Joan V . Golding
Tshwane University of Technology, Faculty of Arts Drama & Film, Graduate Student
- I am a media and film professional with experience in academics and industry.edit
This study examined and theorised possibilities for an “indigenous film ethic” in the South African film industry, through eliciting the views of a new generation of Black filmmakers. Before 1994, there was no truly “national cinema” to... more
This study examined and theorised possibilities for an “indigenous film ethic” in the South African film industry, through eliciting the views of a new generation of Black filmmakers. Before 1994, there was no truly “national cinema” to speak of in South Africa. South Africa’s film industry was dominated by racist, exclusive epistemologies, and by the exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. The industry, more or
less, was built in apartheid’s image. In this third decade since the repeal of official apartheid, how far has the South African film industry come? After more than twenty years of democracy, the Black film industry is still, in large part, without infrastructure, easy access to funding, or mainstream access for distribution and exhibition on many different levels. Having been marginalised for so long by discriminatory
institutionalism, the Black indigenous film sector is ‘officially unleashed’ to grow and therefore has – plausibly – the best potential for expansion and development. Indigenous Blacks represent the largest unexploited spectator population for homegrown film in South Africa and, thus, this film sector holds the most economic promise. Despite the success of the pre and post-1994 Afrikaans film industry, it has failed – for obvious reasons – to become the face of a South African national cinema.
Since then, the effort continues among Black filmmakers to gain a foothold in the industry. But the question remains, how is their success to be measured when it is closely entwined within questions of identity, culture, indigeneity, multiplicity, meaningfulness and representation? The prevailing challenges of funding for film development, audience apathy for local films, a lack of film infrastructure in Black neighbourhoods, as well as the very slow pace of the democratization of distribution,
are barriers implicated in the search for a national film culture. This study explores possibilities for an alternative future for the South African film industry, predicated and framed on conceptions of ‘indigenousness.’ It theorises the ethic of ubuntu as a basis for launching a truly national cinema in South Africa that is neither racist, sexist, nor exclusive – one that brings cohesion, healing, and restoration. Accordingly, it investigates how a new generation of African filmmakers in South Africa is
negotiating ownership of the ’Black film space’ where the experiences, hopes, and aspirations of Africans find image and tenor. The dissertation also examined how a selection of filmmakers use film within and against the ‘Hollywood’ model, while remaining grounded in the ‘African’ experience, finding applicability of the truths ingrained in African heritage, and not discarding its crucial tenets of self-definition as
irrelevant in the process of assimilation, evolving through a postcolonial into a globalist, postmodernist context. Finally, the study concludes that a genuine national cinema, grounded in and constrained by the Black African ‘indigenous,’ is possible – even as problems and contradictions remain. Ideally, such a cinema would be nourished by complexity, diversity, and multiplicity.
less, was built in apartheid’s image. In this third decade since the repeal of official apartheid, how far has the South African film industry come? After more than twenty years of democracy, the Black film industry is still, in large part, without infrastructure, easy access to funding, or mainstream access for distribution and exhibition on many different levels. Having been marginalised for so long by discriminatory
institutionalism, the Black indigenous film sector is ‘officially unleashed’ to grow and therefore has – plausibly – the best potential for expansion and development. Indigenous Blacks represent the largest unexploited spectator population for homegrown film in South Africa and, thus, this film sector holds the most economic promise. Despite the success of the pre and post-1994 Afrikaans film industry, it has failed – for obvious reasons – to become the face of a South African national cinema.
Since then, the effort continues among Black filmmakers to gain a foothold in the industry. But the question remains, how is their success to be measured when it is closely entwined within questions of identity, culture, indigeneity, multiplicity, meaningfulness and representation? The prevailing challenges of funding for film development, audience apathy for local films, a lack of film infrastructure in Black neighbourhoods, as well as the very slow pace of the democratization of distribution,
are barriers implicated in the search for a national film culture. This study explores possibilities for an alternative future for the South African film industry, predicated and framed on conceptions of ‘indigenousness.’ It theorises the ethic of ubuntu as a basis for launching a truly national cinema in South Africa that is neither racist, sexist, nor exclusive – one that brings cohesion, healing, and restoration. Accordingly, it investigates how a new generation of African filmmakers in South Africa is
negotiating ownership of the ’Black film space’ where the experiences, hopes, and aspirations of Africans find image and tenor. The dissertation also examined how a selection of filmmakers use film within and against the ‘Hollywood’ model, while remaining grounded in the ‘African’ experience, finding applicability of the truths ingrained in African heritage, and not discarding its crucial tenets of self-definition as
irrelevant in the process of assimilation, evolving through a postcolonial into a globalist, postmodernist context. Finally, the study concludes that a genuine national cinema, grounded in and constrained by the Black African ‘indigenous,’ is possible – even as problems and contradictions remain. Ideally, such a cinema would be nourished by complexity, diversity, and multiplicity.
