scholarly journals South African Film Industry

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Committee Chairman ◽  
The South ◽  
African Film ◽  
Social Affiliations ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Film And Video

THE SOUTH AFRICAN FILM INDUSTRY: FRAGMENTATION, IDENTITY CRISIS AND UNIFICATION IntroductionFilm and video are regarded as vital in South Africa's transition. Amongst others, film and video can foster a stable, democratic and united society. However, the South African film industry cannot fulfil this role at present due to fragmentation and consequently an identity crisis. The industry therefore needs to change. One of the key players in previous debates about the restructuring of the local industry, the Film and Allied Workers' (FAWO) Distribution Committee chairman, Seipati Bulane-Hopa, describes the need for cinema in our society in these words: Cinema ... serves as a vehicle for people to articulate their different social affiliations and define their respective historic cultures, traditions, social and political experiences. If cinema is only used to entertain and not to educate, then the chances of transforming our society are slim (Blignaut & Botha, 1992, p.88)....

“On Reading The South African Film Industry”

Critical Arts ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Harvey
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
The South ◽  
African Film

scholarly journals The Cinema of Darrell James Roodt

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Television Series ◽  
The South ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
African Film ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
Genre Films

THE JOURNEYS OF THE MARGINALISED: THE CINEMA OF DARRELL JAMES ROODT South African director Darrell James Roodt is one of the most dominant and prolific figures in the South African film industry (Armes 2008: 112), having made a total number of 34 feature films and several television series to date. Surprisingly, few academics have devoted chapters in books or doctorate dissertations to his work (Blignaut & Botha 1992; Botha & Van Aswegen 1992; Murphy & Williams 2007; Treffry-Goatley 2010). Roodt's oeuvre includes some of the milestones in South African cinema since 1980s, as well as genre films such as Dracula 3000 (2004) which received negative notices by critics (Murphy & Williams 2007). This article forms part of an ongoing investigation into the cinema of Roodt and is a follow-up to an earlier attempt to explore some of the major themes in his oeuvre (Botha 2011). Darrell Roodt was born...

scholarly journals Themes in the Cinema of Darrell James Roodt

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
Television Series ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
South African Society ◽  
African Film ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
Genre Films

WOMEN ON THE MARGIN OF SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY: THEMES IN THE CINEMA OF DARRELL JAMES ROODT South African director Darrell James Roodt is one of the most dominant and prolific figures in the South African film industry (Armes 2008: 112), having made a total number of 25 feature films and three television series to date. Surprisingly few academics have devoted chapters in books or doctorate dissertations to his work (Blignaut & Botha 1992; Botha & Van Aswegen 1992; Murphy & Williams 2007; Treffry-Goatley 2010). Roodt's oeuvre includes some of the milestones in South African cinema since 1980s, as well as genre films such as Dracula 3000 (2004), which received negative notices by critics (Murphy & Williams 2007).This article forms part of an ongoing investigation into the cinema of Roodt and is an attempt to explore some of the major themes in his oeuvre.Darrell Roodt was...

scholarly journals South African Cinema (1)

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New York ◽  
South African ◽  
Film Industry ◽  
The South ◽  
African Cinema ◽  
Film Distribution ◽  
African Film ◽  
American Films ◽  
The World

110 YEARS OF SOUTH AFRICAN CINEMA (Part 1) The South African film industry is one of the oldest in the world. The Kinetoscope, invented by Thomas Edison, reached Johannesburg by 1895, only six years after its introduction in New York. Between 1895 and 1909 mainly British and American films reached many parts of South Africa by means of mobile bioscopes. The first permanent cinema was built in 1909 by Electric Theatres Limited in Durban. Over the next five years several film distribution companies built cinemas across the country, which led to serious competition....

scholarly journals The Struggle for a South African Film Audience

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Botha
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Independent Cinema ◽  
African Film ◽  
World Cinema ◽  
Audience Development ◽  
Political Films ◽  
Film And Video

IN THIS ARTICLE, the author aims to discuss the historical process which led to the fragmented nature of film audiences in South Africa presently. He examines the current status of film audiences and stresses the importance of audience development as an important option for the commercial growth of South African film industry. 1. Background and ContextThe years 1959 to 1980 had been characterised by an artistic revival in filmmaking throughout the world, ranging from exciting political films in Africa and Latin America to examples of great art cinema in Europe and Asia. National cinemas(1) emerged in Australia, West Germany, Iceland and New Zealand. In 1977 Iceland, for example, was nearly invisible on the map of world cinema. Few films were made there, but since the establishment of a national film commission similar to our NFVF (National Film and Video Foundation) an independent cinema emerged. Following the establishment of...

FROM WHITE BEADS TO WHITE WORDS: SYMBOLS AND LANGUAGE IN THE MARKETING OF XHOSA TRADITIONAL HEALERS

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-158
Author(s):  
T Dowling ◽  
L Grier
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
The South ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Natural Forms ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Much research has been conducted on African traditional healers generally (Arden 1996; Chidester 1996; Chakanza 2006; Reeder 2011), and Xhosa diviners and herbalists specifically (Hammond-Tooke 1989; Hirst 1997, 2005), but none of this work focuses on their particular public discourse. Some researchers (Tyrrell 1976; Broster & Bourn 1982) describe outward symbols and publicly knowable signs of their identity, but do not analyse the implicit meanings of these symbols. In order to reach a more nuanced understanding of how Xhosa diviners and herbalists traditionally used to market themselves to their public (how they made themselves publically known), this paper draws on information from documented investigations into diviners and herbalists in South Africa; a description of their current marketing strategies is drawn from our own research and inquiries. We argue that Xhosa herbalists and diviners are key players in negotiating the socio-cultural aspects of their respective societies, and changes in the way they communicate their services highlight a shift in the South African linguistic and symbolic landscape. Diviners and healers now use current key symbols (including English and Western symbols) with a concurrent loss of Xhosa cultural expressions and symbols, which are only retained to reference non-secular (i.e. spiritual) or organic (i.e. natural) forms of healing.

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