This film will be shown as part of a double feature program with Hands of God on Saturday, June 23^rd and Sunday, June 24^th, 2007 at the 5^th African Diaspora Film Festival-Chicago, held at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. For further information call 773-281-9075 or visit the website at www.facets.org.  

Sons of Benkos is a documentary film that explores African culture in Colombia through the language and rhythms of music, also incorporating Cuban and contemporary African influences. It is in Spanish with English subtitles. Using music that is rooted in that of their African ancestors, combined with sound systems, drums, guitars and voice, the poor blacks in the town of Palenque maintain a link to their cultural roots that is admirable. 

The focus in the film is on the people who have stayed in the countryside rather than those who have left to live in the “modern” world. This is important to keep in mind so that the hour we spend with them does not become our view of the entire nation. It would be the same as seeing a documentary on inner city African Americans living in run down public housing in Chicago and drawing the conclusion that this represented all blacks in Chicago and the USA. We offer this point of view as we are sensitive to images that focus on blacks who live in poverty. That said, unlike what we saw in City of God, though the people are poor the focus does not have to be on violence. Here, there is pride in their environment and for themselves. That’s a lesson that many could learn from. 

Benkos (of the title) was one of the most important leaders of the freedom movement during the time of slavery in Colombia. Possibly the most important thing about this film is that it challenges assumptions about the meaning of culture. At first, you may not feel comfortable with some notions of cultures different than your own but that does not mean that they are not good or valid. We may be asked to stretch our assumptions and often change them. That is a learning process. It does not mean that practices need to be changed, as was the assumption by whites that Native Americans were better off as Christians and then to be cobbled onto reservations. For a movie about this type of phenomenon see Rabbit Proof Fence.  

Culture is about history and what certain groups of people seek for themselves. A culture is often changed if a people that have power (e.g., weapons) want something (e.g., natural resources) from a less powerful culture. Cultures capture many things such as values, dress, dance, music, wealth and poverty.  

The Sons of Benkos pays respect to the 600,000 slaves that came from Africa to Colombia, as their descendants live in their poor township on the outskirts of high rise buildings and greater wealth. With the donation of electricity by a championship boxer, a better standard of living by the 4,000 citizens of Palenque will continue to improve. They have the family values to make life better for each succeeding generation.