AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

Tony-winning actress Anika Noni Rose hosts a new season of AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange — the innovative documentary series on contemporary life, art, and pop culture in the African Diaspora — with four new films.

The Fighting Spirit

Boxing is show business with blood — a tough sport known for finding its top competitors in the poorest neighborhoods. Bukom, a tiny district in Ghana’s capital city of Accra, is one such locale. Grounded in a long cultural tradition of wrestling that, over the years, developed into boxing, the tiny fishing village trains young people to fight — and win. Bukom has produced up to five percent of the world’s champion and Olympic medal boxers. The Fighting Spirit tells the story of three fighters from Bukom — two men and a woman — as they battle their way to the glittering rings of Europe and the United States to compete for the biggest prizes in the business. The film captures the athletes’ fight for respect and reward for their tribe and their home, as well as their triumphs and defeats in and out of the ring.

Desert Bayou

In the wake of one of the worst natural and humanitarian disasters ever to hit American shores, the US government airlifted nearly 600 African Americans to the almost entirely white state of Utah... without their knowledge. Desert Bayou examines whether two cultures — one black, one white — can come together in a time of utter chaos or whether their differences prove too great a challenge to overcome. In their own words, evacuees of Hurricane Katrina tell how they survived the storm of the century and ended up at a military installation in the deserts of Utah. Questions of race, politics, and religion emerge through interviews with evacuees, political, military and religious leaders, community and social figures. Desert Bayou tells a story of loss and reunion, of sorrow and rebirth, of anger and rejoicing, but most of all... a story of hope.

Black to Our Roots

Living in a housing project in Atlanta, Georgia, 17-year-old Sylvia Dorsey feels frustrated by the drug abuse and violence surrounding her. Black to Our Roots shares the inspirational story of the journey Sylvia takes to explore her ancestral home in Ghana in an attempt to escape the cycle of violence and poverty of her Atlanta neighborhood. In Africa, Sylvia confronts several challenges that test her patience and change her life forever. When she returns to the United States, will she adjust to her old world as a new woman?

Moving to the Beat

Moving to the Beat explores how youth in Africa and the United States use hip hop music to communicate with one another and as a language for social change. The documentary follows Rebel Soulz, a hip hop group from Portland, Oregon, as they journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone to bring the radical roots of American hip hop to the motherland of Africa. In the process of collaborating and interacting with the local artists, the visitors confront their own stereotypes and fantasies of Africa while shattering the Sierra Leoneans’ perception of America as a “second heaven.” Their deeply forged connection overcomes centuries of misunderstanding and separation and serves as an inspiring call for people worldwide to transcend boundaries.