The sultan's burden /
Sultan Issa Maigari is the ruler of the northern Cameroon province of Adamawa, an area the size of England. Served by a liveried bodyguard of servants and slaves, he lives in an extraordinary thatched palace with his harem of wives and concubines and his thirty children. We are in a world of heraldr...
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| Format: | Video |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | This edition in English and French. |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
Filmakers Library,
1995.
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| Online Access: | Connect to this streaming video (Alexander Street Press) |
| Summary: | Sultan Issa Maigari is the ruler of the northern Cameroon province of Adamawa, an area the size of England. Served by a liveried bodyguard of servants and slaves, he lives in an extraordinary thatched palace with his harem of wives and concubines and his thirty children. We are in a world of heraldry and magic, an ancient world fast disintegrating under the pressures of contempory political forces.In 1992 the Sultan allowed anthropologist Lisbet Holtedahl, and award-winning director Jon Jerstad, to film his life. Never before had a traditional Islamic leader granted such access to a world that seems straight out of the Arabian Nights. We see the many problems besetting the Sultan, ranging from the threat of an armed rebellion among the peasant farmers, to his impossible task of justifying support for the national Christian goverment to his local Moslem subjects. His courtiers criticize his rule. His own Praise-Singer (surely the worst Praise Singer in Africa) contributes a bitter diatribe against the Sultan for his lack of generosity. The intrigues of the court are reminiscent of Shakespearean drama. Filmed as the first democratic elections in Cameroon were about to be held, The Sultan's Burden captures the myriad political and ethnic rivalries which occur all over Africa as it emerges from a colonial past. |
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| Item Description: | Originally released as DVD. Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011). Electronic resource. |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (50 min.). Previously released as DVD. |
| Audience: | For College; Adult audiences. |
| Awards: | Margaret Mead Film Festival, 1994 Middle East Studies Association, 1995 |