 |
Namibian Premiere: "Born into Struggle" by Rehad Desai
.
Event information
| Robert Mugabe Ave 118 Windhoek |
.
In this documentary, the filmmaker Rehad Desai takes us on an intimate journey mapped out by the scars etched into his family's life from having a father who was intensely involved in politics. Barney Desai was a political hero during South Africa's struggle for freedom, yet as a father he was damagingly absent emotionally. Rehad spent most of his young life in exile and became politically active himself. On this intensely personal journey into his past, Rehad realizes he is following in his fathers footsteps as he reviews his relationship with his own estranged teenage son.
The screening of the film will be followed by a discussion with Born into Struggle’s Director of Photography, Namibia-based, Simon Wilkie.
Awards for Born into Struggle
- Best South African documentary Audience Award, Encounters Documentary Film Festival, 2004
- Winner at Apollo Film Festival South Africa, 2004
- Winner at World Cinema Festival Cape Town, 2004
- Official selection at Durban International Film Festival, 2005
- Official selection at Cannes International Film Festival, 2005
Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttCHXnqDHGY
About the film director
Rehad Desai is one of South Africa’s best-known documentary filmmakers and the CEO of a Uhuru Productions. A former political exile, Rehad worked as a trade union organiser and as a Director of a HIV prevention NGO before entering the film and television industry as a current affairs journalist. He has a Masters in Social History and post-graduate degree in TV and film producing (AVEA) and a post-graduate diploma in documentary (Eurodoc). Rehad has directed over twenty documentaries, many of which have seen international broadcast and been accepted into numerous festivals, receiving critical acclaim. One of his films, “The Battle of Johannesburg” (SA, 2010, 72 min) AfricAvenir screened in 2013 at the Polytechnic of Namibia, Department of Architecture.
In 2014 AfricAvenir screened Rehad’s current project, “Miners Shot Down”, at numerous occasion to the Namibian public in Windhoek, Okahandja, Swakopmund, and Arandis, with Rehad in attendance. “Miners Shot Down” is a synthesis of Rehad’s skills as a filmmaker and experience as an activist.
About Production Company/Producers
Uhuru Productions has been making social justice films in southern Africa for 11 years, since the beginning of 2003. It has produced over twenty high-quality documentaries for local and international audiences.
Headed by acclaimed producer/director Rehad Desai, the company has a wealth of expertise in the production and management of current affairs programming, documentaries, drama and non-broadcast productions in South Africa and Southern Africa. Uhuru has also acted as an implementing partner of the renowned Tri Continental Film Festival since its inception in 2003, and the People to People International Documentary Conference, since 2007.
Beyond the film production expertise, Uhuru Productions has extensive experience working with communities at a very grassroots level in using film as a catalyst for social change. This puts us in a unique position to run a very successful outreach project as we fully understand the power of film to motivate for change but are also able to engage with communities so that the film gets seen by large numbers of people.
African Perspectives, a monthly African Cinema series in Windhoek, organised by AfricAvenir since 2006, is supported by AfriCine, JacMat, the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre, Goethe-Centre/Nads, and Turipamwe Designs.