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Research Guides

African film posters

Use UW Libraries Search when looking for films (streaming, DVD or even VHS) available at the UW Libraries. Search by film name, director, keywords or genre (type of film such as horror films). Use the tool bar on the results screen to choose the "Resource Type" you want -- eVideo (i.e., streaming), DVD Videos, or Video Cassettes. Those with the location "Suzzallo and Allen Libraries Media Storage" can be requested at the main circulation (check-out) desk on the first floor of Suzzallo Library. For more information on locating films at the UW Libraries see the Video & Streaming Video guide. For more information about researching film see the Cinema Studies research guide. 

Streaming Videos

This is just a selection of streaming video collections that include films (most are documentaries) from or about Africa available through the UW Libraries. For a more complete list see Streaming Media Collections A-Z.

Film Genres to Use When Searching

Libraries use official terminology created by the Library of Congress (LC) to categorize films by genre. You may want to use genre terminology when you are looking for a list of a specific kind of film. Here are some genre examples that can be helpful when looking for types of films, films from a specific country, or films in a specific language. Keep in mind that genre terminology use may be inconsistent. These are just a sampling of various genres that you can use.

 documentary films (followed by country)

  • documentary films kenya

foreign language films (followed by language)

  • foreign language films swahili​

feature films (followed by country)

  • feature films south africa

foreign films (followed by country)

  • foreign films nigeria

Browsing for a Film

The media collection on the first floor of Suzzallo Library has hundreds of popular films (and tv series) on DVD that you can check-out. This is just a subset of the thousands of films available at the UW Libraries on DVD, VHS and streaming. The browsing collection is divided into tv series, feature films, foreign language films and documentaries. Find a film you like and take the case to any check-out desk so that it can be unlocked.