Ashes & Embers

(Haile Gerima, US 1982, 120 min., 16mm)

Child of Resistance: The Cinema of Haile Gerima. Nay Charles is an African American Vietnam veteran who no longer fits in, can’t find a job and is ultimately arrested by the police. Like his protagonist, Haile Gerima is both drawn to and skeptical of the Black Nationalist ideology. Finally, Gerima places his faith in African American youth, a vision of utopia after the grim lessons of contemporary race relations in America.