Southern African Cinematography: 1913 – Present, Colonialism through Autocracy to Democracy

Lecture 1http://southernafricancinema.wordpress.com/

Derek Barkerwww.derekbarker.info

Dr.Derek.Barker@gmail.com

Course Description IThis course will trace the genealogy of Southern African [South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia and Malawi] cinematography from colonial times through to the present day.

Course Description IIThe course begins in 1913 with the first major locally produced feature film Die Voortrekker (Harold M. Shaw,1916) dramatizing the Afrikaaners’ historic trek from the Cape of Good Hope to what is now Zambia.

Course Description IIIThe historical role of film as primarily a didactic or openly propagandistic tool has morphed in post-independence Africa into what is seen as part of a nation building exercise where a developing cinematic culture speaks for and to citizens of the emerging nations.

Course Description IVAspects of identity, representation and ideology will be examined via Warren Buckland’s The Cognitive Semiotics of Film and Slavoj Zizek’s Living in the End Times.

Course Description VContext, conditions of production and patterns of consumption will be presented to gain a deeper understanding of the specificities of Southern African cinematography. The course will present film from the region both chronologically and comparatively.

Lecture Venue

Lecture venue: Seminar Room 1, Department of African Studies, University of Vienna, Austria

Time: 15h00 - 17h00

Lecture DatesLecture 1: March 7Lecture 2: March 14Lecture 3: March 21Lecture 4: March 28Lecture 5: April 4Lecture 6: April 11

Lecture DatesLecture 7: May 16Lecture 8: May 23Lecture 9: June 6Lecture 10: June 13Lecture 11: June 20Lecture 12: June 27 EXAM

Aims of the Course• To gain a broad overview of the

history and developments in African cinematography in Southern Africa

• To obtain a broad understanding of film theory

• To undertake ideological analyses of film both colonial and modern

Aims of the Course• To understand the regional

differences in production and consumption

• To obtain an in-depth understanding of the current film industry in Southern Africa

And…

Aims of the Course

•To have fun!

South Africa I

Local film production began in 1913, under I.W. Schlesinger’s African Consolidated Films (ACF), and enjoyed a golden era from 1916 to 1919. The first majorfeature film was the overtly patriotic Die Voortrekker

South Africa II

The film was directed by Harold M. Shaw, 1916, and ironically produced by English South Africans. It dramatized the Afrikaaners’ historic trek from the Cape of Good Hope to what is now Zambia.

South Africa III

It was a religious homage, with the Boers believing God had guided them through the perils of uncertainty to the Promised Land. At the time, the film was regarded as an epic for its grandeur and moral message.

South Africa IV

It became such an enduring symbol for the Afrikaaners that it was screened on Kruger’s Day for the next forty years to celebrate the spirit of the Voortrekkers and their defeat of the Zulu nation.

South Africa V

A number of films followed in a similar vein, in which the black South African was always cast in a subordinate and negative role.

South Africa VI

While most films made before 1950 (and many beyond), black characters – when shown at all – were very often “part of the scenery”.

One important exception is the 1927 silent film “Siliva the Zulu” with an all Zulu cast

South Africa VII

The hugely popular “African Jim” (1949) drew audiences from all racial groups and featured black South Africans as lead characters; essentially a-political, it nevertheless represents black urban experience at the times and nothing like it was produced again for decades

South Africa VIII

In 1951 Alexander Korda’s British studio produced Cry, The Beloved Country (Zoltan Korda), which graphically dramatizedhow the iniquitous ‘pass laws’ madelife a misery for those affected by them.

South Africa IXThis film was banned in South Africa, as were all films critical of apartheid. Films supported by the state showed positive images of a happy, hard-working multiracial society and comic scenarios ofpatriarchal Afrikaaners dealing with compliant non-white employees

South Africa X

Several Afrikaans filmmakers emerged during this era, including Emil Nofal, Jans Rautenbach and Dirk de Villiers, among others. However, it was Jamie Uys, aself-taught auteur, who became the most popular.

South Africa XINo matter how naive they appeared in narrative and production style, his films were always commercially successful, with white audiences flocking to segregated white cinemas in the main cities, and non-whites to cinemas in the clearly designated township areas.

South Africa XIIApart from producing predominantly Afrikaans films, Uys produced and directed several films for international release that would prove very popular overseas, most notably the hugely successful The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980).

South Africa XIIIGods was essentially a parable that told of the socially damaging effect of an empty coke bottle thrown from a plane. It happens to land in an isolated Bushman tribal camp in the heart of the Kalahari desert.

South Africa XIV

They believe the Gods have sent it, and the traditional harmony of the tribe is irreparably damaged as curiosity and greed drive various members to demand possessionof the bottle.

South Africa XV

The effect is so divisive that the leader, played by the real Kalahari tribesman N!xau, decides the only solution is to take the offending item to the end of the Earth and throw it off.

South Africa XVIDuring his protracted journey to get rid of the bottle, he becomes exposed to the worst aspects of modern society, and the city dwellers heencounters see him as either an unwelcome intruder or some sort of spiritual saviour who can cure their own problems

South Africa XVII

He is ultimately left confused and disillusioned by the experience, and is only too keen to return to the comparatively idyllic nomadic lifestyle he left behind in the desert.

South Africa XVIIIThe film broke box-office records wherever it played. In fact, it held the record gross for a single cinema in Los Angeles and New York, despite the popularity of Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) and Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975). It was not until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982) was released that its record was broken.

South Africa XIX

English speaking South African, Ross Devenish’s main productive period was the 1970s when he teamed up with leading playwright Athol Fugard, who was one of apartheid’s most outspoken critics.

South Africa XXTheir work was regularly marginalizedor banned due to their insistence on tacklingunpalatable themes of racial and socialinjustice. Boesman and Lena (1974),The Guest: An Episode in the Life of EugeneMarais (1977), and Marigolds In August(1980), were all Devenish films thatconfronted sensitive issues.

South Africa XXIAmongst the new wave of political filmmakersemerging at this time was Darrell Roodt, a young Afrikaans liberal who was committed to showing the abject lives and despair of non-whites under apartheid. His first film, Place Of Weeping (1986), was a powerful portrayal of blacks working under inhuman conditions for a white boss who treats them little better than donkeys.

South Africa XXII

He continued on a broader andgrander scale over ten films, culminating with Yesterday (Darrell Roodt, 2004), which was amongst the nominees for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

South Africa XXIII

Gavin Hood’s Tsotsi (2005) won a number of awards, including Best Foreign Film at that year’s Academy Awards.

South Africa XXIVZola Maseko’s Drum, based on the local magazine of the same name, whose African journalists in the 1950s endured persecution and constant harrassment from the authorities as they exposed the truth in the most repressive times.

South Africa XXV

U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (Mark Dornford-May, 2005).U-Carmen’s won the Golden Bear award in Berlin in 2005

Pre-viewing questionsFilm: “Gods must be crazy”

1) Is this film racist, or if not directly so, does it depict the San as backward?2) What is ideology?