The cinema of South Africa encompasses the films and the film industry of the country. Films have been made in both English and Afrikaans. Many foreign films have also been produced about South Africa, often addressing race relations.
Killarney Film Studios in Johannesburg, the first film studio in South Africa.
Early Beginnings
Like most things western European, opera in South Africa is part of a colonial legacy. Sources refer to the early 1800s as the time when opera came to South Africa via Cape Town. Travelling theatre companies from Europe staged mostly lighter operas, such as French opéra comique. As time went by, more of these theatre companies came to Cape Town and travelled to the interior of the country. Eventually some of these artists and producers immigrated to South Africa, and so local opera production started to take shape.
The first film studio in South Africa, Killarney Film Studios, was established in 1915 in Johannesburg by American business tycoon Isidore W. Schlesinger. During the 1910s and 1920s, a significant amount of South African films were made in or around Durban. These films often utilized the dramatic scenery available in rural KwaZulu-Natal, particularly the Drakensberg region.
KwaZulu-Natal also served as the location for historical films such as De Voortrekkers (1916) and The Symbol of Sacrifice (1918). American filmmaker Lorimer Johnston directed several films in the area in the late 1910s, which starred American actresses Edna Flugrath and Caroline Frances Cooke.
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Mid-20th Century Developments
The 1950s saw an increased use of South African locations and talent by international filmmakers. From 2009, there was an increased use of South African locations and talent by international film studios.
Key Films and Directors
The first South African film to achieve international acclaim and recognition was the 1980 comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy, written, produced, and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in the Kalahari, it told the story about how life in the community of Bushmen is changed when a Coke bottle, thrown out of an airplane, suddenly lands from the sky. The late Jamie Uys, also had success overseas in the 1970s with his films Funny People and Funny People II, similar to the TV series Candid Camera in the United States. Leon Schuster's You Must Be Joking!
Another high-profile film portraying South Africa was District 9 in 2009. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, a native South African, and produced by The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson, the action/science-fiction film depicts a sub-class of alien refugees forced to live in the slums of Johannesburg in what many saw as a creative allegory for apartheid.
Go behind the scenes of District 9 with Peter Jackson
Notable South African Directors:
- Zola Maseko (born 1967): A Swazi-born film director best known for his films The Foreigner (1994) and The Life and Times of Sarah Baartman (1998). In 2004, Maseko produced his first feature entitled Drum, telling the story of an anti-apartheid journalist in 1950s Johannesburg.
- Gavin Hood (born 1963): A director and filmmaker most famous for his Oscar award-winning film Tsotsi (2005) based on the novel of the same name by Athol Fugard.
- Dean Israelite (born 1984): A South African film director, writer, and producer.
South African Cinema in the Post-Apartheid Era
Post-apartheid heritage practice, like the rest of its kind, is a complex system characterized by conflicting and contested meanings, knowledges, policies and operations. The first part of this discussion explores the emerging meanings of public culture within a historical context. It takes stock of some of the post-apartheid state-led heritage initiatives and the contestations thereof. It highlights ambiguities and contradictions within a medley of conflicting versions of South Africa’s pasts and presents. The second part considers the dominant ideology thesis and the notion of authorized heritage discourse, as it teases out the intricacies of collective memories and ownership of knowledge.
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Key Statistics
Here's a summary of key statistics related to South Africa's cinema infrastructure and box office performance:
| Category | Data |
|---|---|
| Cinema Infrastructure | Refer to UNESCO Institute for Statistics |
| South African Box Office (2016) | Refer to National Film and Video Foundation |
| Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO) | Refer to UNESCO Institute for Statistics |
Scene from a South African movie.
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