Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels

Director Tony Buba builds his documentary around Marcus Rediker's 2012 book The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom, in which Rediker—a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh—recounts the history of the 1839 slave uprising that would profoundly affect the abolitionist movement (the incident would later inspire Steven Spielberg's 1997 courtroom drama Amistad). From West Africa, the Spanish slave ship traveled to Cuba, where the slaves boarded La Amistad, and later revolted against their captors. Upon reaching the United States, they faced a court trial that would have a surprising outcome. Here, Rediker travels to Sierra Leone to learn more about the lives of the participants, particularly leader Sengbe Pieh (aka Joseph Cinqué), prior to their capture. Along with research assistants Konrad Tuchscherer and Philip Misevich from St. John's University, Rediker goes from village to village with translator Taziff Koroma but is unable to find any descendents who can assist them. People are happy to help, except they have little information to offer. Unfortunately, these sections—which produce no new knowledge about the subject—comprise a substantial portion of the running time here, although they do shed light on life in rural Sierra Leone after the civil war that gripped the country from 1991-2002. Rediker and his companions also visit Lomboko, the slave trading outpost where the captors rounded up slaves before sending them off in canoes bound for the slave ship. Playing more like a companion piece to Rediker's book than a full-fledged documentary of its own, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)