The following is a list of films and documentaries that I would strongly recommend on South Africa and the apartheid era:
Films:
The Bang Bang Club (2010) – Story of four photojournalists in South Africa documenting the brutal violence of the period 1990-1994, from when Mandela was released from prison to the 1994 elections.
Bopha! (1993) – Set in a black township in the 1980s, the film focuses on one black family, the father being a black policeman during South African apartheid and the son being a student activist in the anti-apartheid movement.
Catch a Fire (2006) – Based in the 1980s, an apolitical oil refinery worker is stunned into action against the apartheid regime after he and his wife are jailed. An interesting look at the sabotage campaign of the African National Congress (ANC).
The Color of Freedom (aka. Goodbye Bafana) (2007) – A true story about a white prison guard in South Africa, James Gregory, whose job it was to guard Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison, and Victor Vester Prison, during his time in prison. The film covers the years 1968 to 1990 as Gregory changes his feelings towards apartheid and Mandela. This film is based on the autobiography Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend by James Gregory.
Cry Freedom (1987) – The story of South African journalist Donald Woods who is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death of black activist Steve Biko in the 1970s.
A Dry White Season (1989) – Set during the Soweto uprising of 1976 and the subsequent police crackdown in South Africa, this film follows an inquest into the death in detention of a black African at the urging of a white schoolteacher. The film is based upon André Brink’s 1979 novel of the same name.
Endgame (2009) – Set during the mid-1980s and early 1990s, this is a story based on the covert discussions in England between leaders of the ANC-in-exile and officials of the National Party that led to the freeing of Nelson Mandela, legalizing of the African National Congress (ANC), and the start of official negotiations that ended the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Invictus (2009) – Invictus is about Nelson Mandela’s attempts to unite apartheid-torn South Africa between 1994-1995 through the national rugby team.
Mandela and de Klerk (1997) – This film is about the negotiations of the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 in South Africa and the 1990-1994 negotiations between Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk.
The Power of One (1992) – Set in South Africa during the 1930s and ’40s, this film tells the story of a young English boy coming of age amidst inequality and racism as apartheid was beginning to take root.
Red Dust (2004) – Red Dust is set during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the mid-1990s in South Africa and deals with the search for truth about an apartheid-era death.
Sarafina! (1992) – Sarafina! depicts the 1976 student uprising in Soweto, focusing on the students and the government’s crackdown of the uprising.
Skin (2008) – The amazing true story of Sandra Laing, a South African woman born to white Afrikaner parents but classified as “coloured” during the apartheid era. The film follows Sandra’s story from the 1960s up through the 1990s.
A World Apart (1988) – Set during the 1960s, A World Apart tells the story of anti-apartheid activist Ruth First and her children, focusing on her 13-year-old daughter as she starts to see the inequalities of apartheid and her mother’s political activism.
Documentaries:
21 Up South Africa: Mandela’s Children (2006) – This film explores how the lives of 14 different children from various backgrounds in South Africa, now at the age of 21, have changed along with the country since the fall of apartheid. A personal look into how political and economic changes affect young people in the country.
Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony (2002) – An entertaining and fascinating look at the role that music played in the anti-apartheid movement.
Apartheid Did Not Die (1998) – This documentary focuses on the continuing injustices of the apartheid-era in post-apartheid South Africa, focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the economic apartheid that still exists.
Behind the Rainbow (2008) – Behind the Rainbow explores the transition of the ANC from a liberation organization into South Africa’s ruling party. It chronicles problems that the ANC-led government has had since 1994 and focuses on Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma to paint a very interesting picture of present-day South Africa.
Countdown to Freedom: Ten Days that Changed South Africa (1994) – This documentary describes the behind-the-scenes challenges surrounding the April 1994 election in South Africa that saw Nelson Mandela elected president.
Cry for Reason: Beyers Naudé – An Afrikaner Speaks Out (1988) – Documentary about the dissident Afrikaner clergyman Beyers Naudé of South Africa, who was part of the powerful white elite before undergoing a dramatic conversion to cause of Black South Africans.
Facing the Truth with Bill Moyers (1999) – A PBS documentary about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa that looks at a number of different individual trials and stories. The stories involve murders and torture by the South African police and security forces, including that of the 1982 murder of Siphwilo Mtimkulu, the 1985 murders of the “Pebco 3″, the 1986 murders of the “Mamelodi 10″, and the 1977 murder of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko. The documentary also tells the story of the 1993 St. James Church massacre where 11 people were killed by the military wing of the Pan-African Congress. Individual stories of white anti-apartheid activist Albie Sachs and Brigadier Jack Cronje, leader of the infamous security force death squads that operated around Pretoria in the 1980s, are also included.
A Force More Powerful (2000) – A two-part documentary series showcasing six stories of countries effectively using non-violence to overcome oppression and authoritarian rule. One of the stories focuses on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, specifically the role in the 1980s of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Mkhuseli Jack’s use of consumer boycotts in the Eastern Cape province.
Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (2006) – An exhaustive seven-part documentary series telling seven stories chronicling the history of the global anti-apartheid movement that took on South Africa’s apartheid regime. The series includes:
Story One: Road To Resistance [1948 - 1964] – the ANC’s non-violent campaign of defiance begins to attract international attention to the plight of the majority of South Africans
Story Two: Hell Of A Job [1960 - 1977] – the story of Oliver Tambo leading the ANC in exile after the banning of the organization and the imprisonment of Mandela and others
Story Three: The New Generation [1960 - 1977] – the rising of the youth in anti-apartheid protests, including the rise of Black Consciousness and the Soweto uprising in 1976, and the role of foreign governments and the UN in the anti-apartheid movement
Story Four: Fair Play [1958 - 1981] – the international sports protests, bans, and boycotts of South African sports, focusing on the Olympics and rugby
Story Five: From Selma To Soweto [1977 - 1986] – the role of the U.S. in the anti-apartheid movement
Story Six: The Bottom Line [1965 - 1988] - the international movement to use economic pressure to bring about change in South Africa, including boycotts, divestment, and economic sanctions
Story Seven: Free At Last [1979 - 1990] – the role of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the internal mass movement
Last Grave at Dimbaza (1974) – A powerful look into the realities of the policies of apartheid in the early 1970s, with a focus on the appalling conditions in the “homelands” and the townships, as well as a look into the role of black labor in the economy.
Long Night’s Journey Into Day: South Africa’s Search for Truth and Reconciliation (2000) – An in-depth look into South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that dealt with the unique way of confronting apartheid-era crimes and moving forward in a new South Africa. This documentary tells four stories from the trials of the TRC: the 1993 murder of American Fulbright scholar Amy Biehl, the 1985 murder of the “Craddock 4″ where four young black activists were murdered, the 1985 Magoo’s Bar car bombing by MK member Robert McBride that led to the death of three white women, and the 1986 murder of the “Guguletu 7″ where the security forces murdered seven young black men.
RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope (2010) – A PBS documentary about U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy’s June 1966 visit to South Africa, connecting the situation there to the situation in America during the Civil Rights Movement.
South Africa: The White Laager (1977) – A history of the the Afrikaners in South Africa, from the arrival of the Dutch in the 1600s through the apartheid era in the 1970s. This interesting film looks at this group of people to get a better understanding of how apartheid came to be and why it was supported by most Afrikaners.
Voëlvry: The Movie (2006) – This documentary follows the legendary 1989 Voëlvry tour around South Africa by rebellious young Afrikaner musicians including Koos Kombuis, Johannes Kerkorrel, and others. This fascinating film looks at the power of these musicians in their musical protests against Afrikaner Nationalism through their bold lyrics, refreshing live shows, and the eclectic personalities. Known as the “Boer Beatlemania” of the late 1980s in South Africa, this tour showed the opposition of young Afrikaners to apartheid.
Witness to Apartheid (1986) – This documentary showcases the brutal realities of apartheid in the mid-1980s in South Africa, featuring interviews with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and showing several cases of police brutality.
Please let me know of any films and documentaries that you would recommend on South Africa and the apartheid era as I am always looking for for new suggestions.
