Season 1
Senator Obama Goes to Africa is an American documentary produced by Media Process Educational Films which chronicles then-Senator Barack Obama's diplomatic tour to Africa in 2007, visiting countries such as Chad, South Africa and Kenya.
The documentary aired in the USA on American Public Television in December 2007. It is an hour long.
The documentary first aired in South Africa on SABC2 on Thursday 9 July 2009, at 22h30.
Senator Obama Goes to Africa aired on SABC3 on Tuesday 15 December 2009, at 17h35.
Synopsis
U.S. President Barack Obama journeys to the land of his ancestry in the documentary Senator Obama Goes to Africa.
Part personal odyssey and part chronicle of diplomacy in action, the film follows Obama — who, at the time, was a United States Senator — as he explores the vast continent that is gaining increasing importance in this age of globalization.
In Chad, Obama visits a Darfur refugee camp, viewing firsthand the devastating effects of that country’s genocide.
In Kenya, he and his wife, Michelle, take an HIV/AIDS test in public to combat the stigma associated with the disease.
And in South Africa, he tours Robben Island — the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 21 years.
We see Obama's emotional homecoming in his father’s hometown of Siaya, Kenya. Greeted by thousands of cheering well-wishers, he nevertheless is able to find a few quiet moments to visit with his extended family and share a meal with his 85-year-old grandmother.
Throughout it all, Obama narrates the film, giving his own perspective on the journey and Africa's significance in the world today.
Additional perspectives are included through interviews with Obama's family members, experts on African affairs, U.S. political commentators and African citizens.