Prof. Tukufu Zuberi Wins Best Documentary and Best Director at the San Diego Black Film Festival

Tukufu Zuberi, Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, Professor and Chair of Sociology, and Professor of Africana Studies, has been awarded two top honors at the recent San Diego Black Film Festival, including Best Documentary and Best Director, for his feature-length film titled African Independence.

While Zuberi is accustomed to working in front of the camera as one of the hosts of the successful PBS series History Detectives, African Independence is his first effort working behind the camera.

“I make films as an extension of my desire to educate, so being awarded Best Documentary Film and Best Director came as a surprise,” Zuberi says. “I could not have anticipated the buzz that it is generating.”

The film traces the story of the African continent since enslavement and colonization by Europeans. Through the lens of four watershed events—World War Two, the end of colonialism, the Cold War, and the era of African Republics—it shows a unique side of Africa’s recent history. The story is told by channeling the voices of freedom fighters and leaders who achieved independence, liberty and justice for African people.

The San Diego Black Film Festival was established in 2002 by the Black Historical Society of San Diego. The festival is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of African American and African Diaspora cinema, as well as the education of media arts. Held each year in late January, it is one of the largest black film festivals in the country, screening over 100 films per year.

To view a trailer for African Independence, click here.

For more information on the film, visit: african-independence.com.