIES RUN: RAI TRE (Italy) - TV, 2008
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Giuseppe Giannotti … Writer, Director
  • Guilia Foschini … Writer
  • Alessandro Esseno … Music by
  • Charles Adu-Arhim
  • Robert Baden-Powell
  • Jean Breteau
  • Krystal Gualde
  • Thomas Jefferson
  • Kibasi
  • Kuaba
  • Elikia M'Bokolo
  • Dawuda Nabah
  • Ibrahima Nasona
  • Irene K. Odotei
  • Akoshua A. Perbi
  • Cesare Poppi
  • Alessandro Portelli
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Maxwell Ohene Tweneboa-Kodua