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Carol Hermer and Doris Simani |
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Abstract: In 1976, during the apartheid regime in South Africa, black African students protested against the use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in their schools. The protest quickly developed into a resistance struggle as police responded with teargas and bullets. Although the protests are remembered as "the Soweto riots" they took place all over the country, including in the townships surrounding Cape Town. During that time Carol Hermer and Doris Simani, a township resident, met weekly and chronicled the events occuring around them. This was published as "The Diary of Maria Tholo." 30 years later Doris and Carol revisited the townships, this time with a video camera, to document the changes since the demolition of apartheid and to follow up on the lives of the people featured in the book. "The Diary of Maria Tholo" is available on the web at http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/library-resources/online%20books/maria-tholo/maria-index.htm. Production Date: 3/30/2007 Producer’s Email: chermer@pipeline.com Running Time: 56 Medium: DVD Film Purpose: The purpose of the film is to document the extent of change on black African lives since the end of apartheid in South Africa, through personal stories over 30 years. Film Audience: Students of urban issues, racism, conflict resolution, South African history, apartheid, protest movements. Role of the Anthropologist / Collaboration: I have always believed that the future of ethnographic documentary would come from anthropologists trained as filmmakers rather than collaboration between filmmaker and anthropologist. People being interviewed need to form a relationship with the person behind the camera if they are going to be open in front of it. A more successful relationship also may depend on accepting certain limitations in production technique. For example, strong lighting, while greatly improving the production values of the film, does inhibit the interview process. This video is an attempt to introduce as little interference into the scene under study as possible. Another issue is the attempt to introduce self-reflexivity without overemphasizing the filmmaker but still allowing the subjects of the film to interrogate the production. Filmmaker: Carol Hermer, Independent Scholar Keywords: South Africa, life history, resistance struggle |
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