Educational Media Reviews Online

During the Slave Trade, from the 16th to the 19th centuries, millions of Africans were kidnapped from their homeland and sent off into slavery in the Americas and Europe. Their descendants, still living in the west today, now have little or no knowledge of their direct African ancestry. Slaves were forced to forget their homeland and culture, and therefore could not pass that knowledge down to their children and grandchildren. The Motherland Project, using genetic testing, made it possible for three of the descendents of these slaves to find out about at least a part of their lost heritage. The 2003 film Motherland: A Genetic Journey chronicled this project and these descendents experiences. In that film, the three traced the small portion of their ancestry available to them through genetic testing, and then traveled to the ancestral homelands that the testing indicated. It was both a fulfilling and disappointing experience for all of them, though the reasons for this were different for each. Motherland: Moving On examines how participating in the project changed them, and their views of themselves and the world.

This film starts by recapping the events of Motherland: A Genetic Journey. The three descendents, Beaula, Mark and Jacqueline, are all British citizens of African ancestry. Beaula and Mark participated in the project in hopes of reconnecting with their African roots, and by so doing, of finding a sense of belonging that had been denied them in Britain. Jacqueline on the other hand, was far more interested in her European than her African ancestry.

The testing they initially underwent determined only a small portion of their overall genetic makeup. This was done by tracing the mitochondrial DNA inherited from their mothers, and the Y chromosome inherited from their Fathers. Later testing would examine other portions of their genetic makeup, beyond these two lines, and help to determine to what percent each of them was African or European. Though the picture provided was far from complete, it gave at least a glimpse into the past of each of their families. When the testing was done, Mark discovered that his paternal line was European, and that through his maternal line he was related to the Kanuri people of Niger. Beaula traced her ancestry back to Equatorial Guinea. She traveled there to meet her newfound relatives, while Mark traveled to Niger to meet his. Jacqueline, for her part, found she was over 25% European. Her ancestry was traced back to a White plantation owner and a young slave girl in 18th century Jamaica. She traveled to that plantation, which still exists, in hopes of making her own connection with the past.

When Beaula and Mark arrived in Africa they were warmly welcomed. They discovered much about their ancestors and homelands that inspired pride in them, while some of what they saw and learned they found disturbing. Both embraced the good, while struggling to accept their individual disappointments. Jacqueline was also excited to visit the plantation on which her ancestors lived, but as she explored it she was struck by the contrast between the opulence in which her White ancestor lived, and the wretched shanties of his slaves. As a result she began to think less of her White ancestry, which she had always held in high regard, and far more of her African forbearers. In the end, all three come to grips with these conflicting feelings in his or her own way. Motherland: Moving On, goes on to describe that experience in greater detail. In this film, Beaula, Mark and Jacqueline recount how their participation in the Motherland Project has changed them. In addition, Jacqueline continues her genealogical research, and meets some of her newly discovered White relatives, those to whom she is related through her 18th century White ancestor. Between each of their individual stories, the film also examines the impact that genetic testing has had on genealogical research in general, both for better and for worse.

Mark recounts how making his connection with the Kanuri both uplifted and disappointed him. While proud of his newfound ancestry, he was also very distressed to find that the Kanuri were, historically, very heavily involved in slave trading. He now sees their involvement in that trade as partially separating him, a slave descendent, from his connection with them. He no longer identifies himself as an African, but as a "Black Briton", a status that he feels best describes the unique culture and history of his immediate ancestors.

Jacqueline has a friendly, but at times somewhat awkward, meeting with her White relatives. She is very happy with the meeting, and describes her new family members as good people, who she finds to be little different from many of the Black people she knows. She sees this experience as a confirmation of what her participation in the Project has already taught her: that people, regardless of race or genetic background, are for the most part the same!

Beaula discovers that she has genetic links not only in Equatorial Guinea, but in Mozambique as well. She describes her participation in the Project as giving her "many homes", but the film explores her life after the project in little more detail than that. Her disillusionment with her African relatives, who seem interested in her only for the money she can potentially provide them, is examined; but her feelings in that regard were evident in the prior film, so nothing new is added here.

A great deal of attention is given to the impact that genetic testing has had on genealogical research, and that it has now become something of a "fad" for those exploring their ancestry; be they Black, White or of some other ethnicity. The film makers point out, as in the last film, that such testing only looks at a small part of ones ancestry, and gives anything but a complete picture. They also repeat the oft asked question in Motherland: a Genetic Journey of whether our ancestry tells us that much about ourselves as individuals? In the end, as with the first film, they make the point that where our forbearers came from has very little to do with our abilities and potential.

This film is an interesting paradox. For those of use who have seen its predecessor, it seems to be little more than a recap of that film, and offers little of its own that is original. To what degree differences do exist, they seem like hasty and incomplete additions to the original film, and often leave you feeling unsatisfied, as if there is more to be discovered that is not revealed. We hear of Mark's disillusionment with the Kanuri, but that was evident in the last film, and is here explained in only slightly greater detail than before. Jacqueline’s meeting with her new relatives is interesting, but indicates that her opinions and insights have also changed very little. Beaula's personal evolution since the first film is addressed almost not at all! That being said, this film provides at least some closure to the story of the Motherland Project; and for fans of the original film (of which I count myself) it is the necessary final step, no matter how small, in understanding that story. It is a well paced and engaging film, especially for those that have never seen its predecessor, and it is provided with an effective voiceover narration. Its picture and sound qualities are good.