Discovering Benin, West Africa

Un documentaire en cinq parties et trois heures de la vie au Bénin sur DVD.

A Vendre Maintenant à un prix réduit!

Mes commentaires sont en anglais et les les sous-titres aussi, mais il y a beaucoup de conversations avec les Béninois qui sont souvent en français et dès fois en Fon. 

La Couverture du DVD et l'encartage	Informations pour commander
Regardez un clip de l'introduction de la vidéo	Les notes techniques
Descriptions des épisodes	Horaire de programmation de GO-TV (Greater Ossining-TV)
Ce que les gens disent de "Discovering Benin"	Accueil
See how the purchase of this DVD is helping the Beninese people

Video of Intro for Each Episode:  (1 Minute 27 secondes-  S'il dit 1 min 21 secondes essayez de le jouer encore ou choisissez un autre lien pour qu'il joue jusqu'à la fin.  La dernière scène devrait dire: "Episode 4- Voodoo."

Files are in .mpg format.  The greater the size, the greater the quality of picture and sound.  Note that these files are highly compressed so they can be easily downloaded from the internet, and the quality of the audio and video on your DVD will be much better.   The intro contains clips from most of the episodes so it serves as a good preview.       

 Thank you to Thom Pernice, Owner of  InHouse Video, Peekskill, NY for donating his services to make this preview possible 

Watch the Intro and other clips from the video on You Tube:

Click below to see the preview:  

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin from 1995-1997.  Last July (2004) I went back for the first time since I left in 1997, and while I was there I filmed this five part documentary.  I spent innumerable hours at my town's public access TV station using their professional equipment to edit the footage into a five part, three hour long documentary about Benin. Each episode contains subtitles, voice over commentary, and maps of Benin.  The episodes and topics covered in each episode are below.  

Episode	Topics
1	Bonne Arrivée!  (Approx. 30 mins)
	Les Salutations
	Connaissez mes voisins
	Basenjis- les chiens indigènes du Bénin.
	La préparation pour notre fête.
	Le spectacle de danse béninoise:  Bonne Arrivée, Attendez Monsieur, la Ligne Conga, La magie etc.
	Riz et Poisson
	Les Yovos dansent ou ils essaient au moins.
	Tout le monde danse
Episode	Topics
2	Life in Allada (Approx. 30 mins)
	Notre hôtel
	Un tour de mon ancienne maison quand j'étais volontaire Corps de la Paix
	Adjacome- (Un tour des maisons de mes voisins)
	Un tour d'Allada
	La chansons "Yovo"
	Le marché à Allada
	Les taxis brousses
Episode	Topics
3	Business in Benin (Approx. 30 mins)
	COPRATO- Un tour de l'usine de ananas secs et leurs champs d'ananas.
	L'atelier de cordonnerie d'Angelo.
	L'atelier de sculpture de Jean et une explication du système d'apprentissage.
	La maison de Jean sous construction
	La maison de Solange, sa maison de classe moyenne et son atelier de couture.
	L'atelier de menuiserie (meubles) d'Arthur.
Episode	Topics
4	Voodoo (Approx. 1 hour)
	King of Allada and his royal palace
	A tour of the village of Agongblame (the setting for the Gambara Voodoo Ceremony)
	Gambara Voodoo ceremony- offerings, drumming, dancing, and dancers falling into trances
	Having our Fah read by my bocono. (Fah priest) Fah is a traditional African form of divination like Tarot Card Reading.
	Ja Voodoo cult chicken sacrifice ceremony ( Ja is a god that protects against snake bites and witchcraft)
Episode	Topics
5	Tourism Beninese Style (Approx. 30 mins)
	A trip through Ganvie (the village on stilts built over a lagoon sometimes know as the "African Venice")
	A Tour of the Village of Lissegazoun by motorcycle taxi
	Crossing lake Ahemé in a pole propelled pirogue
	The slave road in Ouidah: where slaves were marched to the beach and put on the slave ships.
	Traditional fishermen on the beach of Ouidah: They are pulled up on the beach by hand
	Gran Popo: the Beninese beach paradise

Each episode features the Beninese singer Kaleta, and his song "Gbeto-Magnon" from  from his latest album, Kaléta Jaa.    He generously donated the usage of his song for this DVD.

What People are saying about "Discovering Benin"

"I reviewed your latest DVD's.  They are a continuation of your humanitarian efforts for the Republic of Benin.  It goes without saying that you did a very good job. I recommend that people buy these DVD's, after all the proceeds go back to the people in the footage. Even though I was born in Benin, I feel like a visitor watching them. I think every African American in search of realities of the past should visit those places. Bravo Chris!" -Kaleta-   KALETAMUSIC.COM and AKOYAMUSIC.COM /  Read more about Kaleta's music which is featured on the DVD.

"We got the Benin DVD and loved it.  We watched the first three episodes last night.  Great celebration and dance footage.  Wonderful overview of businesses and a nice look at the market.  Funny study of various toilets and Kaleta's music was very good too.  Watching it made me feel like I was back in Benin, and it made me miss Benin.  It was beautifully done and so real.  Thank you very much for putting this together and making it available to us all." -Annaliese Hausler-Akpov-i (Benin PC 90 - 92, Benin English Teaching Fellow 92 - 95)

"Just wanted to let you know I received the Benin DVD's yesterday -- and although I had lots of "other stuff" to do last night - I couldn't stop watching and stayed up 'til midnight to see all five episodes!  What a a wonderful documentary about these beautiful people and their culture.  Of course, I loved seeing the Benin Basenji babies, and the other small glimpses of village dogs scattered throughout - but I really also enjoyed the "low key" commentary you provided, with such a personal perspective.  Your admiration and respect for the people of Benin came through loud and clear, as did their mutual feelings for you.  I can't wait to show parts of the video to my son (who's almost 13).  His 7th grade class just finished a unit on slavery -- and those last scenes of the video ("The Point of No Return") are so poignant...  I really enjoyed the music on the DVD's also.  I will be ordering two more copies .   Congratulations on this labor of love - and thank you for sharing it, too!"     -Karla Schreiber-

"You did a really wonderful job with the DVD's.  I was impressed by how realistic everything was.  I already told a number of my friends and they are coming over to watch.  I have a couple of friends that could use parts of it in classes.  You really did a nice job!"    -Stephen Arbogast- (RPCV Benin, Kétou '96-'98)

"By far the most intimate look into the Beninese culture I've seen"        Kori Hansen- Marlyn Productions

Ordering Information (back to top)

 Les copies en PAL sont prêtes!   The cost is $25 for all five episodes (two DVD's) including shipping anywhere in the world.  All profits (approximately $17 per DVD set sold at $25) will be donated to my friends in Benin who appeared in the video.  They are desperately poor and your purchase of the DVD's will help them tremendously.  I will make sure the money is used for education expenses or for health care needs.  For more information on how the funds are being used, click here.

To order a copy, pay with Pay Pal using your credit card or withdraw directly from your bank account.  Send payments to my user ID which is the same as my e-mail address:  cstarace@yahoo.com or use the "Buy Now Button".  

See how the purchase of this DVD is helping the Beninese people 

One Copy- $25

Buy Two Copies and Save $5.  Pay only $45.

Buy Three Copies and Save $10.  Pay only $65.

Make a Donation to the very needy Beninese people who appear in the video

See how your donation will be used to help the Beninese people in the Video

You can mail me a check also.  E-mail me and I'll give you my mailing address.  When ordering be sure to give me your shipping address.   If you are ordering outside the United States, be sure to tell me if you want your DVD in PAL or in NTSC format.  Click here for a list of countries and their TV standards.

I usually ship within two business days of receiving your order. 

Thanks for your interest and support!

Technical notes:

• *NTSC is the video format used in the United States and in many other Countries.  PAL is the video format used in Europe and in countries where NTSC is not used.  Note that most computers equipped with a DVD drive will play both NTSC and PAL.  Some stand-alone DVD players will play both NTSC and PAL but unless your television is a multi-system TV (not very common) your picture will be scrambled.  Some DVD players convert the signal from one format to the other so check your equipment specifications before ordering.  For more information about video formats as well as a list of which country uses which video format, click here:  List of Countries and formats    Video FAQ's

• The DVD's used are recorded on  -R DVD discs.  Check your DVD player's manual to make sure your DVD player can read this DVD format.  Most recent DVD players can read this format however older DVD players may not have this ability.  

• DVD's not labeled "PAL" are recorded in the NTSC format.       

GO-TV Airing Schedule

Beginning in January the series will be aired on GO-TV (Greater Ossining-TV, Channel 18)  It is a Cablevision public access TV station so only Cablevision customers will receive it.  To see if you should receive GO-TV go to the Coverage Area Page  

To Get the current schedule go to the Schedule Page

A one and a half minute trailer video will air on GO-TV in December on Friday evenings at 9:00 as well as at other various times.  

The series is scheduled to air on the following days and times starting the second week in January:

The series will run from mid-January through March. 

The series will run again in future months in case you miss any episodes.

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