Educational Media Reviews Online

From the 16th to the 19th centuries millions of Africans were kidnapped from their homeland and sent off into slavery in the Americas. Their descendants, still living in the Americas and in Western Europe, now have little or no knowledge of their direct African ancestry. Their ancestors were forced by those who enslaved them to forget their homeland and culture, so there was no way for that history to be passed down. Now, thanks to genetic testing, it is possible for their descendents to find out about at least a part of that lost heritage. Three people from Britain, all of Afro-Caribbean stock, have decided to undergo such testing to discover more about the histories of their individual families. This film chronicles their journey.

The three, Beaula, Mark and Jacqueline, all undergo this testing, each for his or her own reason. Beaula and Mark hope to reconnect with their African roots, and by so doing to find a sense of belonging that has been denied them among their White neighbors in Britain. Jacqueline on the other hand, is more interested in her European ancestry than her African. Her family came to Britain from Jamaica, and like many people of African descent from that Caribbean island, she sees herself as more English than anything else.

The testing they undergo will help to determine only a portion of their ancestry. They, like each of us, have thousands of ancestors. Since the mid-18th century, the height of the African slave trade, that number is more than 2000. The testing can examine only a tiny portion of those, amounting to only a few percent of their overall genetic makeup, by tracing the mitochondrial DNA inherited from the Mother and the Y chromosome inherited from the Father. Though this is far from a complete picture, it will give them a glimpse into their family's past, a past that otherwise would be totally unknown to them.

Once testing is complete, the results are enlightening, and in some ways disquieting. Mark discovers unexpected, and unwanted, European ancestry in his paternal line. He also finds that on his Mother's side, he is related to the Kanuri people of Niger. Beaula traces her ancestry back to the island of Bioko, in Equatorial Guinea. Researchers are able to link her genetically to a specific village on that island, and she journeys there to meet her newfound relatives. Mark travels to Niger to meet the Kanuri, hoping to better connect with this land and these people, of which he knows very little. Jacqueline, for her part, is excited to find that Researcher's estimate she is over 25% European. They trace her ancestry back to an 18th century, White plantation owner in Jamaica, and a young slave girl who he made his mistress. She travels with some of her relatives to that plantation, which still exists, in hopes of making her own connection with the past.

Each of the three journey to their ancestral homelands with their individual sets of hopes and expectations, some of which are met and others are not. Beaula and Mark are given warm welcomes when they arrive there, and are treated as lost children returning home. Beaula is even given land in her ancestral village! Though both are thrilled by making this connection, and the sense of belonging it imparts to them, they nevertheless have to deal with the culture shock resulting from their new, and to them strange, surroundings. Much they discover about their ancestors and newfound homelands inspires pride in them, while some of it proves to be disappointing and even disturbing. Both revel in the good, and struggle to make peace with that which does not meet their expectations. Jacqueline is also excited to visit the plantation on which her ancestors lived. As she explores it however, she sees the stark contrast between the mansion of the plantation owner and the shanties in which his slaves were forced to live. As a result she begins to question the high esteem in which she has always held her European ancestors, and finds a certain pride in the suffering of her African forbearers. In the end, all three come to grips with these conflicting feelings in their own fashion. All feel varying degrees of elation, disappointment and at times confusion, as they reflect on this experience, though none regrets having done so. They know more about their ancestry then they did before, both the good and the bad, and only the future will tell the full impact of this genetic journey on their lives and sense of self.

By chronicling the experiences of Beaula, Mark and Jacqueline, this film explores the importance of ancestry in determining self-image, and to a certain degree, self-respect. How much does our genetic background, especially the small slice of it examined by this kind of genetic testing, tell us about who we are, and shape how we see ourselves? What kind of impact do our dreams, struggles and experiences have on our personality and identity? This film does not fully answer this question, but it asks it in a thoughtful and insightful way, and encourages the viewer to further explore the subject and come to his or her own conclusions.

The picture and sound qualities of this film are good. It is both well paced and engaging, and provided with an effective narration in English. The scientific aspects contained therein are explained and illustrated in a fashion easily understood by the viewer. English is the language used primarily in the film, though this is heavily accented, and may be hard for some American audiences to understand. Kanuri and other African languages are also used. These are subtitled in English.