Bushman

In 1968, Peace Corps veteran David Schickele enlisted his Nigerian friend Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam to film a light-hearted comedy about the adventures of a well-educated Nigerian immigrant in San Francisco. In a docu-fictional style, reminiscent of Cassavetes’ Shadows, Okpokam’s character observes the foibles of African-American culture with an outsider's incisive eye, yielding a vibrant snapshot of the nation’s racial politics—until then everything goes sideways. After being falsely accused of terrorism, Okpokam’s life—and their film—spins out of control.

BAM is thrilled to share a new restoration of this poetic and searing film, a relatively unknown work that reverberates across the decades in its shocking portrait of racism in the midst of cultural revolution.