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SOUTH AFRICAN FILM SERIES AT NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART


This summer, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African
Art is offering a film series on "South African Cinema:
Past, Present and Future." The series is being presented in
conjunction with the museum's new exhibition
"Claiming Art/Reclaiming Space:Post-Apartheid Art from South
Africa" and with the 1999 Smithsonian Folklife Festival's
program on South Africa. The series runs from July 10
through Aug. 7.

South Africa has been the subject of films since D.W.
Griffith filmed "The Zulu's Heart" (1908).  During
apartheid, Black South Africans were denied access to the
cinematic medium.  Today, post-apartheid-era filmmakers are
looking for their own voice.  This program reviews the
evolution of South African cinema and identifies some future
trends.
Unless otherwise noted, the films will be introduced and
discussion moderated by Aboubakar Sidiki Sanogo, fellow,
National Museum of African Art.
Carefully note the screening location for each film. All
programs are free of charge and are open to the public on a
first-come,first-served basis. Unless otherwise noted, all
films are subtitled in English.

"South African Cinema Past, Present and Future"


        Saturday, July 10, 7 p.m.
        "Cry, the Beloved Country" (106 mins., 35mm, 1995)
by Darrell James Roodt will be screened.  Two fathers--one
black, one white--bound by a common fate search for their
missing sons.  Starring James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.
 South African Ambassador Sheila Sisulu will offer opening
remarks.
Peter Davis, author of In Darkest Hollywood, will introduce
and discuss the film. .(Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden, 7th St. and Independence Ave., SW)

        Sunday, July 11, 2 p.m.
        "Boesman and Lena" (102 mins., 16mm, 1973) by Ross
Devenish, will be screened.  A "colored" couple from the
Cape takes to the road when their shanty is demolished.
Adapted from Athol Fugard's play.  American University
professor of African studies Margareth Lee will introduce
and discuss the film.  (The word "colored" is a South
African term that refers to persons of black and white
heritage.)  (S. Dillon Ripley Center Lecture Hall, 1100
Jefferson Drive, SW)


        Saturday, July 17, 2 p.m.
        African Violet (45 mins., 16 mm, 1997) by Koto
Bolofo, will be screened.  The story focuses on five
conservative, middle-class women living in a protected,
white, segregated society in 1960s South Africa.  In
addition, the museum will offer "A Walk in the Night" (78
mins., video, 1998) by Mickey Dube.  In one night, a man
loses his job, learns his girlfriend is pregnant and murders
his next door neighbor, who was a surrogate father to him.
When a close friend is accused of the murder, the man is
faced with a moral dilemma. (Both films will be screened at
the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 7th St. and
Independence Ave., SW)

        July 17, 7 p.m.
        Come Back Africa (83 mins., 35mm, 1959) by Lionel
Rogosin, will be shown.  Zachariah leaves his village and
family and moves to Johannesburg.  There, he suffers under
"pass" laws, loses one job after the other and one day
returns home to find his wife murdered.  Time magazine
hailed this landmark work, which was secretly filmed in
South Africa, as "...one of the ten best pictures of 1960."
(Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 7th St. and
Independence Ave., SW)

        Saturday, July 24, 7 p.m.
        Voices from Robben Island (90 mins., 35mm, 1994) by
Adam Low, will be screened.  Interviews with Nelson Mandela,
Walter Sisulu, Thabo Mbeki and other inmates of Robben
Island, the high security prison for anti-apartheid
political prisoners, reveal the inmates' great courage and
their triumph over physical and emotional torture.  (S.
Dillon Ripley Center Lecture Hall, 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW)


        Saturday, July 31, 7 p.m.
        Dolly and the Inkspots (28 min., video, 1997) by the
Scadeberg Film Company, will be screened.  This tribute to
South Africa's great jazz talents features Dolly Rathebe,
queen of African jazz, and the unforgettable harmonies of
the Inkspots.  In addition, the museum will offer the film
"African Jim" (50 mins., 16mm, 1949) by Donald Swanson.  A
country boy who comes to the city to secure work finds
himself incompetent at almost everything.  When he discovers
he has a magical voice, his life turns into a fairy tale.
This is the first film made in South Africa to feature
Africans as central characters.  (Both films will be shown
at the S. Dillon Ripley Center Lecture Hall, 1100 Jefferson
Drive, SW)


        Saturday, Aug. 7, 7 p.m.
        Paljas (120 mins., 35mm, 1998) by Katinka Heyns,
will be screened.  The lives of members of an unhappy family
living in a small town change dramatically when a circus
comes to town.  (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 7th
St. and Independence Ave., SW)

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Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite