The Raft of the Medusa: five voices on colonies, nations and histories

Canadian documentary filmmaker Julian Samuel presents an intellectual discourse on world history from the birth of civilization to modern day with particular focus on the Orient. In order to maintain a balanced non-European perspective, analytical interviews are conducted with Amin Maalouf (writer - ‘Leon L’African’), Thierry Hentsch (specialist, international relations - ‘Imagining the Middle East’), Nourbese Philip (writer/critic - ‘Looking for Livingstone’, ‘Frontiers’), Sara Suleri (writer/critic - ‘The Rhetoric of English India’) and Ackbar Abbas (critic - commentator on Walter Benjamin and Hong Kong cinema). This excellent and informative program covers social, economical, political, cultural and religious issues including colonialism and imperialism; capitalism and communism; European, African and Asian histories; East/West relations; fundamentalism and secularism; and major historical events such as the partition of India in 1947, the political separation of Hong Kong from China in 1949 and Hong Kong’s future with the ending of British rule by 1997, the emancipation of slaves, Occidental modernism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Contains some b&w archival footage. In English and French with English subtitles.