Miriam Makeba

Actress

March 4, 1932 (76 years)

† November 10, 2008

Prospect Township, near Johannesburg, South Africa

Biography

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. She had a brief and allegedly abusive first marriage at th…

Filmography

5.8

The Mike Douglas Show

Self

The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

7.0

The Cosby Show

Self

The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.

7.5

Numéro un

Self

A French variety show.

8.0

Le Grand Échiquier

Self

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

6.2

The Steve Allen Show

Self - Singer

No description available

7.7

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Self (archive footage)

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War.

7.7

Cachitos de hierro y cromo

Self (archive footage)

Cachitos de hierro y cromo is a Spanish musical-themed documentary program, directed by Jero Rodríguez and hosted by Virginia Díaz. It is an unapologetic musical display of RTVE's sound legacy in the form of performances on the set of programs such as 'Aplauso', 'Galas del Sábado', 'Mapa Sonoro', 'Zona Franca' or 'Los Conciertos de Radio 3'. For nearly 60 years, artists and other specimens have stormed viewers' screens. The result is a polyphony of images and memories that includes everything from James Brown to Camela, from Perales to REM, from Gabinete to Violent Femmes. And so all the time. Our secret weapon has been the historical archive of TVE, the repository of Spanish collective memory for more than half a century.

6.1

Sarafina!

Angelina

A Soweto schoolgirl named Sarafina is galvanized to protest apartheid after her teacher is arrested for her activism, leading her to join the student resistance movement.

6.5

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony

Self

The struggle to eradicate apartheid in South Africa has been chronicled over time, but no one has addressed the vital role music plays in this challenge. This documentary by Lee Hirsch recounts a fascinating and little-known part of South Africa's political history through archival footage, interviews and, of course, several mesmerizing musical performances.

6.5

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

Self

Wembley Stadium hosts a concert featuring stars from the fields of music, comedy and film, in celebration of the 70th birthday of imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. Highlight of the evening is the one hour live performance of Dire Straits feat. Eric Clapton.

5.6

Mama Africa

Self (archive footage)

Miriam Makeba was one of the first African musicians who won international stardom and whose music was always anchored in her traditional South African roots. Miriam Makeba was forced into exile in 1959. She sang for John F. Kennedy, performed with Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone, was married to Hugh Masekela and also Stokely Carmichael. Her life was tumultuous. She always stood for truth and justice. She fought for the oppressed most importantly for black Africans, as a campaigner against apartheid. She died November 2008 after a concert in Italy. Mika Kaurismäki's documentary, traces fifty years of her music and her performing life. Through rare archive footage of her performances and through interviews with her contemporaries we discover the remarkable journey of Miriam Makeba.

7.6

When We Were Kings

Self

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

10.0

Algiers, the Mecca of Revolutionaries (1962-1974)

Self

From the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, independent Algeria provided significant support to anti-colonial movements and revolutionaries worldwide. Successive presidents, Ahmed Ben Bella and then Houari Boumédiène, made Algiers a haven for activists fighting against colonial and racial oppression. Algiers the White became Algiers the Red. The internationalist Che Guevara established his base of operations there for his guerrilla activities in Africa. The African-American leader Eldridge Cleaver made it the international headquarters of the Black Panther Party. During this period, Algiers was known as "The Mecca of Revolutionaries."

7.5

Africa Rising

Self - Musician (archive footage)

How African artists have spread African culture all over the world, especially music, since the harsh years of decolonization, trying to offer a nicer portrait of this amazing continent, historically known for tragic subjects, such as slavery, famine, war and political chaos.

N/A

Exiles

Self

A series featuring six major artists and writers who live and work in exile.

6.0

The Panafrican Festival in Algiers

Self

Festival panafricain d'Alger is a documentary by William Klein of the music and dance festival held 40 years ago in the streets and in venues all across Algiers. Klein follows the preparations, the rehearsals, the concerts… He blends images of interviews made to writers and advocates of the freedom movements with stock images, thus allowing him to touch on such matters as colonialism, neocolonialism, colonial exploitation, the struggles and battles of the revolutionary movements for Independence.

10.0

The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert

Self

There was a time when the biggest names in pop music believed they could change the world for the better. Faced with the intolerance and excesses of the established authorities, music celebrities decided to use their prestige to draw attention to the problems that less favoured people in the world faced. Wembley Stadium, London, 1988: thousands of English people fill one of the most famous football arenas in the world to celebrate an unforgettable pop music festival, with a lofty goal above entertainment - the celebration of the seventieth birthday of African leader Nelson Mandela.

6.4

Soul Power

Self (archive footage)

Soul Power is a 2008 documentary film about the Zaire 74 music festival in Kinshasa which accompanied the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in October 1974. The film was made from archival footage; other footage shot at the time focusing on the fight was edited to form the film When We Were Kings.

6.8

Come Back, Africa

Miriam

Come Back, Africa chronicles the life of Zachariah, a black South African living under the rule of the harsh apartheid government in 1959.

8.0

Amok

Joséphine Sempala

A rural teacher discovers the harsh realities of his South Africa.