Caroline Hunter comments on the struggle for African liberation. Guests Caroline Hunter, Dinizulu Ceitou (both of Boston's African Liberation Day Committee), and Christopher Nteta (of the Pan African Liberation Committee) discuss the liberation struggle in Mozambique with host Topper Carew. Topics include Frelimo (the African freedom fighters in Mozambique), the influence of African American support on the cause, the relationship between corporations and the seizure of African land, the need for violence to achieve liberation, the relationship between racism and colonization, and the need for African Americans to recognize that the African struggle is their own. Program includes a 30-minute film titled 'The Struggle Continues (A Luta Continua),' which documents the work of the resistance. Produced by Topper Carew. Directed by Conrad White.

'As if Memories Could Deceive Me,' 1986, documents a performance or rehearsal of the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, through close-ups, split-screen effects, and collage techniques. Instruments are filmed close-up and appear in boxed-off portions of the screen. As the music rises, archival film images begin to creep in. Many times they are superimposed over the instruments. Film footage includes the interior of a colorful palace, Hitler propaganda and Nuremberg trials, and a men's clothing store. The original footage produced for this work was shot at the New England Conservatory of Music, the Goethe Institute, and a Louis clothing store. Robert Schumann's 'Manfred' and 'Drum and Gong Sounds' by F. Marschall and U. Timmermann are the musical works performed by New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. 'As if Memories Could Deceive Me' was created by Marcel Odenbach for The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund and was co-produced by the Goethe Institute in Boston. It was later broadcast as a segment of Episode 304 of the 1987 season of 'New Television.'

Bill Viola's 30-second portraits were about portraiture and the idea of a person staring at the viewer (as the viewer stares at the TV screen). This short excerpt shows a man seated on his couch, the only sounds heard being the load ticking of a clock, and the man's breathing.

Black Solidarity Day 1972. Program addresses a variety of topics via a magazine-format presentation. Host John Slade introduces the following segments: 'Performance' with rock/jazz musicians Compost, 'Community Events' with Black Solidarity Day organizers Joseph Nkunta, Marie Firman, Karim Atiba Bayete, and Arnold Scott, 'Speak Out!' with Jack E. Robinson, President of the Boston Chapter of the NAACP (who talks about the need for adequate police protection in African American neighborhoods and a responsive police force), 'man on the street' interviews, in which Slade asks people whether or not they would like an African American officer to command their neighborhood's police district, a 'Save Our Cities Expo' review with Melvin Penn (a university student who interviews organizer Reverend Dr. Virgil Wood, Area Chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference), and 'African Notes,' in which the building of the Volta Dam in Ghana is discussed. Program ushers in a new format that incorporates the interviews and expertise of community members. Produced by John Slade. Directed by Russell Tillman.

'A contemporary interpretation of the Bizet opera, this late twentieth century story of ill-fated romance set on New York's Lower East Side features Carmen as a rock-and-roll singer and Don Jose as a record producer. The drama is interrupted and examined through a series of audiovisual asides that serve as commentary, with images of fire and ice poetically illuminating the romantic and tragic elements. Carmen is played by New York musician Emily XYZ...." In this piece written, directed, and produced by Ann-Sargent Wooster, a man and a woman reflect on their roles in an obsessive relationship. The work assumes a mock documentary style, as the story unfolds through interviews and confessions juxtaposed with the events depicted. Music includes 'Cloud' and 'Fire and Water' by Brook Williams and Ann-Sargent Wooster, excerpts of Andrew Nadelman's 'Tapestry' and 'Rhapsody,' clarinet solo by Michael Isenberg, and opera singing by Janeal Sugars, Meth Genies, and Clay Steward. The work was broadcast as a segment of episode 612 (1990) of 'New Television.'

'Collisions' was written by Jane Wagner and is an unusual comedy/drama. It stars Lily Tomlin and other well known performers, such as Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. The work attempts to integrate short video works by Stephen Beck, Ed Emshwiller, Louis Falco, Ron Hays, Stan Vanderbeek, and William Wegman. 'Collisions' tells the story of Eartha, a creature from the planet of Zymus, who agrees to take a human form and to observe the planet earth. Eartha inhabits Beth Barber (Lily Tomlin), a news reporter. At one point, Beth visits her family in Kentucky, who are played by Tomlin's actual family. Meanwhile, a panel of experts on a television program on Zymus monitor Eartha's impressions and contemplate whether or not to blow up the earth. Eventually, Eartha, who has come to respect the humans' vulnerability and depth of feeling, has a falling out with the panel. The fate of earth remains uncertain. Produced by Fred Barzyk and David Loxton. A coproduction of the WNET Television Laboratory and the WGBH New Television Workshop. This work was considered a 'failure' by Fred Barzyk and was never broadcast.

Christopher Lydon reports on the release of the film Cry Freedom, based on the life of Steve Biko (martyred black South African leader). Lydon notes that the film is told from the perspective of Donald Woods (white newspaper editor). Lydon interviews Woods about apartheid and his relationship with Biko. Woods says that the black opposition in South Africa was forced to become violent in response to the brutal tactics of the white regime. Woods talks about his early opposition to Biko and the black movement; he says that he changed his opinion when he realized that Biko's positive message of black self-reliance was not anti-white. Lydon notes that Biko was killed in prison while Woods was exiled from South Africa. Lydon's report is accompanied by footage from the film and from the trailer of the film Cry Freedom. This tape includes additional footage from the film and the trailer of the film Cry Freedom.

Excerpt from a British film on the Eritrea People's Liberation Front showing the tough training regime, and physical labor, expected of all soldiers.

Excerpts from a filmed interview with the African-American singer, composer, choral director and actress Eva Jessye as she reminisces about her early career.

Filmed in extreme desert conditions 'Event Horizon' looks at a landscape interrupted and transformed by visible signs of heat. The waviness blurs objects and figures, creating a mirage effect and rendering familiar objects unrecognizable. The work takes place in near silence, with the sound of wind dominating the score. The work is approximately seven and one-half minutes in length. Produced and directed by Bil Viola.

Here is a series of lessons in film scoring for anyone who wants to create music for motion pictures but is not a musician.

This course covers the basics of editing a conversation. This is dramatic scene with scripted dialog. Editing dialog is the most basic form of editing in motion pictures. This is what you need to learn first. This series of lessons gives you hands-on experience editing actual motion pictures and television dramas. It's the real thing!

'The Going Away Party,' by Dan Boord and Greg Durbin, is a dramatic work about corruption among Oklahoma county officials. It is based on the true stories of incidents of corruption amongst Oklahoma's elected county commissioners. This segment is from the dramatic 'reenactment,' showing friends and supporters of Burrows, a commissioner sentenced to serve a jail term, at a going-away party.

'The Great Frontier' juxtaposes dramatizations of two stories. In the first, Tracy Barnes, host of the cable access show 'Oklahoma Yesterdays,' prepares for a broadcast on Bill Jenkins, a film-maker who was attempting to make 'real westerns.' This alternates with vignettes depicting the life of Bill Jenkins.

Guinea Bissau Conflict. Program examines the guerilla warfare underway in the African country of Guinea Bissau as part of the campaign for independence being waged in that country. Program is divided into two segments: the first consisting of an on-location British film about Guinea Bissau guerilla troop B-30 as it proceeds to an attack site, the second of an interview with Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) representative Gil Fernandes, who discusses his work, background, and the state of the war. Film contains commentary by PAIGC founder Amilcar Cabral. Produced by John Slade. Directed by Russell Tillman.

'I Do Not Know What It Is that I Am Like' juxtaposes images of animals, both wild and domestic, and natural environments with human activity as it takes place in an apartment, and during a fire walking ceremony in Fiji. Documentary-style footage is combined with staged events. Despite the piece's lack of a traditional narrative, it bears some relationship to nature works. The segment features material from 'Il Corpo Scuro (The dark body)' animals and natural environments are seen up close and at a distance.

'Irony,' 1985, by Ken Feingold, was made in association with The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund. Though ultimately fictional, 'Irony' includes scenes where characters talk directly to the camera as if being interviewed. These layered scenes are interspersed with footage shot during travels in India, which include documentation of a film shoot in the desert (featuring brightly costumed Indian dancers) and villagers looking into the camera. Two female characters emerge as director/filmmaker figures, and seem to mirror or double each other, sometimes sharing dialogue. The suggestion that develops is that 'Irony' is a film about the making of a film that is about a woman and the making of a film. In addition to examining the process of filmmaking, the work looks at the translation or representation of experience, especially the experience of travel. At one point, one of the directors/filmmakers says, 'How she [the character in the film] follows these threads is our story -the story of a woman in between things.' Music was created by Ratso Harris.The Contemporary Art Television (CAT) Fund was a joint venture between Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) and WGBH's New Television Workshop. Funding came from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities' New Works program in 1983. Co-directors were WGBH's Susan Dowling (New Television Workshop Director, 1982-1993), and David Ross (ICA Director). Kathy Rae Huffman served as curator and producer. The Fund's primary objective was to award money to video artists for new works. The goals were to foster excellence in the exploration of television as a creative medium, broaden video arts international audience through broadcast and gallery exhibition, and increase revenues for artists from the distribution of their works in all markets. Many of the works were broadcast as part of 'New Television,' and appeared in festivals worldwide. The Fund was also used to sponsor international symposia among curators, distributors, and producers to help promote the growth of video art. In 1990, the ICA assumed full sponsorship of the Fund, where it continued for another year.

Commissioned by Pioneer Laser disc for a project entitled 'AV Cocktail,' Peter Calles presents a world of constant motion, based on the children's game 'Menko.' Japanese figures appear as part of the frantic horizon.

Eritrean People's Liberation Front. Program focuses on the struggle between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a struggle that started in 1961, when Ethiopia officially annexed Eritrea and made it a colony. Host Melvin Moore and guests Astier Woldeyohannes (of the Association of Eritrean Women of North America), Girmai Gebregziabher (of the Association of Eritrean Students of North America), and Arthur Koutsis (member of the Eritrean Support Committee) discuss the history of the struggle between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the function of the North American associations they represent, reactions to the argument that Black Africans should not be fighting other Black Africans, if the guerilla warfare is a struggle for independence or a struggle against oppression, what has been done to influence the United Nations (and the United States) not to aid Ethiopia, and is there any involvement of other African countries with the struggle. Additional segments include excerpts from a British film on the Eritrea People's Liberation Front produced by the BBC, the 'Say Brother News' with reporters Karen Holmes, Milly Kiung, Margaret Tarter, and Tanya Hart, and the 'Community Calendar.' Holmes's report features an interview with Minority Women's Employment Program (MWEP Boston) recruiter Consuelo Gonzales-Thornell; Tarter's report features an interview with Afrikan Heritage Institute (Roxbury) Program Director Fahamisha Shariat. Produced by Barbara Barrow-Murray. Directed by David DeBarger and Eric Himes.