Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film
This paper sets out to consider the production of political documentary films in post-apartheid South Africa at a time when massification of the media and state capture of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster, silenced oppositional voices. Rehad Desai’s award...
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| Language: | English |
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University of Johannesburg
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Communicare |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1511 |
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| author | Lieza Louw |
| author_facet | Lieza Louw |
| author_sort | Lieza Louw |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This paper sets out to consider the production of political documentary films in post-apartheid
South Africa at a time when massification of the media and state capture of the South African
Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster, silenced oppositional voices. Rehad
Desai’s award-winning film, Miners Shot Down (2014) serves as the main case study for the
research. The film deals with the days leading up to the final and tragic outcome of strike action by miners
at a time when the print media predicated the state and the mine owners’ points of view. The
filmmaker, a self-acclaimed political activist, set out to recount the events by recreating a voice for
the mine workers by offering his personal reaction to the deaths of the 34 black men by interviews
and archival material. Miners Shot Down was received well locally and internationally, but as an overt political narrative
presented in a subjective reconstruction, some of the omissions may impact on a fuller understanding
of the tragic event.tion. This finding prompted recommendations for entrepreneurs, policymakers
and scholarship.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62cb2c7c52f249db9ef770e30333b22d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0259-0069 2957-7950 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communicare |
| spelling | doaj-art-62cb2c7c52f249db9ef770e30333b22d2025-01-20T08:57:09ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0140110.36615/jcsa.v40i1.1511Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary filmLieza Louw0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0923-0411University of the Witwatersrand This paper sets out to consider the production of political documentary films in post-apartheid South Africa at a time when massification of the media and state capture of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster, silenced oppositional voices. Rehad Desai’s award-winning film, Miners Shot Down (2014) serves as the main case study for the research. The film deals with the days leading up to the final and tragic outcome of strike action by miners at a time when the print media predicated the state and the mine owners’ points of view. The filmmaker, a self-acclaimed political activist, set out to recount the events by recreating a voice for the mine workers by offering his personal reaction to the deaths of the 34 black men by interviews and archival material. Miners Shot Down was received well locally and internationally, but as an overt political narrative presented in a subjective reconstruction, some of the omissions may impact on a fuller understanding of the tragic event.tion. This finding prompted recommendations for entrepreneurs, policymakers and scholarship. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1511Rehad DesaiMarikana massacrepolitical activismNational Union of Mineworkers (NUM)Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) |
| spellingShingle | Lieza Louw Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film Communicare Rehad Desai Marikana massacre political activism National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) |
| title | Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| title_full | Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| title_fullStr | Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| title_full_unstemmed | Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| title_short | Documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| title_sort | documentary film politics and the politics of documentary film |
| topic | Rehad Desai Marikana massacre political activism National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1511 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT liezalouw documentaryfilmpoliticsandthepoliticsofdocumentaryfilm |