New Directing Voices in South African Cinema

Abstract

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...