"A rare sort of film portrait, part document, part imaginary and poetic in its approach to real events, Bushman is the first feature film by (Bay Area independent) David Schickele. It describes the experiences and misadventures of a young Nigerian, nicknamed Gabriel, who comes to America for the first time, settles in the Bay Area and attends San Francisco State College. One is immediately struck by the exciting juxtaposition of African outlooks and California urban life, especially in the sudden flashbacks to Gabriel's Nigerian village, with its simplicities contrasted to the complex life-hustle of a Fillmore existence. The vivid omniscience of director Schickele's position is imaged from the beginning of the film, as we see this displaced African, hitchhiking on the freeway, with his shoes balanced on his head. For the first time in American cinema, an educated African elucidates in a no-nonsense manner the bewildering ineptness of American society to live humanistically." (AJ)