Sorious Samura (born 27 October 1963) is a Sierra Leonean journalist. He is best known for two CNN documentary films: Cry Freetown (2000) and Exodus from Africa (2001). The self-funded Cry Freetown depicts the most brutal period of the civil war in Sierra Leone with RUF rebels capturing the capital city (January 1999). [1] The film won, among other awards, an Emmy Award and a Peabody. Exodus from Africa shows the harrowing effort by the best of young African male blood to break through to Europe via death- and danger-ridden paths from Sierra Leone and Nigeria, via Mali, the Sahara desert, Algeria, and Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain.
In his recent two projects Living with Hunger and Living with Refugees (nominated for an Emmy award), he takes reality television to its extreme, becoming the central character in the films by living the lifestyle of an Ethiopian villager and Sudanese refugee respectively; in doing this, he tries to break the boundary between "us" (the people watching on TV) and "them" (those before the camera) by becoming one of them (albeit for just a month). Living with Corruption, his latest documentary to be shown on CNN, describes the shocking reality of how corruption is spread across society both in Sierra Leone and Kenya, affecting mostly the poor.
In 2010, Samura investigated attitudes to homosexuality in Africa in the Dispatches documentary Africa's Last Taboo, produced for Channel 4. Samura is also one of the directors of Insight News TV, an independent television production company in the UK focused on international current affairs programming.
Samura attended the Methodist Boys High School in the east end of Freetown. As of 2007 [update] , he works in London, UK, and considers both London and Freetown his hometowns. [2]
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Its land area is 73,252 km2 (28,283 sq mi). It has a tropical climate and environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. As of the 2023 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 8,908,040. Freetown is both its capital and its largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are further subdivided into 16 districts.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surviving leaders, Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao, were convicted in February 2009 of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Cry Freetown is a 2000 documentary film directed by Sorious Samura. It is an account of the victims of the Sierra Leone Civil War and depicts the most brutal period with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels capturing the capital city. The film also documents the Nigerian army summarily executing suspects. It was broadcast on CNN International on February 3, 2000. The film was produced with the assistance of CNN Productions, the Dutch news program 2Vandaag and Insight News Television. Awards for the film include the Emmy Award, BAFTA Award, Peabody Award and the 2001 silver award at the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician and 5th and current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from 16 January 1996 to 29 March 1996, at only 32 years old in a military junta government known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Bio is the first democratically elected president of Sierra Leone born after Sierra Leone's independence from British colonial rule in 1961. As president Bio has implemented free primary and secondary school education in government schools throughout Sierra Leone and has repealed the death penalty in the country after it was passed Parliament.
The Sierra Leonean Civil War (1991–2002) was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted almost 11 years, and had over 50,000, up to 70,000, casualties in total; an estimated 2.5 million people were displaced during the conflict, and widespread atrocities occurred.
Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
Mass media in Sierra Leone began when the first modern printing press in Africa arrived at the start of the 19th century. In the 1860s the country became a journalist hub for Africa with professional travelling to the country from across the continent. At the end of the 19th century the industry went into decline and when radio was introduced in the 1930s this became the primary communication media. Print media is not widely read in Sierra Leone, especially outside Freetown, partially due to the low levels of literacy in the country. In 2008 there were 15 daily newspapers in addition to those published weekly. Among newspaper readership young people are likely to read newspapers weekly and older people daily. The majority of newspapers are privately run and are often critical of the government.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a documentary film about the musical band of the same name composed entirely of refugees from Freetown displaced to Guinea during the 1991-2002 civil war in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a band from Sierra Leone which was formed by a group of refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Since their return to Freetown in 2004, the band has toured extensively to raise awareness for humanitarian causes. Their story is documented in the 2005 documentary film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.
Alhaji Samuel Sidique Sam-Sumana is a Sierra Leonean politician who was the Vice President of Sierra Leone from September 17, 2007, to March 17, 2015. Sam-Sumana stood as the vice-presidential candidate of the All People's Congress (APC) in the 2007 presidential election, alongside presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma. The APC ticket defeated the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) presidential candidate Solomon Berewa and vice presidential candidate Momodou Koroma. Sam-Sumana took office as vice president on September 17, 2007.
Joseph A. Opala, OR is an American historian noted for establishing the "Gullah Connection," the historical links between the indigenous people of the West African nation of Sierra Leone and the Gullah people of the Low Country region of South Carolina and Georgia in the United States.
Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil was a Sierra Leonean-Lebanese businessman, diamonds and commodities trader. He attained prominence in the diamond industry across Africa and Antwerp and became an influential figure in the politics of Sierra Leone through his close association with President Siaka Stevens. Jamil also came to dominate other business sectors including fisheries, tourism construction and aviation.
Joseph Gerald Adolphus Cole better known by his stage name Daddy Saj is a Sierra Leonean rapper and arguably the biggest and most famous musician from Sierra Leone. He uses his music to address political corruption and general corruption in Sierra Leone. His rap is a blend of hip hop and traditional goombay music. While his music is mostly in Krio, Sierra Leone's national language, he does also performs in English. His first album 'Corruption e do so' struck a chord not only in Sierra Leone, but across Africa.
Sierra Leoneans in the United Kingdom are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom who are of Sierra Leonean descent. In 2001, there were 17,048 Sierra Leonean-born residents of the UK.
Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician and economist. He was the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party's candidate for President of Sierra Leone in the 2018 election and 2023 election. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone from 2012 to 2017, Minister of Finance and Economic Development from 2009 to 2013, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2009, Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance during President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's administration.
Living Like a Refugee is the debut album from Sierra Leonian band Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, released in the Europe on 25 September 2006 and in the United States on 26 September 2006.
Father Giuseppe Berton was an Italian missionary of the Catholic Church, a member of the Xaverian Missionary Fathers, who worked in Sierra Leone from 1971 until his death.
Lansana Mansaray, often known as Barmmy Boy, is a Sierra Leonean filmmaker. One of the most popular filmmakers in Sierra Leone cinema, Mansaray is best known for the critically acclaimed films Youth, Charity and Survivors. Apart from filmmaking, he is also a film producer, cinematographer and rapper.
Zach Niles, is an American filmmaker and film producer. He is best known as the director and producer of the critically acclaimed film Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars. Apart from acting, he is also a strategist, entertainment producer and a social justice advocate.
Banker White, is an American filmmaker and film producer. He is best known as the director and producer of the critically acclaimed films Survivors, The Genius of Marian and Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.