Countdown at Kusini

Countdown at Kusini (also known as Cool Red) is a 1976 American-Nigerian action/drama film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis.

Countdown at Kusini
Directed byOssie Davis
Produced byLadi Ladebo
Written byOssie Davis
Al Freeman Jr.
Ladi Ladebo
John Storm Robert
StarringRuby Dee
Ossie Davis
Greg Morris
Music byManu Dibango
CinematographyAndrew Laszlo
Edited byGeorge Bowers
Production
company
DST Telecommunications
Nigeria Glipp Productions
Tam International Limited
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • April 7, 1976 (1976-04-07)
[1]
Running time
101 minutes
CountryNigeria
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.2 million[1]

Synopsis

During a trip to the newly independent nation of Fahari, Africa, Red Salter, an African American jazz musician, falls in love with Leah Matanzima, but she is involved in Fahari's struggle against a puppet government run by multinational corporations. Jealous of Leah's friendship with white British journalist Charles Henderson, Red reluctantly joins her support of revolutionary leader Ernest Motapo and helps her obtain guns from weapons dealer Saidu. When Fahari officials arrest them, Charles rescues Leah and Red; then spirits them away in a motorboat, but Ben Amed, a French mercenary hired to assassinate Motapo, rams them with another boat and kills Charles. Marnie (Yola), Motapo's traitorous nephew, arranges with Amen to ambush Motapo at a railroad junction near Kusini, but Leah and Red arrive in time with revolutionary fighters. After killing Marnie and Amed, Leah welcomes Red to Africa's revolution against European imperialism.[1]

Cast

Production

The film was conceived and entirely financed by Delta Sigma Theta, an African-American sorority that owned DST Telecommunications which produced material to counter the “inaccurate portrayal of black people in media.”[1]

Filming took place in August 1974 in Lagos, Nigeria with both U.S. and Nigerian crews.[1]

Dee, Davis and Morris deferred their salaries until the film made a profit.[1]

gollark: We have a bunch of instincts and desires about socialisation because ??? evolution in a way we don't particularly (in general) for PRNG output or something.
gollark: Not all complex things are also emotionally salient and... interesting? That isn't really right.
gollark: That seems very poetic but also probably wrong.
gollark: Motor control stuff probably spends lots of effort on modelling friction and gravity and kinematics and muscle output and whatever, but I don't believe that's plugged into "general intelligence" functions like social interaction is.
gollark: I think it's relevant, though.

References
  1. Countdown at Kusini at the American Film Institute Catalog


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.