Med Hondo: A founding father of African cinema
French children recognise Hondo as the voice of Donkey in Shrek. But to a generation of cinema-goers, Hondo was a radical filmmaker who used his creativity as a tool to fight injustice, wherever he saw it.
This is the story of Mohamed “Med” Hondo, from his humble beginnings in Mauritania, to smuggling himself on board a ship to France, to finding recognition as a modern African cinema director and actor. Hondo’s films challenged racism in Europe and historic colonialism in Africa.
He also found great success dubbing the voices of famous Hollywood actors into French, including Eddie Murphy and Morgan Freeman.
She Saw the Sea, an uplifting film by Karin Slater, follows the vivacious Kholofelo Sethebe, a marine biologist, as she braves the ocean to find a beautiful new underwater world.
Fault Lines reports from Honduras on how extreme weather is upending livelihoods and forcing people to leave their homes. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans have made the dangerous trip north to the United States, hoping to escape poverty and violence. But as the country endures repeated droughts, hurricanes and floods, people are also fleeing the effects of climate change.
Tarren-Lynn January is part of the Juliet Crew, the only all-female bush firefighting unit in Cape Town, South Africa. She and her teammates were recruited to encourage more women into firefighting. In this documentary we bunker down with the crew at their barracks on the Western Cape mountains.
Timbuktu is renowned for its ancient texts, which date back to when the Malian city was a vital scholastic centre over 500 years ago. Boubacar Saddeck Najim is one of the few remaining copyists who painstakingly replicates these precious manuscripts for posterity.
In this documentary from Al Jazeera World, we discover the inspirations for four song stories from the Arabian Gulf, which include satire, an ancient Islamic "advert" and World Cup football pride.
In this documentary from Al Jazeera we discover how an Indigenous grandmother combats Colombia’s most dangerous armed groups.
Related Videos
Al Jazeera Close Up Documentary. Judo for Peace in the Central African Republic.
This documentary, filled with a wide variety of characters, voices and movie clips, is a fascinating snapshot of a world few outside Morocco knew existed. It also includes a contribution from legendary Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor who passed away in April 2020.
In recent years the effects of illegal logging on Romania’s rich biodiversity have been catastrophic; once-beautiful mountains and valleys reduced to barren expanses of earth, scarred by fallen and dragged timber.
Embark on a culinary journey and dig into the hidden history of four favourite foods from Andalusia to the Levant.
This film from Al Jazeera follows the Slemani ultras. They have given a voice to women in a culture where they are often expected to adopt traditional female roles. These women have changed the face of football fans, as well as challenged cultural norms. They are non-violent, loud and proud, and most importantly they love football!
Femi Bamigboye is the coach and founder of the Remo Football Academy in the small Nigerian town of Iperu. We spend a week with Femi Bamigboye as he gets his players ready for the cup final of a local knock-out competition. Femi's son Sam leads the team of youngsters against an older and more experienced team.
