A Lesson in History

Jan 1, 1989

0h 10m

★ 0.0

An allegorical story seen through the lens of a black school girl and her search for a history she can identify with.

Overview

Lesson in History was produced when Peters was a student at the West Surrey School of Art and Design. Having read The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton, she was inspired to make what she describes as 'the stories of black achievement and how stories had not been told.' The animated film was subsequently screened on the BBC as part of the series 10X10. It was shot on 16mm using cutouts, photography and masks.

Genres

Animation

History

Production Companies

BBC 2

West Surrey College of Art & Design

A Lesson in History Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Maybelle Peters

Narrator

Gerry White

Huck Finn is a homeless boy because he was abandoned by his father, who left the village for over a year. Although he lives in a barrel and the mother of his little friend Tom Sawyer does not want children to play with him, he is always surrounded by many friends. And it is during one of these games, while he is exploring a cave in search of "pirate treasure" that Huck discovers two robbers who had just looted the village.

6.8

The Red Sea Diving Resort

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7.3

Land and Freedom

Apr 7, 1995

David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.

7.1

Blade Runner: Black Out 2022

Sep 26, 2017

This animated short revolves around the events causing an electrical systems failure on the west coast of the US. According to Blade Runner 2049’s official timeline, this failure leads to cities shutting down, financial and trade markets being thrown into chaos, and food supplies dwindling. There’s no proof as to what caused the blackouts, but Replicants — the bio-engineered robots featured in the original Blade Runner, are blamed.

6.4

The Writer from a Country Without Bookstores

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The ruthless dictator Teodoro Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron hand since 1979. Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel is the most translated Equatoguinean writer, but he had to flee the country in 2011, after starting a hunger strike denouncing the crimes of the dictatorship. Since then, he has lived in Spain, feeling that, despite the risks, he must return and fight the monster with words.

6.2

The Mouse and His Child

Nov 18, 1977

A mouse and his child, the two parts of a single small wind-up toy, go on a quest to become "self-winding".

5.8

Babar: The Movie

Jul 28, 1989

Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it.

6.4

Marquis

Apr 26, 1989

On the eve of revolution, French activist and author Marquis and his talking penis, Colin, await judgment in the Bastille for allegedly plotting against the state. While Marquis dedicates himself to his art and Colin longs for action, the provocative pair unwittingly rouse the interest of competing ideological factions.

4.8

October Days

Jan 1, 1958

Historical drama depicting the events leading up to the 1917 October Revolution produced to celebrate the 40th anniversary.

6.6

Roma

Apr 15, 2004

Joaquín Góñez, a novelist in his sixties recalls his emotions, his wild years in Buenos Aires, the memories of old friends, the meaning of loyalty and the intimate relationship with his mother, Roma.

6.9

The Night of Varennes

May 15, 1982

During the French Revolution, a surprising company shares a coach, trying to catch up something - the time itself, perhaps.

6.8

Burn!

Dec 21, 1969

The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.

6.6

Marie Antoinette

Aug 26, 1938

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.

6.0

The Singing Revolution

Dec 1, 2006

Most people don't think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1986 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence. "The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit," remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. "This was the idea of the Singing Revolution." James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty's "The Singing Revolution" tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way.

6.6

The State Against Mandela and the Others

Oct 17, 2018

South Africa, July 11th, 1963. Several members of the African National Congress, an organization declared illegal, are arrested in Rivonia, a country house near Johannesburg. The detainees, along with Nelson Mandela, imprisoned since 1962, are charged with serious crimes for their radical activism against the apartheid regime.

6.6

This Magnificent Cake!

Dec 20, 2018

In 1885, Africa is a succulent cake destined to be wildly divided and everyone wants a piece. A disturbed European king, a Pygmy working in a luxury hotel, a successful but lonely businessman, an enslaved porter, a young army deserter, a ghostly clarinetist. Some benefit from colonialism and greed. Others suffer racism and violence.

6.3

Zvenyhora

Apr 13, 1928

The momentous film stars Mykola Nademskyi as the grandfather of Tymish, whom he alerts to the secret treasure buried in the mountains of Zvenygora – a treasure that rightfully belongs to his homeland. The film wonderfully blends both lyricism and politics and uses its central construct to build a montage praising Ukrainian industrialization, attacking the bourgeoisie, celebrating the beauty of the Ukrainian steppe and retelling ancient folklore. Sergei Eisenstein said of the film, "As the lights went on, we felt that we had just witnessed a memorable event in the development of the cinema".

4.8

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

Feb 10, 2003

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

6.8

Allonsanfan

Sep 6, 1974

After the 1815 Restoration, an aging revolutionary finds himself reluctantly involved in an attempted insurrection in Southern Italy while growing increasingly disillusioned with his cause.

6.5

Rebellion of the Hanged

Jan 20, 1954

A peasant who works in a mahogany camp in the Mexican jungles with his family is disgusted with the miserable living conditions imposed upon himself and his co-workers, the peasant finally spearheads a revolt against the sadistic bosses.

A Lesson in History

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

A Lesson in History Trailers