scholarly journals Short Filmmaking in South Africa

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Film History ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Boer War ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
African Film ◽  
Short Films ◽  
History Of ◽  
Made In

SHORT FILMMAKING IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER APARTHEID Historical ContextAlthough 1994 saw the birth of democracy in South Africa the South African film industry is much older. In fact, our great documentary film tradition dates back to 1896 and the Anglo Boer War(1). Surprisingly only a few books have been published regarding the history of one of the oldest film industries in the world and one of the largest on the African continent. Between 1910 and 2008 1434 features were made in South Africa (Armes 2008). Approximately 944 features were made in the period between 1978 and 1992, as well as nearly 998 documentaries and several hundred short films and videos (Blignaut & Botha 1992). South African film history is captured in a mere twelve books. Developments in early South African cinema (1895 - 1940) have been chronicled in Thelma Gutsche's The History and Social Significance of Motion...

scholarly journals The Cinema of Katinka Heyns

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Film Culture ◽  
National Cinema ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
African Film ◽  
Film Directors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scholarly Attention

In the 119-year history of South African cinema only two books have been devoted to South African film directors: Martin Botha and Hubert Dethier’s Kronieken van Zuid-Afrika: de films van Manie van Rensburg (1997) and Martin Botha’s Jans Rautenbach: Dromer, Baanbreker en Auteur (2006). In general the artistic achievements of film directors received little scholarly attention. Attempts to rework the history of South African cinema such as Isabel Balseiro and Ntongela Masilela’s edited volume, To Change Reels: Film and Film Culture in South Africa (2003) as well as Jacqueline Maingard’s South African National Cinema (2007), devoted entire chapters to the ideological analysis of films such as De Voortrekkers (1916), Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) and Come Back, Africa (1959), but in the process they ignored the significant oeuvres of directors such as Ross Devenish, Manie van Rensburg, Jans Rautenbach, Katinka Heyns, Darrell Roodt as well as many of the directors...

scholarly journals The Cinema of Katinka Heyns

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Film Culture ◽  
National Cinema ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
African Film ◽  
Film Directors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scholarly Attention

THE CINEMA OF KATINKA HEYNSIn the 119-year history of South African cinema only two books have been devoted to South African film directors: Martin Botha and Hubert Dethier’s Kronieken van Zuid-Afrika: de films van Manie van Rensburg (1997) and Martin Botha’s Jans Rautenbach: Dromer, Baanbreker en Auteur (2006).(1) In general the artistic achievements of film directors received little scholarly attention. Attempts to rework the history of South African cinema such as Isabel Balseiro and Ntongela Masilela’s edited volume, To Change Reels: Film and Film Culture in South Africa (2003) as well as Jacqueline Maingard’s South African National Cinema (2007), devoted entire chapters to the ideological analysis of films such as De Voortrekkers (1916), Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) and Come Back, Africa (1959), but in the process they ignored the significant oeuvres of directors such as Ross Devenish, Manie van Rensburg, Jans Rautenbach, Katinka Heyns, Darrell Roodt...

South Africa and the International Community

1966 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Dale
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Western World ◽  
Founding Father ◽  
Boer War ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Ever since the discovery there of gold and diamonds in the last half of the nineteenth century, South Africa has engaged the rapt attention of the Western world. The saga of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902, perhaps the last of the “gentlemen's wars,” and now the refurbished accounts of the gallant defense of Rorke's Drift in the AngloZulu War of 1879 have been fascinating material for both novelists and film scriptwriters. In addition, the history of South Africa is replete with titanic figures who rank with, or perhaps even above, those from the rest of the continent: the aggressive architect of empire, Cecil J. Rhodes; the redoubtable Zulu warrior, Chaka; the dour, stern-willed President of the South African Republic, “Oom” (Uncle) Paul Kruger; the world-renowned statesman and philosopher, Field Marshal Jan C. Smuts; the founding father of Indian independence, Mohandas K. Gandhi; the compassionate and courageous writer, Alan S. Paton; and the dignified, modest Zulu Nobel Laureate, Albert J. Luthuli. By any standard, South Africa and its leaders of all races have made far-reaching and impressive contributions to the continent, the British Empire, and the world at large.

scholarly journals New Directing Voices in South African Cinema

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Documentary Film ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Boer War ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
The Past ◽  
Film Distribution ◽  
Younger Generation ◽  
Audience Development

NEW DIRECTING VOICES IN SOUTH AFRICAN CINEMA: GRADUATES FROM FILM SCHOOLS IntroductionAlthough 1994 saw the birth of democracy in South Africa our film industry is much older; in fact, our great documentary film tradition dates back to 1896 and the Anglo Boer War.(1) While celebrating the past ten years of democracy we shouldn't forget those filmmakers, who created films against all the odds. Jans Rautenbach (Jannie Totsiens)(2), Ross Devenish (Marigolds in August)(3) and the younger generation of the 1980s challenged moral and political censorship, a severe lack of audience development and inadequate film distribution to shape progressive texts, which became the foundation of a new, critical South African cinema during the 1990s. Publications by Balseiro and Masilela (2003), Botha and Van Aswegen (1992), Blignaut and Botha (1992), Botha and Dethier (1997), Davis (1996), Gutsche (1972), Louw and Botha (1993) and Tomaselli (1989) documented developments in South...

scholarly journals Homosexuality and South African Cinema

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
African History ◽  
Film Festival ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
African Film ◽  
Lesbian History ◽  
Gay And Lesbian History

The following is an excerpt from a larger manuscript HOMOSEXUALITY AND AFRICAN CINEMA, a co-operative effort of Dr Botha (CityVarsity, Film & Television and Multimedia School in Cape Town, South Africa) and Professor Dethier and Dr. Willemse at the Free University of Brussels. IN A GLITTERING ceremony at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival a full-length South African film, The Man Who Drove With Mandela won the Documentary Teddy Prize. It was rewarded for its unique contribution to gay and lesbian history and for bringing forward a challenging and politically engaging subject. The Man Who Drove With Mandela was directed by Greta Schiller and researched by the co-writer of the outstanding compilation on South African lesbian and gay lives, Defiant Desire, namely Mark Gevisser. No other film in South African history chronicled the lives of lesbian and gays in the way Gevisser's documentary has done(1). It is a...

scholarly journals Flemish Cinema and Film Culture through South African Eyes

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
South African ◽  
Film History ◽  
Film Festival ◽  
Film Culture ◽  
Short Films ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

THE HERITAGE OF FILM: PERSPECTIVE ON FLEMISH CINEMA AND FILM CULTURE THROUGH SOUTH AFRICAN EYES I assisted the Locarno Film festival in 2005 with a retrospective of short films by young South African directors. There I met a very talented, young Flemish director, whose film was by far the best in the one section.(1) It moved me immensely with its honest portrait of alienation and racial discrimination. We had a long discussion on film history, aesthetics and film cultures. We also talked about the history of film in Belgium and it was noted that while the French speaking side of Belgian cinema had recently received international acclaim (for example, the work by the Dardenne Brothers), Flemish cinema was struggling. In fact, the young filmmaker made the statement that there was little to be excited about in the history of Flemish cinema. He felt especially that the films about...

scholarly journals Screening Winnie and African Feminist Herstories

2021 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Awino Okech
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Pedagogical Decisions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Liberation Struggle ◽  
Made In

This teaching note offers reflections on the screening of Winnie an autobiographical documentary about the life of Winnie Mandela, South African liberation struggle actor. I explore the pedagogical decisions I made in screening this film which deals with the history of apartheid South Africa to a mixed audience at a university in London.

scholarly journals 110 Years of South African Cinema (Part 2)

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Documentary Film ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Boer War ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
The Past ◽  
Younger Generation ◽  
Documentary Filmmaking

The following article is the concluding half (part 1 published in Kinema Spring 2006) of a three-section historical overview of South African cinema from early beginnings as newsreels during the Anglo-Boer War to the recent international acclaim for features such as Tsotsi. Some of the veterans of South African cinema are also acknowledged. The last section of this article is dedicated to South African documentary filmmaking. (2) PROFILES OF VETERAN DIRECTORS ALTHOUGH 1994 saw the birth of democracy in South Africa our film industry is much older; in fact, our great documentary film tradition dates back to 1896 and the Anglo-Boer War.(1) While celebrating the past ten years of democracy, we shouldn't forget those filmmakers who created films against all the odds. Jans Rautenbach (Jannie Totsiens), Ross Devenish (Marigolds in August) and the younger generation of the 1980s challenged moral and political censorship, a severe lack of...

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