Filed under: Everything Else, Documentary, Film Festivals, Silverdocs
On Friday, June 16, 1976, Tsietsi Mashinini led a student uprising against the Apartheid government in Soweto, the depressed black townships of southwest Johannesburg. Days of unrest ended with tear gas and open police fire, which led to the deaths of over 500 people. But a movement was born. Director Portia Rankoane was 13 years old at the time, and Tsietsi was her hero. But through the years, his name slipped out of the public discourse, and he died in exile under somewhat mysterious circumstances. In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the June 16th uprising, Portia Rankoane looks at the events that led up to and followed that day through archival footage of the protests and interviews with Tsietsi’s family and friends, including his ex-wife who now lives in the DC area. Unfortunately, the producer explained, they finished editing the film about 3 hours before they got on the plane in South Africa to head to Washington DC for the premiere, and this was evident in the cut that we saw. Still, the film told a powerful, important story. The audience, which included many South Africans, a Liberian woman, and a man from Sierra Leone, was extremely grateful for this African perspective on a story from colonial South Africa.
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