Ten Lanterns

“Too Much Drink is not Good”

After years of neglect and war, we were rebuilding the arts for Sierra Leoneans to express their thoughts and ideas. With the Ballanta Academy of Music we helped direct and produce musical theater. This production is an advertisement for an opera in Krio, the local English dialect.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Director / Editor)

Helped develop Renaissance Productions, a local arts group in Sierra Leone, encouraging renewal of the arts after the war. This is a promotion for a Nigerian play, a remake of the Greek play Oedipus the King.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Director / Editor)

The war was over and it was time for refugees to return home to Sierra Leone. This clip is the opening of a production for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to encourage repatriation by explaining conditions at home. The clip starts with the Sierra Leone national anthem and scenes of rebuilding. The woman who speaks is saying in Krio, the local English dialect, that although she is grateful to the refugee camp and the Republic of Guinea for protecting them, she is glad she is home and, with the skills she received as a refugee, she has found plenty of work in Sierra Leone.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Director / Editor)

Abbie Hoffman, a renown activist and organizer from the sixties in the United States, was turning fifty. Abbie discusses life with the filmmaker over a corned beef sandwich, and serves “us with an astute serving of analysis on our collective social consciousness.” (Wolf Schneider, American Film)

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Editor)

Nelson Mandela’s 75^th birthday in 1993, 9 months before the first democratic election in South Africa’s history, and an occasion to reminisce about what had been endured and sacrificed, but also an occasion to share goals for the future for his country.

Today is that future and how have these goals panned out?

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Editor)

After years of war and neglect, Sierra Leone has many people with disabilities that are perceived as unemployable. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has a program to train people with disabilities in different occupational skills. This video was a means to explain the program to funders and to show the Sierra Leone public those with disabilities are trainable and can be economically productive.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Director / Editor)

For most of Sierra Leone, there has never been the opportunity for a telephone. Cell phones have become the rage, especially because there is no need to create a wired infrastructure. DataTel has been a pioneer in getting internet access to businesses. Now they are branching into the mobile telephone market. What makes them different from other cell phone companies is their concentration on internet access, offering the first opportunity for personal internet access in Sierra Leone. This video is an introduction for DataTel, showing off their technology and their internet access.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Director / Editor)

Nine months before the historic 1994 South African elections, Nelson Mandela celebrated his 75th birthday. This is the ANC Video Unit’s gift for the occasion. It has interviews with people who have been important in Madiba’s life and sending their birthday greetings.

Howard Katzman

(Producer / Editor)