Screening of Miners Shot Down by Rehad Desai
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Event information
| Info | FREE entrance |
| Address | Oshana Regional Library | ERF. NO 1586 , Next to Yetu Shopping Complex 5521 Oshakati |
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As part of the May Day celebrations, AfricAvenir Windhoek, Independence Avenue Films, and Uhuru Productions in partnership with Sapphire Events presents the screening of Miners Shot Down, a documentary by Rehad Desai.
In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, in real time, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low-paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers. What emerges is collusion at the top, spiralling violence and South Africa’s first post-apartheid massacre. A discussion will be held after the documentary.
Rehad Desai is the producer and award winning director of numerous documentary films. He studied history and social history at University of Zimbabwe and University of the Witwatersrand. His documentary film “Born Into Struggle” (2004) screened at many international film festivals and, amongst other awards, won the audience prize for the best South African documentary film at the Encounters Documentary Film Festival in Cape Town. “Miners Shot Down,” is not only playing and opening various festivals around the globe, but has won a number of awards as well, i.e. Best Film at One World Film Festival in Prague as well as the International Emmy Award for Documentary. Beyond that it has also sparked international support for the Marikana Justice Campaign.
African Perspectives, a monthly African Cinema series, organised by AfricAvenir since 2006, is supported by AfriCine, the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre, Goethe Institute Namibia, and Turipamwe Designs. ’Miners shot down ‘ is the second installment of a newly introduced series of screenings taking place bi-monthly in northern Namibia.