The Film
This three-part series examine how the stories of Aminatta Forna and Peter Godwin - who come from black and white African backgrounds respectively - are part of a bigger tragedy that has engulfed the continent.
Aminata travels to Sierra Leone, recounting the dictatorial regime of Siaka Stevens who sentenced her father Mohammed Forna to death for treason. Peter Godwin tries to reenter Zimbabwe during election time. He traces Robert Mugabe's rise to power and attempts to make contact with his family, white farmers that still live in Zimbabwe. He meets and talks to white farmers that have fled Zimbabwe to start again in neighbouring Mozambique.??
Together, through their personal journeys, they tackle head on what went wrong. Is it the fault of Africans, especially African leaders (programme one) or the legacy of the invasion of European whites (programme two) or are there fundamental problems with the natural environment which present Africans with huge challenges (programme three)?
Most importantly what hope is there for the future?
Peter Godwin is the author of prize-winning autobiography Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa. Aminatta Forna wrote the bestseller, The Devil That Danced on the Water.