Videos by Title: "R"

Real Stories from a Free South Africa (2004). Directors: Minky Schlesinger and Khetiwe Ngcobo

Five films showing how the ten years of freedom from apartheid in South Africa have affected the lives of ordinary South Africans since the election of Nelson Mandela in May, 1994. Broadcasting 1, the most widely-watched channel in South Africa, with the support of the National Film and Video Foundation, commissioned fourteen emerging filmmakers to make video portraits of South African society. California Newsreel has chosen five of the fourteen original programs from this experiment in empowering people to tell their own life stories as they are unfolding. Hot wax tells the story of a woman who runs her own beauty salon in Alexandra, serving primarily white clients. Cinderella of the Cape Flats presents the annual Spring Queen Pageant of 2003, for which the women clothing worker participants make their own clothing. Belonging tells the story of a woman born in exile, daughter of political émigrés, who struggles to find her own place after she moves to the new South Africa. Umgidi tells of two brothers, their relationship with each other and with their family. One brother wants to accept his roots; the other wants desperately to escape them. Nabantwa Bam' is a case study of the emergence of social classes even within the same South African family, again focusing on two brothers, one who suffers from a debilitating head injury and has been unable to receive the education which would enable him to escape street life, and the other who is the first Black student as his all white school and is now a programmer with a promising career at Microsoft.

A Red Ribbon Around My House (2001). Director: Portia Rankoane

A mother and daughter are in crisis because of their different responses to AIDS. The mother, Pinky, is flamboyant and open about the fact that she is HIV-positive. The daughter, Ntombi, battles to be just like everyone else. Her mother's refusal to be passive in the face of AIDS sets them both apart.

Regopstaan’s Dream (c2000). Director: Christopher Walker

Part 17 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. Twenty-five years ago, the Bushmen were evicted from the Kalahari by the apartheid government who claimed they were too westernized to cohabit with the wild animals in the National Park. This film which follows the story of Bushmen fighting to live on ancestral lands within the park, includes interviews with Bushmen, park employees, farmers and government officials each providing their own perspectives.

Respect the Beat (1998). Director: Hunt Hoe

Film contains percussion music and interviews from musicians Michel Séguin, Taiko, and Ganesh Anandan. It traces the musical heritage of percussion instruments, beginning with the country of Africa.

Rêves de Poussière (Dreams of dust) (2006). Director: Laurent Salgues

A Nigerian peasant comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in northeast Burkina Faso, Africa. He quickly finds out the gold rush ended twenty years before and the inhabitants of this wasteland manage to exist simply from force of habit.

Rhythm of resistance (1988)

Takes you across forbidden boundaries of apartheid to experience the authentic joy and sorrow of Black South African music.

The right decision (1986)

This video expresses the opinion that choosing to vacation in South Africa is the right decision. The many activities, the wonderful scenery and delectable cuisine are a few of the reasons this is true.

Rites of Passage: Videocases of Traditional African Peoples (2002).

This video is divided into six segments of a traditional African life: three segments from birth to adolescence and three segments in adulthood. Each segment describes a rite of passage - birth, naming, circumcision, marriage, elderhood, and death - which is commonly ritualized and celebrated in the traditional African villages.

Roots (1985)

An adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots, in which he traces his family's history from the mid-18th century when one of his ancestors was captured and sold into slavery. Follows the struggle for freedom that began with the boy's abduction to America and continued throughout the generations that followed. (6 videocassettes)