Sembène Film Festival: White Fright

Runtime: 28min

On April 10th in 2015, the FBI quietly arrested Robert Doggart, a white, 63-year-old Christian minister and failed Congressional candidate after discovering his plans to lead ten men in a terrorist attack against Islamberg, a small African-American Muslim community in upstate New York. Inspired by Fox News claims that the community was a terror training camp, Doggart spent months planning to firebomb a mosque and a school in the village and use
assault rifles and machetes to murder the residents.

“Don’t want to have to kill children,” Doggart told an FBI informant. “But there’s always collateral damage.”

No national news outlet covered Doggart’s arrest. Despite his ideologically motivated plans, no terror charges were brought against him. One month after he was taken into custody a Tennessee judge released him on bail.

Sembène – The Film & Art Festival – is a group of scholars, activists and film aficionados. Our mission is to celebrate the life, showcase the work and honor the legacy of African Filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, through film and other complementary cultural events.

The Festival serves both as a vehicle and catalyst: to honor the life, work and legacy of Ousmane Sembene and to showcase film makers and other art/cultural events that speak, unflinchingly, to the important issues facing the modern African Diaspora.