Sankofa: distributive justice - Haile Gerima's film gets new opportunities for international distribution from Mypheduh Films, Washington, D.C

The ghost of a legendary black filmmaker has returned to aid the distribution of Haile Gerima's prize-winning but "unmarketable" film Sankofa. The film explores the world of slavery and personal redemption through the time travel of an African-American fashion model (Oyafunmike Ogunlano), who is possessed by spirits and transformed into a plantation house slave. Although Sankofa won several international awards, it has had a difficult time getting play in America, says its distributor, Mypheduh Films of Washington, D.C.

So Mypheduh drew upon "the rich experience of African-American film legend Oscar Micheaux, who virtually carried his films from theater to theater," explains Kay Shaw, Sankofa's distribution manager. To promote the film, Mypheduh relied on four-walling, a technique in which event sponsors rent a space, assume all the risks, and handle their own advertising to attract a full house.

The strategy helped Mypheduh circulate one copy of Sankofa to audiences in London and in a few East Coast cities. The film, whose cast includes Hasinatou Camara, Reginald Carter, Alexandra Duah, Kofi Ghanaba, Nick Medley, Mutabaruka and Ofemo Omilani, won viewers over, with the result that 10 copies are now in circulation and are scheduled to run this fall in Dallas or Houston, Detroit, Los Angeles and Oakland. Gerima will be at the opening in each city, and will speak after the evening shows. For more information, call (212) 505-1770.

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