Cry Freedom (1987)
Starring: Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Director: Richard Attenborough
Sir Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) directs this semi-successful drama about the real life relationship between South African black activist Steven Biko and sympathetic newspaper editor Donald Woods (later to become Steve Biko's biographer).
The Power of One (1992)
Starring: Morgan Freeman
A good film for younger audiences. The Book is better: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, Ballantine Books. Set in a world torn apart, where man enslaves his fellow man and freedom remains elusive, this is the moving story of one young white man growing up in South Africa during World War II, Peekay turns to two older men, one black and one white, to show him how to find the courage to fight against unjustice.
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)
Starring: James Earl Jones
This moving adaptation of Alan Paton's celebrated novel stars James Earl Jones as a beloved, rural minister in South Africa who makes his first trip to Johannesburg in search of his son. Directed by the same director of Sarafina!
A Dry White Season (1989)
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae, Marlon Brando Director: Euzhan Palcy
"A Dry White Season" is set in the 1970s, at the time when the schoolchildren of Soweto, an African township outside Johannesburg, held a series of protests which culminated in the June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children. They wanted to be educated in English, not Afrikaans (a language spoken only in South Africa and mostly by whites).
A World Apart (1988)
Starring: Barbara Hershey and Jodhi May, Director: Chris Menges, Screenplay writer: Shawn Slovo
A true story of South African Commuist Party Leaders, Joe Slovo and his wife Ruth First, as told through the eyes of their daughter Shawn. It is an excellent film.
Mapantsula which means "hustler" (1988)
Mapantsula was the first anti-apartheid feature film by, for and about black South Africans. Filmed inside Soweto, scored to the urban beat of "Township Jive," Mapantsula has been called a South African The Harder They Come. Mapantsula tells the story of Panic, a petty gangster who becomes caught up in the growing anti-apartheid struggle and has to choose between individual gain and a united stand against the system. Mapantsula will give viewers an insider's tour of township life and a foretaste of the vibrant popular cinema promised by the new, democratic South Africa. Available: California Newsreel 149 Ninth Street, San Francisco CA 94103 Phone (415) 621-6196, Fax (415) 621-6522, Web: www.newsreel.org
A Walk in the Night (1998)
A Walk in the Night is one of the first films from a new generation of talented young black South African filmmakers who have become active since the overthrow of apartheid in 1994. Mickey Madoda Dube's debut feature adapts Alex La Guma's celebrated 1962 novella of the same name into a fast-paced crime thriller set in present day Johannesburg. The fact that this story could be so convincingly updated to the present indicates how little racial power dynamics in South Africa have changed ñ even after liberation! Available at California Newsreel.
City Lovers/Country Lovers: The Gordimer Stories (1982)
by Nadine Gordimer, Profile Productions, South Africa.
In City Lovers a middle-aged white geologist is enamored by the charms of a "colored" cashier girl. Soon their casual relationship is a tender love affair. In Country Lovers, Paulus, the son of a wealthy white farmer, and Thebedi, the daughter of a black farmhand, have been friends since childhood. As they grow older, they become increasingly intimate until eventually they are lovers ... secret lovers. In both films the lovers must suffer the consequences of their intimacy since the South African Immorality Act forbids social relationships between couples of mixed race. Shot on location in South Africa. Available: Videography for the African Continent, University of Wisconsin.
Sarafina!
Starring: Woopie Goldburg
A musical about the school children of Soweto who fueled the June 1976 Uprising and their resilient spirit in the face of death and repression.
Long Night's Journey Into Day: South Africa's Search for Truth and Reconciliation (2000)
Directors: Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann
An excellent just-released documentary which focuses on four of the hundreds of cases brought before the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This is a very intimate and moving film - highly recommended. Available: California Newsreel
Nelson Mandela - Journey to Freedom (1996)
The A&E Biography of Nelson Mandela tells, in clear, complete, and exciting detail, the story of the man who dedicated his life to the struggle to end the domination of the black race by the whites in South Africa. Through interviews with colleagues and scholars and wonderful historical footage, we learn both about Mandela's amazing life story and the sweeping transformation that his nation has undergone.
Frontline: The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela
The prestigious PBS series Frontline has produced a stirring and comprehensive document of the extraordinary life of Madiba ñ as Africans refer to him. In-depth interviews with central figures of 20th-century South Africa, such as former presidents P.W. Botha and F.W. DeKlerk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and ANC members Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki.
Mandela - The Man and His Country (1990)
Celebrates the historic release of the ANC leader following 27 years as a political prisoner. Starting at his home town, the program traces Mandela's life from his law practice and his involvement in anti-apartheid protests. Interviews with Reverend Jesse Jackson, author James Michener, Coretta Scott King, and Winnie Mandela.
To Dream a Nation: South Africa after Apartheid
Director: Dr Betty Chimaj
A video documentary on modern South Africa as seen by Americans grasping its meaning for the first time. Based on recent footage and photos of "the real South Africa," this program was created out of a sense of urgency to educate others on what is happening there. Available: South Africa Videos Phone (916) 483 1417 Fax (916) 483 1232
A Short Astonished Journey
Director: Dr Betty Chimaj
Using powerful South African and American songs as background music, it illustrates from the personal perspectives of fifteen travelers what is truly astonishing about making a journey to South Africa. Available: South Africa Videos
Ellen Kuzwayo: Call Me Woman
Writers in Coversation Series, South Africa; 45 mins.
Ellen Kuzwayo lives in Soweto, the black township outside Johannesburg, but grew up on her family's beautiful farm near Thaba 'Nchu in Orange Free State which was seized by the South African Government in the 1970's as part of its policy of removing so called "black spots" from areas allocated to whites. --Available (for viewing only) at University of California, Berkeley. For distribution info, see Videography for the African Continent, University of Wisconsin.
Girls Apart (1987)
Directors: Cris Shepphard and Claude Sauvangeot (New Internationalist); S. Africa; 39 mins.
Filmed interview with two 16 year old schoolgirls, one from the black township of Soweto, and one from the wealthy white suburbs of Johannesburg. --Available at University of Minnesota Film & Video.
Maids and Madams: Apartheid Begins in the Home (1986)
Director: Mira Hamermesh, South Africa; 52 mins.
Juxtiposes the lives of White home owners and their Black domestic employees. Available at University of Minnesota Film & Video.
Place of Weeping (1986)
"The first film about the South African struggle made by South Africans...one woman's personal fight for freedom. Her bravery, her emotional traumas, and her battles against undignified abuse. Starring Gcini Mhlope. Directed by Darrell Roodt. Videography for the African Continent, University of Wisconsin.
You Have Struck a Rock! (1981)
Deborah May & the United Nations, South Africa, 1981; 28 mins.
This film documents the role of women in the struggle for South African overthrow of Apartheid rule. It focuses in part upon women's strikes in protest of laws that would require women to carry an identification card. Interviews with members and leaders of the movement and newsreel footage and still photographs portray the many demonstrations and protests staged by black women in South Africa since 1948. The South African government's systematic attempt to wear down the resolve of the striking women during the early period of the struggle are portrayed, as is the government's decision to change tactics and begin a more violent campaign, which including opening fire on large crowds. The film is testimony to the strength and resolve of South African women, a quality which was and still is also required for their day-to-day struggle as wives, mothers, and daughters in the South African townships. --Available (for viewing only) at UCB. See also University of Minnesota Film & Video or California Newsreel.
Robben Island: Our University
The inspiring story about three former political prisoners from South Africa's maximum security prison, who describe how they devised a remarkable educational system for themselves, and their fellow-prisoners. Includes portraits of fellow-prisoners Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. Available: Monarch Films Inc. 368 Danforth Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07305, Phone (201) 451-3770, Toll Free (888) 229-4260.
South Africa Belongs to Us
This intimate portrait of five typical black South African women reveals the dehumanizing reality of life under apartheid. The personal stories of a wife left behind in the homelands, a hospital cleaner living in a single-sex hostel, a public health nurse from Soweto, a domestic servant and a leader of a squatters' camp, still provide the best introduction on film to the daily violence wreaked by apartheid on family life and the social fabric. At the same time, these five women's resilience demonstrates the strength which will be able to build a new South Africa. California Newsreel
