Charles Burnett's Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation tells the rise to power of Samuel Nujoma (Carl Lumbly), a prominent leader in Namibia's struggle for independence from South Africa, and that country's first president.
Opening when Nujoma was 16 years old and the country is under constant oppression from South Africa, the young man learns that he is the direct descendant of royalty. He sets off as a young man to live with an aunt, and befriends a religious man (Danny Glover) who has maintained a low profile after legal troubles stemming from a suspicious car accident.
Eventually Nujoma, in the face of severe racism, forms the SWAPO political movement that, with the assistance of some foreign governments, eventually earns Namibia its independence.
Director: | Charles Burnett |