35 years later the events 16th of June 1976 are salient in the south African psyche. The Soweto Uprising, AKA "June 16", was a series of student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976. Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools. An estimated 20 000 students took part in the protests, and roughly 176 people were killed. The 16th of June is now a public holiday named Youth Day. It is remembrance of the events in 1976.
As I sat home and enjoyed the holiday I began thinking about how the world of cinema has chronicled Africa's fight for freedom. Mapantsula, Battle for Algiers, Flame immediately come to mind. I would have appreciated watching these types of movies on national TV to celebrate the sacrifice made by our freedom fighters but it seems national broadcaster’s don’t share my sentiments.
Friday, June 17, 2011
FAVOURITE AFRICAN FILM
A while ago a posted the question- "What is your FAVOURITE AFRICAN FILM of all time?" on LinkedIn. Many responses were posted on this LinkedIn discussion and I am very impressed with the diversity of answers in terms of genre, country of origin and era of production. Taking a glimpse at what different people consider their favourite film is a testament that African cinema has come a long way and has now firmly established itself as market to be reckoned with. This was an education on the vastness of African Cinema. I am making it my personal mission to watch all these African gems of cinema i have not watched yet.
The following movies made it to the list (A DROP IN THE OCEAN)
Yesterday
District 9
Tsotsi
Neria
Yellow Card (My Choice)
White Wedding
Jerusalema
Jump the Gun
Moolaade
Chickn Buziness
Elolipop
Zeinabu Rudi Nyumbani
Otto the bloodbath
Heritage Africa
The flyers
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